Petrichor is the scent that is created when the rain hits dry ground after a long period of dry weather. Bacteria, plants and even lightning can all play a role in the pleasant smell we experience after a thunderstorm. This scent has long been chased by scientists and even perfumers for its enduring appeal. First named by two Australian researchers in the 1960s as petrichor, it is the warm, earthy fragrance we experience when rain hits dry ground. It was already a signature fragrance being produced in Kannauj, a village in Uttar Pradesh, India in the 1960s and was called "mitti attar" (Earth's perfume). This village has been capturing the scent of rain and do it to this day.
For a bit more of a scientific look, you know how just before it rains, you can smell the rain? That's because the air becomes more humid and the ground begins to moisten. This process helps to speed up the activity of the actinobacteria and more geosmin is formed. When raindrops fall on the ground, especially porous surfaces such as loose soil or rough concrete, they will splatter and eject tiny particles called aerosols. The geosmin and other petrichor compounds that may be present on the ground or dissolved within the raindrop are released in aerosol form and carried by the wind to surrounding areas. If the rainfall is heavy enough, the petrichor scent can travel rapidly downwind and alert people that rain is soon on the way. The scent eventually goes away after the storm has passed and the ground begins to dry. This leaves the actinobacteria lying in wait – ready to help us know when it might rain again.
You will receive a 1/2ml sample (1ml sample vial filled half full) of each of the following fragrances.
- Andromeda’s Curse Tempestarii Perfume Oil – Grey cumulo-nimbus clouds, a crash of lightning, a shift in the atmosphere and a tumultuous downpour. Tempestarii is an ozonic, earthy, aquatic fragrance with notes of thunderstorm, muddy dirt and wet grass.
- Eliza Cosmetics Lake Hali Perfume Oil – "I saw the lake of Hali, thin and blank, without a ripple or wind to stir it, and I saw the towers of Carcosa behind the moon." Located in Carcosa, Lake Hali is mentioned in "Cassilda's Song" as the lake that "the twin suns sink behind" each evening. Because it is described as a calm lake, the perfumer tried to create something that conveyed murky depths, with notes of earth and petrichor alongside the clean aquatic accords. Despite being a lake and not an ocean, the perfumer did add a seaweed note to emulate algae-like growth. Lake Hali at first seems like a clean, marine-based scent, but there's something strange lingering beneath its smooth surface. It features top notes of galbanum and green notes; middle notes of iris, seaweed and marine notes; and base notes of amber, petrichor, earth and soil notes.
- Hex Mundi Rain Song Parfum - Based on Rain Song - Houses of the Holy, Side A, Track 2, this was the perfumer’s genuine effort to swathe you in petrichor and jasmine.
- Osmofolia Geosmin Perfume Oil – Geosmin is the scent of earth after a fresh, clean rain. It features top notes of wet aldehydes and ozone; middle notes of geosmin and fresh water; and base notes of petrichor and soil.
- Sixteen92 Supercell 2025: Tenth Anniversary Edition Perfume Oil - Supercell is strictly produced in single, unique batches per release. Sixteen92’s first batch of Supercell was released in Spring 2015 and it has returned periodically in extremely limited releases. Only a single batch is made for each release and each year's batch is unique. 2025’s tenth anniversary batch incorporates a portion of their original 2015 reserve batch, yielding a very special, very limited formulation. Tornado Alley - there's a stillness, a quiet chaos of an oncoming storm. Supercell is a conceptual, hyper-realistic, atmospheric fragrance that bottles the essence of a Spring thunderstorm. The first cracks of ozonic lightning in the distance, rolling humid air, sharp green grass under heavy grey skies, the smell of rain on hot asphalt, crushed green stems, windblown hay, soaked earth and ancient branches snapped open by the forces of nature. The Calm Before (Top Notes) - electric ozone, sharp green grasses and asphalt; The Storm (Middle Notes) - petrichor, windblown hay and damp florals; and The Aftermath (Base Notes) - crushed stems, soaked earth and cracked branches. A conceptual, atmospheric, ozonic, dark floral and green fragrance.
- Sixteen92 Summer Mix Tape: This Is How I Disappear Parfum - This Is How I Disappear is part of the Summer Mix Tape Collection. The fragrances are inspired by emo and pop punk anthems, bottled for peak summer nostalgia. It is a soft and meditative rainy atmospheric fragrance with notes of summer petrichor, rainy windows, sweet sagebrush, glossy magazine pages and a soft dusting of incense.
