Ormonde Jayne – Ormonde Woman

I’ve had a hard time working up the courage to review Ormonde Jayne Ormonde Woman. Partly because I don’t think I can do it justice; partly because this is an emotional perfume for me — it mesmerizes me and evokes just the most joyful and sorrowful feelings at the same time; partly because I want it to be my secret.

I have read mixed reviews on this — those who love it are head over heels, and those who don’t love it really cannot figure out what we who are smitten are raving about. I think it’s body chemistry. If that hemlock/violet hits your body chemistry, it is magic. If it doesn’t, you just don’t see Ormonde Jayne Ormonde Womans specialness. I generally don’t spray this on my arms. It has to be spritzed on the body, that’s where it gets its most fabulous.

Top: Cardamom, coriander and grass oil
Heart: Black hemlock, violet and jasmine absolute
Base: Vetivert, cedar wood, amber and sandalwood

Ormonde Jayne Ormonde Woman goes on sharp and fresh, almost tangy, the grass oil is pungent, like days I spent on the farm out in a hayfield. It is an earthy, almost bitter tang. Then there is a sweet spiciness that comes out with the coriander and cardamom. Once the top notes waft off a little, the hemlock and violet emerge, along with hints of the amber and sandalwood and cedar wood and vetiver. It is an earthy, joyous mix that is dark and almost narcotic, while it sheds light and zest..

It is the one scent that I prepare myself to put on in the morning, because I want to experience every bit of it. It’s not good for me to wear it on a busy day, it distracts me as I catch some dark violet, hemlock or woody whiff from time to time.

The best way I can describe it, this perfume smells like my life — rich in so many ways, dark and sorrowful in others, joyous and earthy, sometimes sharp and bitter. There are moments of clarity, you can see this scent clearly and know what it is, and then it becomes clouded by other notes, sometimes obscuring your view and sometimes enhancing it. If I try and get too close and scrutinize it, it loses something. Far better it is to spritz gleefully and just revel in the whole.

See, emotional. I am tempted to buy ten bottles of Ormonde Jayne Ormonde Woman so I never run out, but I don’t want to wear it every day – I couldn’t wear it every day. That seems almost to dilute its magic. Everyone should have one scent in their life that brings out this kind of feeling.

Ormonde Jayne, you are a genius. Not just for this scent, but for all the other lovely little creations you have stirred up, all of which are lovely and worthy just on their own.

I need all of them! My husband agrees with this, he has followed this scent from the upstairs, just to find out what I had on. He’s equally as entranced by the Isfarkand.  You can get Ormonde Jaye Ormonde Woman at their website (click the big banner ad at the top of the page) and you can get an Ormonde Jayne perfume sample or decant at Surrender to Chance