Peony Bud
Note Profile
About
Peony bud is the closed flower, before it opens. Like plain peony it is always a synthetic reconstruction. Peony is a mute flower, which Premiere Peau defines as "a bloom whose scent cannot be captured through any conventional extraction method". Parfumo catalogues Peony bud separately in 5 perfumes between 2014 and 2021 and files it under two parents, Bud and Peony. It usually sits in the top note, where plain peony more often sits in the heart. One grower calls the tight bud crisp and green. One peer-reviewed study of a herbaceous peony found no scent at all at the bud stage.
Scent Profile
Peony Bud smells green and fresh, like cut grass or leafy stems, crisper than the open flower. A dewy, watery quality runs through it, the same cool freshness every peony carries. The full floral bouquet has not arrived yet at this stage, so the bud reads more green than blossomy.
ScentWheel
Read off the wheel, not a label applied to the note.
ScentArt
Origin
Paeonia, the unopened bud rather than the open flower. There is no peony extract of any kind, so there is no peony bud extract either. What a perfumer puts in the bottle is a built accord aimed at the closed bud, the same way plain peony is a built accord aimed at the open one. This one shifts it toward the green, watery reading a grower reports for tight buds and away from the fuller floral character that arrives at full bloom.
Usage in Perfumery
Parfumo records 5 perfumes from 2014 to 2021, most often in the top note. Two brands use it. In Pivoine Feerie by Jeanne en Provence the pyramid carries Peony bud in the top beside citrus fruits and Peony in the heart beside violet and white blossoms. The brand's own note list treats them as two materials in one formula. That is the strongest single piece of evidence that this term is not another name for peony.
Similar Notes
Perfumes featuring Peony Bud
A selection of reviewed perfumes where Peony Bud appears prominently.
No perfumes featuring this note have been reviewed yet. Check back soon.