Reviews of Olène (1988)
by Diptyque

Olene is a white-hot white floral that sears itself into your brain like a lightning bolt. Jasmine and muguet, but lacking the smooth, pleasing roundness of the real flowers, being both a simpler and more stripped down accord as well as being ten times louder than nature's version. This is a sharp fragrance, but surprisingly not heavy given the volume of the sillage. It lasts a long time, too, developing a slight mushroomy quality far into the base I've yet to identify.

Bold and shocking but not particularly unique or interesting, this is a floral with amphetamine psychosis.

Olène is a pretty white floral scent but it’s too feminine for me too pull off, especially during the drydown.

Quite feminine. I find it a very strong white flower fragrance—heavy, and I don’t get much of the powder that has been mentioned. I also get a somewhat sharp, quite viscous (think: slimy) green note, which I like at first, but it soon turns on me. Primarily this scent is a strong white flower fragrance, without much more happening. If I try, I can get a hint of the mothball effect that takemyhusbandplz mentioned. As in most of Diptyques’s fragrances, it is very linear. This is a scent that doesn’t hold my interest for long because I feel that these particular accords need to go somewhere—to do something; since they don’t, it brings out a boredom that could easily lead to annoyance. Hence, I find that its linearity is a negative. Olene has excellent longevity. It’s not a terrible scent, but there are more interesting and better white floral fragrances around.

This is patently unwearable by men. Even on women, I don't think it's that great. The white florals are very vibrant and pure, but they're also extremely heavy and not balanced by other notes. As a result, it smells dated.

Sharp yet soft - if that makes sense. Olene, composed of white florals headlined by wisteria and narcissus, has a whip-crack of some kind of sharpness to it. Whether it comes from the fragrance's alcohol content - all Diptyques I've ever tried have at least a moderate alcohol reek - or some of the spicier aspects of the narcissus or both, I'm not sure. But it's there, as is the honey-plush heat from what has got to be either honeysuckle or jasmine or both. Gardenia and tuberose - I think they may be in Olene as well, particularly the tuberose which adds least a little of its singular clean-dry-butteriness to the mix. Not much, though. Straight white florals are straight white florals to me and Olene's no exception. I hate to say it but *yawn* another non-starter from Diptyque for me, too predictable, too plain. I am giving it a neutral, however, because it's a pretty one in spite of its simple nature.