Osmanthus is one of my favorite floral notes. It is a flowering tree native to China; a related variety is known as Tea Olive in the southern United States. It has a bright, fruity aroma, with hints of apricot. The notes for the Ormonde Jayne Osmanthus are pomello, davana (a sweet Egyptian herb), pimento, osmanthus, water lily, jasmine, cedar, labdanum, musk and vetiver.
Ormonde Jayne Osmanthus starts with a nice burst of citrus (allrecipes has an article on pomello), and light herbal notes. The osmanthus itself is simply radiant; I do not know of any other perfume that so perfectly catches the beauty of the flower. The water lily and jasmine are more muted, as is the cedar. It has a lovely smoky-resinous undertone from the labdanum that saves it from being too sweet and pretty.
Osmanthus is perhaps more linear than the rest of the line, but it is also one of the most cheerful scents I know. It is fresh, exuberant, and like all of the Ormonde Jaynes, lush without ever coming close to heavy or cloying. Although it rates third in my affections, after Frangipani and Champaca, it is actually the only bottle I have used up and replaced, for although it is very much a spring/summer scent, it is also the perfect antidote for a cold, dreary winter day, and I tend to use it more often than the other two.
I have really enjoyed wearing all of my Ormonde Jaynes in the same week, and again, warm thanks to Linda Pilkington for participating in the interview. Unfortunately, I do not have any Tolu or Sampaquita on hand at the moment, and my memory is not good enough to write a detailed review. Fans of either fragrance, please feel free to add your impressions to the comments.
Ormonde Jayne Osmanthus is available in 50 ml Parfum (shown just above) or Eau de Parfum, and in a variety of matching bath, body and home fragrances. For buying information, see the listing for Ormonde Jayne under Perfume Houses.
A few other fragrances with osmanthus notes: Serge Lutens Datura Noir, Keiko Mecheri Osmanthus, La Perla Eclix, Hermès Osmanthe Yunnan, Acqua di Biella Janca.
Note: image is (untitled) [cropped] by titanium22 at flickr; some rights reserved.
Frangipani and Champaca are my favorites, too, and the only ones I now own. I loved your description of the OJ's, “lush without being heavy or cloying”. So true.
Osmanthus is amazingly long-lasting for a light floral. It stays bright throughout.
I, too, prefer Frangipane Absolute over Osmanthus. No matter how pretty the scent, I find linear florals boring after a while.
Thanks for this series on OJ, R!
Thank you! Glad someone else likes my favorites, I think we are the minority. Everyone else seems to love Ormonde the best.
It is true, it lasts over 24 hours for me. I wish the Frangipani lasted that long, although it has good lasting power too.
Not fair – now I want to try this one. What ARE you trying to do cause a divorce??? Seriously – once again a lovely review. I can't wait for tomorrow – I am so wanting this one…are you going to kill the lemming….or feed it??? Thanks again for a wonderful report!!!
F, I am so curious what you will think of both Osmanthus & the iPF! We shall know soon enough.
I did not like this too much at first – did find it rather linear. However – last month when I visited Linda – I fell in love with this. It was a choice between this and Ta'if (as I have all the others) – I chose Osmanthus. This will be a perfect summer fragrance for very warm days in Paris. 🙂
N, I have no objection to linear so long as it is as beautiful as Osmanthus 🙂
have finally get around to test this. Up till now, I have tested this one, Champaca, Frangipani and Ormonde women.
When I first smelt them, Osthmanthus did seem relatively bland, but now I can almost decided that if I am ever going to buy one OJ, it will be this one. It's much sweeter than any fragrance than I used to wear, but it's such a quiet unslicky kind of sweetness, I can't compare it to anything I have ever worn.
Champaca was my instant favourite. But unfortunately my skin turns Champaca into tomato juice and I sadly could not wear it.
I can see why Ormonde women is a favourite too. It is very rich but probably too rich for my liking. May be that's due to part of me wants to stay young.
