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Four New Ormonde Jayne - Nawab of Oudh, Tsarina, Qi and Montabaco

post #1 of 9
Thread Starter 
I've always believed Ormonde jayne to be a pretty solid line - despite that fact that many of the scents in the line are white florals/feminine perfumes which aren't particularly groundbreaking. But all of her scents are eminently wearable. But four new scents are in the pipeline and will be released in November, and I for one am looking forward to test them.

Nawab of Oudh and Montabaco sound especially interesting, given that Linda was the first European perfumer to use the oudh note in a fragrance well before the onset of the oudh fad.


Quote:
The latest collection of fragrances from Ormonde Jayne has been two years in the making. Linda Pilkington, creator of Ormonde Jayne, takes inspiration from the East, Latin America, China and Russia and gives them a London twist. It's a collection that reflects the cultural diversity of London and still seems exotic and far-flung.

Montabaco, named by Geza Schoen (who has a hand in all the creations here), and whose own range is Escentric Molecules, is the gaucho fragrance in the line-up - leather, suede, wood and tobacco leaf over rich florals, and like all of The Four Corners of The Earth bar one, packs a weighty punch. It's the most masculine of the four and lives up to its name.

Nawab of Oudh is the next fragrance, inspired by the Nahwabs who once ruled over the Oudh province of central India. Being a perfume simpleton, I always assumed Oudh was from Arabia but seemingly not. Linda describes it as the Oudh for people who don't like Oudh, but there seems such a whack of it that if you really don't like Oudh, you won't like this! However, shining through is a beautifully soft amber and rose roundness; Nawab settles into the skin gently and slowly.

I'm totally biased in favour of Tsarina from the four new arrivals. It's just about everything I could every want in a fragrance; they call it a floral oriental - I don't know what to call it because it seems to defy that category. It's sweet, rich, floral and vanilla-dipped without ever moving into a gourmande genre. It reminds me of a perfume from long ago but I can't remember which it is; Tsarina is ultra-feminine and I can't stop smelling my arm which is doused in it!

Finally, Qi, which means Breath of Life. This is representative of China, where strong fragrances aren't popular so it has been given the most delicate of hands. It's dry, green and very fresh with green lemon blosson, neroli and freesia and tea notes that sing through.

A large part of my day today was spent on The Orient Express - what better place to launch the fragrances? When it came to talking about creating these scents, Linda and Geza (who have a collaborative working relationship, hence Geza's part in The Four Corners Of The Earth Collection), lit up the carriage. They're not in the slightest bit pretentious - I nearly kissed Geza when he said the worst perfume known to man/womankind is Womanity because I could not agree more (figs, caviar and hazelnut - bleugh) - and Geza has that extraordinary ability to think in scent. By that I mean that he can think a smell which sounds all kind of odd... if you ask him what adding another ingredient, such as peppercorns, to a top note he will be able to think what that smells like and know if it will work without smelling it physically. I don't know if there is a word for people who can that but it has to be very rare.

I've known the Ormonde Jayne brand since it first arrived (Tolu is a favourite), and meeting fragrancers is one of my least favourite activities. They get all excited about ingredients and molecules and I can never smell what I'm supposed to smell. I need a literal translation - I can't read between fragrance lines. So, I guess the end product is the most important thing and Tsarina is the one that translated best to me. It's opulent and decadent, a little bit spoilt and princessy but very feminine so to me, that does represent what I imagine a Tsarina might be like.

These are phenomenally expensive at £260 for 100ml but for true fragrance coinnoisseurs they'll be worth every penny when they launch in November.

http://www.britishbeautyblogger.com/...-of-earth.html
post #2 of 9
Phenomenally expensive indeed. I want to smell Montabaco and Qi though.
post #3 of 9
wow 260 pounds? They'd better be good
post #4 of 9
Thread Starter 
Has anyone tested this? It's available only in London at Harrods and the OJ boutiques. The online boutique doesn't have samples and as OJ isn't available Stateside, I'm unable to come by these scents.

Oh, and the prices are even more exorbitant than I'd initially thought. £260 (Montabaco and Qi), £280 (Tsarina) or £332 (Nawab of Oudh). Crikey, they'd better be more than just 'good'.
post #5 of 9
£332 for a 100ml bottle? Reaching Puredistance M prices.
post #6 of 9
Quote:
Originally Posted by lsp_NY View Post

Phenomenally expensive indeed. I want to smell Montabaco and Qi though.

Ditto.
post #7 of 9
Stupid, ridiculous prices.

- - - Updated - - -

Stupid, ridiculous prices.
post #8 of 9
Looks like another of the over-priced ranges aimed at wealthy visitors from overseas.
post #9 of 9
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marais View Post

Looks like another of the over-priced ranges aimed at wealthy visitors from overseas.

Exactly.
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