Osmanthus Ormonde Jayne for women

Parfum Review
Oh my God. This was such a lackluster decision on my part to add to the sample pile that I removed it two times. Honestly, there's not a note listed above that I like, and I'm only luke warm about musk.

Well now... fancy me loving a watery, fast-flowing aquamarine floral. This had me at hello, and it must be the pomelo that bursts forth, and wowza is all I can say about it. This wears like a kiss from a six year old ballerina. Delicate, fresh, and light on its feet. Makes you smile and think you could too could stand on your tippie toes and do a spin.

I'd put this one right next to Apres L'ondee on my shelf, this is the sunshine after the rain.

I did not expect to like this fragrance, as I usually find "warm and sunny" citrus-based fragrances problematic for me. I think what really makes this special is the addition of beautiful floral and musk notes that keep this from seeming to "sparkling" to me. I find this scent stays more linear throught it's wear, which is unlike so many of the Ormonde fragrances that really bloom and change over time. The dry down smells much like the opening, just less citrus. This has turned out to be one of my favorite scents from the line, it is just perfect for warm weather when one wants something with a little impact without being overly heavy. I just adore this fragrance and it ended up being one of my first full bottle purchases from this line.

This scent is delightful indeed...

True sensuality in liquid form...

It starts very subtle and citrusy, then the water lily and jasmine sambac reveal themselves...after an hour or so, it starts to settle into a gentle and sophisticated cedar and animalic musk...which is sensual and erotic...

Great longevity and sillage...

Ormonde Jayne OSMANTHUS is a fairly fruity floriental to my nose, opening with a strong citrus demeanor which fades to some extent though the fruitiness never really goes away. This leads me to suppose that osmanthus may itself have a fruity aspect to it, which I found also in KM OSMANTHUS, though in that composition I felt that the floral was close to cherry blossom, and I don't feel that way here.

OJ OSMANTHUS definitely has a heft to it: this is not a dilute frag but a fruity floral perfume, and I do detect a substantive resin note throughout, further evidence for which is the good longevity of this creation. The oriental quality I attribute to the pimento and davana (an Egyptian herb, according to the house's literature). I recommend this perfume to fruity floral lovers looking for niche-quality notes. The fruitiness here is rather significant, but it is not overly sweet and smells entirely natural to me.

I'm still not sure what osmanthus itself smells like, so my quest for further clarity on this note continues...

As far as I know, I have never smelled osmanthus flowers, so can't judge how close this scent comes to the real thing, or where the "osmanthus" note is in the mix. The good thing about not knowing is that I could not be disappointed if there was nothing osmanthus-like in the scent. I tried my sample for the first time last night, and the scent is still lingering this morning, so it has good staying power. It starts out with a smooth citrusy, herbal, floral bouquet that remains throughout the evolution of the scent. After about a half hour, I found that the most prominent impression was of green tea with jasmine. In fact, I would classify this as a "tea" scent rather than a floral. The drydown holds no surprises, it's just a gradual fading of everything. I really didn't get much in the way of base notes.

My opinion is that floral scents smell good only on flowers, not on me, but thanks to its strong tea notes, OJ's Osmanthus is a "floral" that I could wear on occasion.

Osmanthus flower plays an important role in Chinese culture. Osmanthus has the same pronunciation as word "honor" in chinese, so people thought it stands for wealth and rank. In old days, almost every high society family would have this plant in their gardens. As the osmanthus flower has the honey-ish sweet smell, chinese people love to use it to flavor food. The local shops also have monothemed osmanthus fragrances sold on their shelvs.

This love for osmanthus made me quite exciting when I got a small sample of this scent, I expected a realistic osmanthus smell. But it turned into a little bit disappointment after trying it on: OJ's Osmanthus is not what I expected, it not at all resemble to the real flower.

It has juicy pomelo in the openning, very fresh, then some sweet notes here and there, not floral nor fruity, something light and between. This is the only thing that I could link the scent with the real osmanthus flower, it's like a faint image you get from a sketch.

Despite the disappointment, I can't deny its lovely aspects. This is the most cheerful scent I got so far. Smell of spring! It's simple, linear(it doesn't change much, only less citrusy and more softer), but it does the trick.

If you expect a "real" osmanthus scent as I did, then don't bother to try, it won't satisfy you. But if you are finding something up-lifting, lovely with a hint of osmanthus feel but not overwhelming, OJ's Osmanthus would be what you're looking for.

I mostly get the upper notes, in a watery, sunny floral blend. It's pretty and shiny, though I could wish for more base notes. Very pretty.