This morning I had a 7:00 A.M. meeting. I sprayed today’s sample on not long before leaving the house, and it only takes me about 10 minutes to get to work. Like the other Ormonde fragrances, this one has a very bright opening, perhaps a bit too bright for a 7:00 A.M. meeting. As this meeting will be an ongoing thing through the fall, I guess I’ll need to be careful about what I wear on Wednesdays.
Don’t get me wrong, though. I love Ormonde Jayne. I would own all of these fragrances in a heartbeat, finances permitting. Like Champaca, Ormonde Woman has a very bright opening. (An interesting note, in the insert she includes with her sample pack, she suggests applying her perfumes as soon as you leave the shower. If you’re like me, there are several layers of lotions and potions to contend with that might muck up the scent, not to mention I’ve heard that applying fragrance fresh out of the shower is not a great idea, as it evaporates.)
The Ormonde Jayne site lists the notes as follows:
Top: Cardamom, coriander, and grass oil
Heart: Black hemlock, violet, and jasmine absolute
Base: Vetivert, cedar wood, amber, and sandalwood
What I love about her fragrances is how they unfold so slowly. Unlike other perfumes that open brightly and then quickly fade to simple florals (or else just stay harsh), this one stays bright for quite some time. I realize “bright” is a visual term. I associate this smell with intensely bright morning sun. But as the sun moves higher into the sky, the intensity mellows a bit, as does this fragrance. It becomes a sweet and intensely sexy (I think) scent. The sweetness is not a candy or cloying floral. It’s delicate spice and amber, along with violet. But it's not lush like Frangipani, the headiness of it wafting up at you every now and again and making you swoon. It's a desert scent, a clear bright hot day with a painfully blue sky, but not scorching. It's close like that kind of desert heat that settles close and fools you into thinking you aren't really hot, don't need any water. It's comfortable, part of the skin. It becomes personal in a lot of ways other scents I've tried do not.
My nose is immature, and so I am afraid I can’t do it justice. Is the hemlock there? I’m sure it is, but sadly, I don’t know what black hemlock smells like. Honestly, I’m going to have to find a class. There must be one in Atlanta! Remember folks, you’re on this journey with me. I discuss my thoughts about each sample without consulting any source other than the perfumer’s site, for the notes.
But I feel it’s my duty, when I finish getting my amateurish thoughts down, to point you to a real review when I can, and you can read a wonderful review of Ormonde Woman at Peppermint Patty.
And if you’re a beginner like me, you should also check out Peppermint Patty’s post for today, which is a primer for perfume beginners. Unfortunately, she didn’t post this before I ordered a gajillion samples, or I would have tried to follow her suggestions. But I am sort of out in the middle of the ocean now, so I’ll keep swimming.
