Ormonde Woman Ormonde Jayne for women

I first tried this fragrance in the Summer and found it a little syrupy but interesting. I had never smelled anything quite like it but wasn't quite in love yet. However, now that it is Winter, Ormonde Woman has come alive and is truly captivating. It is woody and green with a hint of sweetness but with something narcotic and mysterious hanging like a low mist amongst the tree branches. The most special thing about this perfume is the illusion of space between the top, middle and bottom notes. It is as if there are clearly defined layers of scent, as I stoop low to experience the mossy roots, straighten up to inhale a handful of leaves and twigs crushed between my fingers, then stand on tiptoe to capture something elusive on the wind.

The first thing I smell is sandalwood - a lot of sandalwood- along with some light flowers, vanilla, and a sour-smelling orris/violet, but not the powdery kind. I think part of the light, bright note in the beginning is due to the “black hemlock” (or is it black spruce?) listed in the OJ website notes. However, there’s so much sandalwood that it pretty much drowns out anything else.

The jasmine-orris-sandalwood combo has strong to moderate sillage and lasts for at least 6-8 hours on skin. I like this scent, but am not sure it’s something that I’d want to wear often simply because the Australian-type sandalwood and sour orris notes are so overpowering.

So many spectacular reviews on this!! And she deserves every one.... This is a potion, a dusky green beauty that conjures up the feeling of wood nymphs,fantasy, and things from an enchanted forest..

This has an extraordinary resonance that's weighted so perfectly. It captures the air without holding it captive. As everyone before me has mentioned it's definately green and woodsy, but the spices are done quite brilliantly. They weave in and out playing hide and seek with the amber. None of it stands up and says, "Pay attention to me!!!!!" Instead every ingrediant knows it's role and plays it exactly as written. This perfume is choreographed by a master.

Definately for fall winter, Ormonde Woman is sophisticated, sexy, mysterious, and compelling. I hope she never stops making it!

I am going to start by saying that nobody does forests better than Monsieur Lutens, referring to his Bois line! With this one I get green grassy oil initially drying to a darker, transparent, woody, and slightly powdery- flowery base, ladylike and a bit sweet, but also a bit "common" on my skin. I don't quite get any "dangerous" but so sought after witchiness out of it, and although I like it best of all the line, I will not purchase a full bottle. But I will keep my sample, so that in a future revisit, I might estimate it better.

If there were a fragrance category called Fairytale Chypre, Ormonde Woman would be the ur-example. It's very green and woodsy, yes, but with an underlying sweetness due to the jasmine, violet, and amber. I don't see it as dark and smoldering as Linda Pilkington intended it to be. More like Disney's Beauty and the Beast than an unabridged Brothers Grimm fairy tale. But even the disneyfied Beauty and the Beast had its dark, scary moments and themes. And whatever your personal opinion of Disney may be, you can hardly deny the beauty of that film's animation. Where was I going with this? Oh yes: Ormonde Woman is a wonderful perfume and the wait for my bottle to arrive from England will make for a long week indeed!

I've tried very hard to like this fragrance, and while it is a beautiful composition that agrees with my skin, it just isn't for me. It starts out very strong on the coriander for me, a fragrance note I usually enjoy, but something about the cold surroundings make the coriander feel too much for me. After wearing for about an hour or so I really start to get a STRONG woody note, I'm assuming this might be the black hemlock, although I could also see it being cedar (it has a bit of that hamster cage feel to it, very woody). The dry down is a bit less probelmatic for me, but I still get the strong woody base and it just makes this cold feeling in my opinion, even with the addition of amber which is quite a "warm" note and something I usually love. I wish I could smell more of the floral notes. I definitely get some of the violet, but nothing of the jasmine on my skin.

Someone in their review mentioned that it smells alot like Dior Addict, which I personally can't agree with. I own and enjoy Addict, and it is a very sweet fragrance dripping with vanilla and tonka notes with something fruity behind it, and nothing sharp or woody at all. However, there is something similar in the dry-down and I can almost see where they are coming from. I definitely don't smell any vanilla or tonka in this though.

