Description
A floral oriental fragrance like afternoon sunshine, inspired
by a golden yellow Cattleya orchid. The nose behind the fragrance is Ellen Covey.
Golden Cattleya is available as a parfum extrait or EdP and features narcissus, daffodil,
orange fruit, orange blossoms, honey, pollen, and cream soda combined with amber,
labdanum, vanilla, musks and sandalwood. Released 2010.
“The scent of this orchid is pure gold – narcissus, daffodil, orange
fruit, orange blossoms, honey, pollen, and cream soda combine with amber-tinged
resins and musks to create a warm and long-lasting aura like late afternoon sunshine.
This is not your usual sweet flowery orchid scent!”
Xeroxhodkz – :
Golden Cattleya opens with a sweet floral nectar, with narcissus and orange blossom immediately recognizable. Mostly narcissus. It’s very sweet, polleny and golden, but also very realistic – I was hoping that this would be a sheer, honeyed sister of Penhaligon’s Ostara. But then I get smacked in the face with a wall of cream soda. My skin always amplifies sweetness in scents – usually I don’t mind but with this one I found myself going “nooooooo!”. The cream soda is the diet kind that has artificial sweetener, not real sugar (or honey). I can sort of taste it in the back of my throat. For the majority of the scent, it’s CREAM SODA, with a little polleny narcissus in the background being smothered. The opening is beautiful and it’s fine when it calms down after a few hours but I can’t handle that mid.
greklondon – :
This is one of my absolute favourite FBs of perfume. Precious! Intoxicating almost to the point of distraction. Keep sniffing myself silly. Garners loads of compliments. This needs to be worn on a day when you’re ready for attention. Sexy as. It’s a dry, abstract, hyper realistic honeyed, otherworldly pollen scent beam that leaps out of a psychedelic dream.
Tiks – :
The cream soda ruins this fragrance for me, it adds a weird sweetness that for some reason reminds me of those scented erasers. I think it was an unnecessary note as the honey provides enough sweetness to the perfume.
Ridik32-78 – :
Ladies and gentleman, the talent of Ms Ellen Covey doesn’t need any special introduction. These are some of the best scents in the market. I have a lot of respect for her work. The analogy is perfect. It indeed reminds you of the golden color due to its warm sweetness and smooth texture on skin. It starts off sweet with a honeyed amber which is devoid of its resinoid accord, the soapy jasmine like daffodil hit me with a strong floral wave and it is a very strong note in itself. It smells like lavender mixed with jasmine. The honey s sweet not dark and greenish like forest honey. Sandal is very apparent in the background but reamins mostly as a soft creamy woodiness with slight dryness. The vanilla is dominant throughout it is bitter smoky and creamy giving it the touch of a gourmand. It is purely unisex but would smell gorgeous on a woman. Not a very unique offering from OO but a scent well done. Considering the price and longevity and compliments this can compete with many expensive scents in the market. I wish the sandalwood note was more powerful to tone the sweetness down but I don’t mind it at all. Catch me on Exotic Scents @ youtube
AlexKOA – :
Golden Cattleya is a honey fragrance done right. The labdanum and sandalwood notes add the right amount of balsamic smokiness to the honey. The african orange flower and the narcissus note, I am guessing, add a floral richness that balances it out beautifully. I cant detect any sweetness on my skin except maybe at the end of the scent life.
Totally unisex and has very good projection, comfortable arms length. Women seem to like it on me as I got quite a few compliments on it at a friends wedding I wore it to. 7-8 hours longevity as well. Guys, dont let the fragrantica women classification make you skip this. Golden Cattleya is a rich, dense, balsamic honey fragrance that just screams class and I guarantee you nobody else will be smelling like you. Very much impressed and absolutely recommend it.
sashazuban – :
This fragrance is like wearing a golden silk shawl. It is richly golden and silky, a river of orange blossom honey with lovely orchids tossed into the flow and winding lazily through the senses.
I was so excited after trying my samples of red, white and golden cattleyas that I ordered all three; eagerly opened my package then decided they were not so great after all. I still feel that way about white, and I will save that experience for another review.
But today I picked up Golden again. I opened and accidentally poured about 1/8 of the contents of small bottle down my arm, oops. I am glad I did though, because I have fallen madly for this fragrance.
Yes, it is honey, but so nicely balanced with the other notes that all unite to become a very fine orchid. After trying so many orchid fragrances I can finally say that I can definitely now identify the smell. I get the daffodil, narcissus, a warm touch of amber, some soft vanilla and orange.
I love it. It is unique and one of the prettiest florals I know. Has a similar feel to my beloved Lancome Poeme, sans the bitter note and more approachable. Both encapsulate the color gold beautifully.
