What does Lychee smell like?
Peel a lychee and the smell is a surprise. You expect fruit and get wet rose. The translucent flesh smells of light syrup and muscat grape, with a touch of grapefruit. In perfume the accord keeps that fruit-or-flower ambiguity. It sparkles for the first minutes, then steps behind rose or peony. Overdosed it turns to candy. Handled well, it adds a dewy brightness that peach and raspberry can't.
Origin and production
The lychee (Litchi chinensis) is native to southern China, where it has been grown for more than two thousand years. A Tang dynasty story has the emperor sending fresh lychees to his consort Yang Guifei by relays of horsemen. The flesh can't be distilled, so perfumers rebuild its scent. Chemists have found rose oxide in the fruit, the same molecule that occurs in rose and in Gewürztraminer wine.
How perfumers use it
A lychee accord is built from rosy and fruity notes, often sharpened with a little grapefruit. It pairs with rose, peony, pink pepper and white musks. Chanel Coco Mademoiselle (2001) hides it in the heart next to rose. Dolce & Gabbana The One sets it up top with mandarin. Parfums de Marly Delina uses it as one of the engines of its fruity rose, and Ex Nihilo Fleur Narcotique uses it to air out white flowers.
How to wear it
Lychee belongs to spring and mild days, ideally worn in daytime. On dry skin Delina lasts longer sprayed on a sweater than on the wrist.
