Demeter Rain

At a glance

Rain is Demeter Fragrance Library’s attempt to bottle the smell of a spring shower: a sheer, watery cologne that Fragrantica dates to April 2009.

It has no published note pyramid and no credited perfumer. Demeter still sells it, in its Water collection, beside a companion scent, Thunderstorm.

Creation and context

Demeter was founded in 1993 by Christopher Brosius and Christopher Gable, according to both Wikipedia and Now Smell This, as a project to bottle everyday smells as wearable colognes. Wikipedia records that its first scents launched at Henri Bendel in New York in 1996, and both sources report that the company was sold in 2002 to Freedom Marketing Group. Demeter’s site now names Mark Crames as CEO and chief perfumer.

Fragrantica reports that Rain was presented in April 2009 and dates Thunderstorm to the same year. Parfumo lists the release year as unknown. Fragrantica describes Rain as reinterpreting “a complex moment of rain in spring” and calls it the purest, most crystal-like perfume in the Demeter collection.

Demeter’s own description calls Rain “one of the cleanest, and most delicate, fragrances in the Library”: sweet and fresh, with the smell of fresh rain.

The composition

Demeter does not publish individual notes for Rain, and neither database lists any: Parfumo records a single “rain accord.” What the sources do agree on is its character. Parfumo’s community classifies it as aquatic and fresh, with synthetic, green and earthy accords.

Reviewers differ on how literal it is. On Parfumo, one reviewer found it too citrusy and watery to smell like real rain, with a clean-laundry quality, while another described a sharp opening that turns into a sweet, cucumber-like aquatic in the Calone style. Demeter’s own customer reviews mention faint floral and herbal tones and a clean, humid effect.

Read it as an impression of damp air and wet greenery rather than a composed aquatic perfume.

Why it matters

Rain shows the Demeter method applied to weather: one idea, one name and a transparent cologne, sold at an everyday price. More than fifteen years on, Demeter still keeps both Rain and Thunderstorm in its line.

On this site it sits beside Demeter Ocean, the house’s seaside counterpart, and near other rain-themed scents such as TerraNova Rain, a very different floral musk.

Reformulation and editions

Demeter currently sells Rain as a cologne spray in 1 oz and 3.4 oz sizes, and Parfumo lists it as still in production. No reformulation history has been published.

Wearing it today

Rain is light, cheap and easy to wear in warm weather. Reviews differ on staying power: one Parfumo reviewer found it unusually long-lasting for a Demeter scent, while others on Parfumo and on Demeter’s site say it fades quickly. Plan to reapply.

Demeter presents its colognes as layerable, so Rain can also be used to freshen a heavier scent.

Related entries

Sources