I like Frangipani, I love how the scent stays close to skin. It's such a true Frangipani scent. I thought I wouldn't like it cos I find the flower rather overpowering, and in fact, after wearing this for a day, I still have doubts if I wish to smell it every day, but I admire how distinguished it is from other fragrance in the market.
What I love about Osmanthus is how cheerful it is. Have you tried Parfum d'Empire Osmanthus Interdite? That is also lovely, and of course Hermes Osmanthe Yunnan.
Oh thank you Ormonde Jayne. Osmanthus just dazzles me! It’s floral and citrusy and is amazingly fresh. After the herbal and citrus top notes, it emits more interesting aspects – I get jasmine and water lily, but still with a gorgeous citrus under current. And then settles beautifully with a vanilla and musk. More suited for the summer,
I will definitely repurchase.
So glad you love it 🙂
I am completely enamored by the house of Ormonde. Her perfumes are unique, one of a kind and serve to draw you into their 'Iair', even if you aren't immediately sure of them. I currently own Ormonde Woman, and much to the chagrin of my now dwindling finances, I have Orris Noir and Champaca currently winging their way to prominent display areas waiting their arrival upon my dresser. I too adore Frangipani, but sadly it's fleeting on me. Osmanthus is definitely a pick-me-up frag..one which IMO could definitely be pulled off by the gents…I find it injects itself nicely into the unisex category. I am not normally fond of unisex scents, but this too has captured my attention in a mesmerizing manner. And yes, long lasting. Next to try for me will be Tolu, Ta'if and Sampaquita. And to think I used to be a mainstream girl! Once you go niche, you never go back!
So glad you've fallen for the OJ line! I really do think Sampaquita is the only one that really doesn't interest me at all — but I do know people who love it. You must try Ta'if!
I ordered the OJ sample set a few months ago and finally, just this morning, spritzed my sample of Osmanthus. Now I’m wondering why I waited so long! I’ll see how it wears throughout the day, but so far, it is love at first sniff. The citrusy opening is refreshing. OJ is the most consistently good line I’ve encountered so far; every scent has a quality and complexity to it, and and identity distinct from others in the line.
As for Tolu, I’ve never been an Oriental fan, but it strikes me as the best Oriental I’ve ever tried. I’ll use up my sample, but it’s unlikely I’d ever puchase a FB of an Oriental scent.
So glad you like it! It has distinctly fewer fans than the others, I think.
I just dont understand why Ormonde Jayne is even considered Fine Fragrance–she lacks any original thought. Each scent is a knock off and the quality is inconsistent. Im afraid many are just being drawn by the overpriced packaging.
Glamgoods,
Could you tell me what this is a knock off of? I’d like ot give it a try.
I really like this scent and it would be interesting to test similar ones.
I’d like to know what Ta’if is a knock off of too, and Frangipani!
Clarins Par Amour does a surprisingly good imitation of Taif (or vice versa–I have no idea which came first) for something you can buy from a discounter for $45. I think someone–PereDePierre?–did a side-by-side review of them.
Alas, I don’t know what else smells like Frangipani…
Yes, it sorta does, although I much prefer the Ta’if (which came first). Not really looking for smell-alikes for the OJs so much as wanting to hear what this person thinks they’re knock-offs of.
Adding…did not mean to sound rude & hope I didn’t! Actually many people would probably find the Ta’if / Par Amour comparison very helpful. And for anyone who wants a link to the Pere de Pierre review:
http://www.peredepierre.com/2009/01/par-amour-par-amour-toujours-clarins.html
Not to worry–not rude at all. Ya gotta defend the perfumes you love!
It’s more than that…it’s that it’s always suspicious when someone registers just to make a negative, accusatory comment on a particular review. Everybody is free to like or not like whatever, but that always seems like somebody has an axe to grind that may or may not relate to the perfume.