I find the wear time on this one a bit shorter than some of the other Ormonde frgrances I have tried. All in all a brilliantly composed fragrance (like so many of the Ormonde Jayne scents), but it isn't something I would wear often.

Testing again. This is too sweet to be the scent of any kind of forest. It has individual wood and green notes, but the overall effect is 'perfumey' in a oriental-woody way. Regardless of the listing notes here, this definitely has some vanilla or tonka in the base. It is not at all what I would expect given the notes emphasized on most forums.

Very similar to Addict by Dior,although the notes are different.Great one and very good lasting power

It's like deep dark woods with violets( not the sweet kind)- very unique and i think it could be unisex..not something i would buy a fb of just because of personal preferences but it's certainly pleasant.

I've been wanting to try this for a long time, both because of it's good reviews and because of i'ts chypre status, which I must try :-)

After three wearings I can say this is one I could have passed on. Initially I thought it interesting, but (and this is my comment for all of her perfumes), the vetiver in the drydown is just too stinky.

I'll put up wiht a little stink if I get a good middle act, but I don't here. Jasmine to my nose rises or falls based on the supporting cast, which is just too heavy in this one.

I ended up getting frustrated and set this aside.

This scent consists of green and burnt woods—there are NO powders, musks, florals, fruits, or spices. This is a demanding and austere fragrance.

Think Anna Wintour. This is most likely what she smells like. Somehow, I mean it in a nice way.

I adore this fragrance because it is so unique. I do wish it had a bit more staying power, but that won't keep me from buying a bottle.

Wish I could agree with all the positive reviews but I do not feel the same way about this fragrance. It is a stinker to me. The top notes are overpowering and the rest of the dry down becomes a bit rank on my skin. I would suggest testing this before purchase. It can be definitely a scent that needs the right chemistry to wear it.

Ormonde Woman goes on a bit soft and needs a little time to reveal itself on your skin. How do I know this? I applied, couldn't smell it, reapplied, still couldn't smell it and applied some more. About 30 minutes later, whoosh! There it was, in spades!

Fortunately, it's a beautiful and delicate scent and I suspect it would be difficult to over-apply it.

I have tried Ta'if and Woman and I must say, Woman agrees with me much better. I'm not a huge fan of the Floral Woody Musk category but this perfume is breathtaking. Grassy green, with soft woods and fragile flowers. In spite of its subtlety, it has great persistance. I applied it almost 12 hours ago and I can still smell it on my wrist. It's one of the nicest scents I've had the opportunity to try this year.

It's just Impossible not to respect this perfume, very unconventional particularly as women's signature scent. The anther one that I tried properly is Tolu, and I like Ormonde Woman much more I think.
Very green scent, grass is particularly detectable in first notes, almost oily, than later on I don't feel it. In general it is very woody green smell, very dry with bitter spices. When wearing it I feel myself close to the nature, or walking in evergreen forest on a cold day.

Starts with a lovely piney and grass top notes that fade back for a more heavy oriental. It's just too heavy in the end for me, but I wish those opening notes would linger because they're lovely.

Oh yes, I agree with you, Leesee, unusual and remarkable, spicy-woody-fresh and warm at the same time. Dreamy, like a romantic walk in the woods.

It's woody-green for me, juicy and spicy at the beginning, but freshness doesn't leave you, it combines with such delicate airy floral which are not explicit, but like a fresh dewy grass and tiny flowers in it.
A wonderful scent I do wish to be mine.

To describe this fragrance adequately is akin to the act of not dying but going to heaven anyway. It is nigh impossible! From the initial cool, sylvan mist that rises up when you apply the scent to the warm and satiny woody-floral drydown, this fragrance performs the nearly impossible feat of being comforting, exhilarating, and alluring all at once. I have many great scents and love them all dearly but this is the one scent I own of which I am actually a little in awe.