Many blessings to Tiwali for encouraging me to purchase this when I was waffling about which Olympic Orchids perfume to buy!
ylv944elipseskism – :
This is beautiful honeyed flower. I LOVE honey and it’s hard to find a good one, and this one if truly nice. Unfortunately, my skin really projects musk strongly so this one isn’t a total winner for me, but it could be perfect for the right person.
erurlertyn – :
Golden Cattleya is phenomenal, my favourite of all the Olympic Orchids I’ve tested so far.
Narcissus and orange blossom drizzled with insanely intense honey, and finished with a dusting of fuzzy pollen. The composition is sweet, but not sugary. A must-try for honey lovers. Performs well longevity wise, 6 hours later it’s still going strong.
I think I’ll be needing a full bottle of this!
korolek – :
I’ve been looking for perfumes with honey notes so thought I’d give it a shot. Well, like everyone else has said, this is all about HONEY. There are some faint yellow flowers but it is a fairly sweet, almost crossing over into cloying and slightly skanky, honey fragrance. I think it would layer nicely with other fragrances that can use a dash of honey like a light citrus cologne. It lasted a good 5-6 hors on me although was very faint at the far end. It is a comforting fragrance and think it would do well for either warm or cold days.
The orchid fragrances I have sampled are my favorites from what I’ve sampled so far which is a surprise to me as I’m not a huge wearer if floral perfumes. I’m curious to try the others and am also becoming quite curious about these fragrant orchids.
fqu952Unlogrere – :
This one bounds up to meet you like a honey-warm golden retriever. No subtlety here. All honey and beeswax on a Summer afternoon.I have hesitated a long time before buying a FB because it is pretty sweet, but have decided that nothing reminds me so beautifully of bees working on a summer afternoon.
fedorecov – :
Sweet honey, slightly floral and a woody dry down. Very thick honey scent. Not too much fruit, it’s more like orange blossom honey than the fruit itself.
Vamapir – :
Exactly what 2746cstreet said!! I can add nothing to her review, and so her words will also speak for me.
alexey199331 – :
I thought I was going to love Golden Cattleya based on the fragrance notes. Sadly that is not the case. The opening gave me honey which I love but soon afterwards I smelled like I was dusted with pollen from an acacia tree. It was so bad that my eyes started to feel dry and itchy. The next day people at work could smell it on me despite the fact that I took a long shower to wash it off. My female co-workers liked it. Yesterday I retrieved my sample from the trash to give it another chance. The second wearing didn’t go as bad. I almost liked it but I can’t deal with anything that even remotely smells like acacia pollen on me.
uxf414Bessinepome – :
Golden Cattleya smells like you’ve kicked open a beehive. Rich, intense honey.
This is the best, most uncomplicated honey fragrance I have tried. If you want honey, and nothing but honey, this is a wonderful, natural smelling option.
Sweet, but not cloying. There’s a slight bitterness from the labdanum that keeps this from being what I would call a gourmand.
Sweet and slightly floral, as it should be. Afterall, that’s where honey comes from.
q.artur – :
I love this! It is all about the honey, but I can also smell the daffodil and orange flower. This is the first fragrance I’ve tried out of the sample pack I just received, but if this is a clue as to the others I think I’m going to be buying a lot of FB’s from Olympic Orchids!
Unfortunately it doesn’t last very long at all, only 1-2 hours. I like it anyway though 🙂
UPDATE: I don’t know what the problem was the first time I tried this, but this stuff lasts forever on me now. I was wearing this last weekend and I just picked up the jacket I wore at the time and got a huge whiff of this fragrance still in the fabric. It’s really fantastic 🙂
zenona – :
I think this opens creamy mixed with a bit of a leather like note. I think the florals or possibly it’s the resin ending that make the fragrance a bit too sharp for this to be a great love but I really like it. The honey is not overwhelming nor do I find the fragrance too sweet. The scent is warm and long lasting. I can see this being great for a man if he has the right body chemistry.
knh249bedyWelty – :
Honey with some others scents that reminds me HONEY…LOL.
If you like honey, go ahead.
It is an exotic and well done perfume.
WorksArt – :
I can’t help but agree with the reviewers below, this perfume is sublime!! A delightfully captivating warm floral, it opens with honeyed richness and bright cheery narcissus shining through a wonderful blend of notes. Past the opening orange evolves, and I love orange in fragrances, this one is delectable and clearly discernible. Vanilla and musk embrace the entire scent, sandalwood and amber in the base make it balmy. This perfume has a hypnotic quality to it, I could easily find myself lost in the depth and indolence of this fragrance. A must have for oriental lovers, there is absolutely nothing generic about this fragrance. It has a luxurious and very “real” quality, and (packaging aside) I could see it placed well among other “house classics” on the shelves in upscale stores. Brilliant!
