Damask

Rose is my favourite note so this ‘Damask’ scent offering from Ormonde Jayne excites me. Of the 30+ roses growing in my garden, this doesn’t remind me of the damask varieties that I have. The opening is sugary sweet like a hotly spun, pink candy floss. Later the blackcurrant cuts through with its sharp and tangy juice. The Italian lemon gives an additional fizzy zing, like sweet lemon sherbet. There is a further added sweetness from the fresh, aquatic, fruity pear.

The middle is dominated by the pink berries. This is the pinkest of pink fragrances and way too girlie for me – I feel surrounded by princess dressing-up costumes, fluffy pink slippers, more candy floss and a spritz of the scent of Elnett hairspray. The jasmine seems lost and the rose takes a step back at this stage, allowing the red berries to roll around juicily.

The dry-down has a little musk but the vetiver never shows his green head. The ‘mineral amber’ is odd in the fact that amber is one of the few gemstones which isn’t actually a mineral. This is because it’s fossilised, hardened tree resin, so it’s an organic material (like coral and pearls). The amber in perfumery (can be synthetically created), but it naturally comes from modern-day tree resin (solidifying after being sticky) which is then ground-up before being mixed with an oil carrier agent. So I’m not sure where the mineral aspect comes into this, I doubt they’d be using ancient, solid gemstones?

To me ‘Damask’ smells like bramble jam with fizzy lemon sherbet with a ton of sweet red berries (which the bashful rose hides behind). Ultra-feminine, sweet girlie giggles.

£135 for 50ml but the absolutely unbeatable jewel in Ormonde Jayne’s glistening crown will always be ‘Nawab of Oudh’.

TOP – Blackcurrant, Italian Lemon, Pear

MIDDLE – Rose, Jasmine, Pink Berries

BASE – Mineral Amber, Musk, Vetiver