FRAGRANCE | The Devil Scent Project by Olympic Orchids: Fragrances depicting the love story between a woman and the Devil

Launched way back in 2012, The Devil Scent Project by Olympic Orchids was inspired by an online novel called Quantum Demonology. The collection is made up of five fragrances that represent the unique scent of the Devil and his ex-wife Lilith. The novel, written by Sheila Eggenberger, contains evocative descriptions of the scents of both characters.

We've had samples of all five scents for quite some time now but were somehow "forgotten" over the years until a few months ago when my wife and I decided to test them. Full 30ml bottles followed and oh, how frighteningly dark the juices are!

Dev One: Foreplay

According to Olympic Orchids' website, Dev One is purported to be the lightest and happiest of the collection, representing the early phase of the story when Lilith, the female lead, is being tempted and seduced into a neo-Faustian deal with the devil (or "Dev"). It’s the scent of falling in love despite misgivings and against one’s better judgment.

I don't know about lightest but if sweet, smoky resins with an animalic tinge spell happiness, then I do get that Dev One is a happy scent. This one starts dark but almost quickly transitions to something less heavy and sweet. Perhaps it's the lightness in the incense that gives off that feel but then there's also something in the mix that's almost camphoraceous in tone, which is at its strongest for several long minutes. The scent also loses its animalic edge rather abruptly, or at least it's no longer as prominent.

As time moves on, something bitter develops in the fragrance's woody background, which acts as a good balancing agent. The woody accord is slowly but steadily amped up, moving closer to the fore. As it does, it becomes clearer that the bitterness is somehow herbal in nature, or at least it gives off that flavor. Meanwhile, the sweetness morphs in character that now bears a remote similarity to bubblegum. It's not Xerjoff Casamorati Dolce Amalfi, though, because of the burnt smokiness clinging to it. This smokiness, by the way, behaves rather curiously, oscillating between dark and airy.

After starting out strong, Dev One gradually softens, becoming a homogenous mix of sweet, smoky, bitter, and woody up until it fades several hours later. There is nothing devilish for me here. On the contrary, the scent reminds me of church. Still, this is a beauty.

Dev Two: The Main Act

The second fragrance in the line represents the romantic phase or the tempestuous love affair between Dev and Lilith. It's supposed to be Dev's fundamental seductive scent, one that combines the spiritual with the carnal, accompanied by the riff of a heavy metal bass played by an entity in a black leather jacket. I must say, these descriptions from the website are really something.

Dev Two bursts with a thick, resinous sweetness, burnt smoke, and a generous dose of cloves and cinnamon. There's a certain sourness to it, similar to what I get in some boozy and oud fragrances like Tom Ford Plum Japonais and Aigner Nº1 Oud, to name a few. And since the sweetness does not go the bubblegum route of Dev One, this creation is rendered heavier despite being less smoky.

Representing the carnal is an animalic undertone; noticeable but never in-your-face. The sweet and sour booziness persists, gathering strength as time progresses, all while supported by a rather shy, leathery backdrop. Later, the cloves and cinnamon melt, their essences homogenized in the blend. Before long, a very soft rose blooms, providing a lovely counterpoint to all the strong accords. 

Over time, the sweet and sour booze dials it down, prompting a mild, sweat-like muskiness to surface. This sweaty essence slowly grows, as do the animalic-tinged leather and the smokiness, now turning dark and bitter. In its latter stage, however, Dev Two becomes much less dark with everything considerably toned down, leaving the sweaty musk to shine. It stays for a few more hours until everything finally lets up. 

Dev Three: The Inevitable

Intended as a melancholic, meditative scent of loneliness and resignation to fate, Dev Three represents the stage at which all secrets have been revealed, after the inevitable destruction of people, things, and relationships have occurred, when the two lovers recognize that they have to part ways forever. Aww...

As with the first two, resins figure in this composition. However, this scent is cold and bitter, the sweetness very limited, peppered only with with a few sprinkles of cinnamon. An animalic accord creeps up but is subdued in no time by a developing earthiness and herbal essence. The earthiness reminds me of Olympic Orchids Night Flyer: cold and damp.

All the coldness, bitterness, earthiness, and herbal character go swirling together, so you pick up something different at any given point. Eventually, though, the scent settles into herbal territory; still cold and bitter, with an earthy undertone and very little sweetness to perk things up. Cinnamon makes a comeback much later in the game but it never really makes any impact, as the scent is already set in its course.

Though much lighter than One and Two, Dev Three is a mood. I'm not sure if I can label it as a sad scent but it appears that it's never bent on wowing anyone. While also long-lasting, it's generally more modest in how it projects.

Dev Four: Reprise

The scent of coming back full circle, of triumph after great loss, the calm vision that comes after having weathered a disaster. It is a reprise of the original theme, says the website, stripped down to its soul. It is the aura of readiness to move on. Dev Four is the bare-bones version of all of Dev's incarnations, paring them down to their unifying essence.

Coming from the aforementioned description, Dev Four does smell familiar, especially after you've gone through all its three predecessors. It is sweet, resinous, a bit sour, and a tad camphoraceous. And if that's not enough, the sweetness is reminiscent of the bubblegum vibe from Dev One albeit far from its vibrancy. A particular smokiness also develops but does not smell as burnt as One.

A familiar bitterness rises as the sweetness lessens. The fragrance turns smokier but then oscillates, in decreased intensity, between bubblegum sweet and smoky, and goes on for hours while gradually mellowing. Eventually it ends up incense-y in the late drydown. Rather than devilish, I get a spiritual vibe as it dies down. On its own, Dev Four is a fairly good fragrance but if you have the other three, especially One and Two, this would feel redundant.

Lil

At the center of all this is Lilith, or Lil, the original Eve and wife of Dev. Lil is the enthralling scent of a woman with perfect confidence in her powers; a swirling, almost chameleon-like veil of fragrance that is ethereal and nearly transparent, but still vividly and unquestionably present and compelling.

Lil smells really good. It is a sweet, fruity-floral right at the onset but laced with a strong, bitter lime. It's a fragrance with a very affable top anchored on a bitter green base. It's an interesting contrast: like, on top you get this lovable sweetness but underneath this happy facade is an uncompromising, biting bitterness. It's as if saying Lil is unapologetically strong and bitter but then changes gear and puts on a sweet, innocent face before pulling you in.

I was hoping the scent would develop further, pull in a few surprises even, but no, it is very linear. I guess, much like the character it's fashioned after, it is what it is. Nevertheless, I find it beautiful, bolstered even more by its fairly good performance and lasting power.

*********************

Love story between the Devil and Lilith aside, all five fragrances from Olympic Orchids' The Devil Scent Project are quite good and well worth sampling. While it's really not necessary to own all five, having them all is fun.