Orris resinoid

Face powder, dry root, violet, wax, pale berry. A woody, dry-biscuit tone. Less sharp than orris butter but broader and warmer, and long-lasting on skin.

Orris has no dedicated standard in the IFRA 51 index and is not named in the allergen list of EU Regulation 2023/1545.

The resinoid is rich in non-volatiles and can be thick and slow to dissolve. Store dark, sealed and cool; warm gently before weighing.

Orris is the rhizome of two main iris species: Iris pallida, grown in the Tuscan hills around Florence, and Iris germanica, grown in Morocco and elsewhere. Plants need about two to three years in the ground before the rhizomes are lifted.

Fresh rhizomes have almost no orris odour. After peeling and drying they are stored for several more years. During this time iridals, odourless triterpenoids, oxidise slowly into irones. Irones are the ketones behind the typical violet and powder odour.

There are three main commercial forms. Steam distillation of the powdered root gives orris butter (concrete), solid because of its myristic acid. Solvent extraction, usually with ethanol, gives the resinoid. The absolute is made from butter or resinoid by removing fatty acids. The resinoid keeps more of the heavy fraction, so it is warmer and broader than the butter.

French, Spanish and Swiss producers list orris resinoid. Some lots are sold by stated irone content, since irones set the price.

In perfumery orris resinoid gives a powdery base to florals, violet, musk and soft leather structures. It also acts as a fixative. It costs less than butter but remains expensive because of the years of waiting.