максикон – :
After gratefully recieving a sample packet, from Ms Covey, my husband and i have tested through the group and found gem after gem. Tonight, it is a little balmy and the air is humid, breezy, but not hot. A good friend and i both donned GC and immediately noticed a brightening citrusy note in the beginning. As it settled, i left the room, and as she & i would walk past one another we’d love the gorgeous trail we would encounter. It excited us both! Among the lush honey, labdanum, and amber, there seemed to be a powerful olfactory effect taking place. A sense of nag champa incense perhaps? GC becomes exotic, and captures a feel of almost “taboo” in the sudden warmth, excitement, and racing heart that brought me back to the seductive and rushing anticipation of a youth sneaking into a “smoke shop” and discovering many, but never all of its forbidden delights. After this initial sensation began to wane, i enjoyed my stay in the beautiful golden haze, a light sandalwood, and barely detectable incense note appeared, and the scent slowly began to shift into a sensuous languidity like the aftermath of said forbidden delights.. lingering in the air, seducing with a memory, making me want to lift my hair, bare my neck to the breeze and close my eyes. Maybe just drift of into the sweet, exotic, goden siren song.
My husband immediately fell for this “sirens song”, on myself, as well as on him. we will be purchasing fb’s in the near future.
I would recommend trying all of the line. The quality is right here.
pintoha – :
I got a sample pack from Olympic Orchids yesterday in the mail and so far have tried three of the scents. This one smells lovely– a honeyed floral scent. I put it on exactly 12 hours ago when I was getting ready for work and can still smell a faint honey-tinged, powdery trace of it on my skin. So far, all 3 scents that I’ve tried from this line feel extremely pretty and feminine. Really amazing quality, especially for the price. Now, I just have to figure out which one will be my first full bottle purchase from the line. 🙂
sintacs – :
This is a beautiful honey fragrance. It’s not too overpowering as I find a lot of honey scents to be. The other notes supporting this scent are quite soft. As another reviewer said, it really is all about the honey. I highly agree, if you like honey scents, this is a must have for you.
Стрекоза – :
The best truly warm honey fragrance I have ever smelled. It´s ALL ABOUT THE HONEY. Pretty strong, this has an excellent quality. Lasts very long and fortunately does not develop, it stays the whole time the same like the opening, only less intensive. Remindes me a little bit of Red pearl paris bleu, but this is much better. If you love honey, a must have.
ascergoachier – :
After a heady grande green floral opening this precious liquid turns a breathtaking golden colour. The warm colour of honeycombs, two or three brushes of suinshine colour, a line or two of a burning sunset. All of this and more. Yew it’s sweet no doubt about it but it’s also slightly musky and unashamedly sexy. In the dry down it becomes more resinous,it has a very pleaasing sillage and wonderful tenacity around 7 hours. It’s definitely one of the most interesting interpetations of a perfumed built around honey. Mmmm….
vitalik2 – :
Lovely, but honey is too much for me.
Sherif11 – :
Maybe the sparkling note is cream soda Moyra? Fantastic stuff. I don’t want anyone to find this one…Bravo! Bravo! Shhhhhhhh………
yanahal – :
I am so excited that this beautiful line of perfumes is finally on Fragrantica!
Although undoubtedly sweet, Golden Cattleya completely lacks the banal, boring, everything-smells-the-same element of most contemporary sweet scents because it literally seems to sparkle.
That “sparkling” note is one I can detect in several of the Olympic Orchid “orchid” perfumes, perhaps the perfumer’s version of the famed “guerlinade”, but one completely original and her own. Its addictive – I may well have to have all her orchid scents!
Golden Cattleya is also inexplicably honeyed, fruity ,flowery and yet resin-y/woody at the same time- its truly unlike anything else I have.
The symphony of notes goes on and on and on, with beautiful sillage and 8 hour plus lasting power.
It has garnered a ton of compliments, and all my other perfumes are languishing for want of attention these days, because I consider Golden Cattleya one of the very best things I have smelled or worn in years.
A perfume blog I read referred to the perfumer, Ellen Covey, as a genius.
You know what?
I couldn’t agree more!
black_wolf.68 – :
I have been keeping orchids for many years. For me the orchid perfumes of Olympic Orchids accurately represent both the beauty and the complexity of orchid fragrances. Golden Cattleya is rich and heady just like the flower with the added depth of labdanum, amber and sandalwood. Golden Cattleya is a scent I would feel comfortable wearing day or night, anytime of the year, in any situation. When I wear this fragrance I am surrounded, but never overpowered by a golden scent and visual aura. A great synesthetic experience!
ShourahaubcoM – :
This fragrance is honey sweet, intense and tender altogether, unusual and exotic without any exotic fruit notes.