Ormonde Jayne
Ormonde Jayne
95 votes
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
A burst of blackcurrant leaf pierces through first, supported by the citrus snap of Argentinian lemon—all brightness and slightly green tartness, like eating the fruit with the rind still attached. The pear adds a softer, almost honeyed sweetness that immediately begins tempering the top notes' initial sharpness, creating a fruity chaos that feels both energetic and refined.
By the second hour, the damask rose emerges with genuine presence, its slightly animalic, tea-like character working against the persistent berry sweetness rather than harmonising with it. The jasmine adds a creamy, almost spiced whisper beneath the rose, and this triad of fruit, rose, and jasmine creates an unexpectedly complex interior where no single element dominates—you're constantly catching different accords depending on how you move.
The base reveals itself gradually, with musk and amber creating a soft, powdery halo that never becomes skin-scent-warm. Vetiver threads through as a subtle mineralité, preventing the fragrance from turning gourmand or overly sweet. What remains is less a traditional base and more a delicate fading echo—fruit ghosts, rose dust, and the faintest suggestion of something woody and clean.
Damask Ormonde Jayne arrives as a paradox: a fragrance that feels simultaneously like biting into ripe fruit at dawn and inhaling the powdered intimacy of a Victorian dressing room. The blackcurrant and Argentinian lemon create a tart, almost bracing opening that prevents this from becoming a saccharine rose fragrance, instead anchoring the composition in something alive and slightly astringent. What distinguishes this scent is how the damask rose—that particular Bulgarian variety that smells faintly of tea leaves and old velvet—dialogues with the berry accord rather than overwhelming it. There's a peculiar restraint here; the florals bloom without theatrical grandeur, more whispered than announced.
This is a fragrance for those who find conventional rose scents either too perfumey or insufficiently complex. The synthetic accord at 52% lends a soft, almost cosmetic quality to the base, preventing the musk and amber from becoming creamy or skin-like; instead, they hover just above the epidermis like a finely milled powder. The vetiver grounds everything with a subtle earthiness, preventing the fruit and florals from floating into the purely gourmand territory.
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3.8/5 (103)