Tolu Eau de Parfum

When I first tested Tolu, I thought it was similar to JD Jeffery Dames Duality and I still think that. I wore both perfumes because I considered buying both. I like JD Jeffery Dames Duality but, in the end, I decided I could do w/out it. Tolu was a completely different story. As I kept wearing Tolu and testing Tolu her secrets began to unfold for me and I became entranced w/ her beauty. Tolu starts off deep green, like an enchanted forest. That smell comes from the juniper and the Tolu balsam which is prevalent from beginning to end in this hypnotizing perfume. It makes this perfume smell alive. What I like about Ormande Jayne perfumes that work well for me is they smell alive and deeply connected to nature while still remaining a true perfume. Tolu has a Watery fresh orange blossom that throws a cooling tone over a very warm and woody fragrance. It gives this deep perfume lightness and an airiness that can sometimes be lacking in heavy vintage style perfumes. Rose is very strong here and is a powdery vintage style rose. But what impresses me most about this gorgeous perfume is how calming, warm and comforting it is. It literally beckons you to wear it. It is glamorous but down to earth at the same time. It is one of those perfumes that keeps calling your name until you surrender to its charms. Warm, rich, powdery, green, floral, amber that is sensual, womanly, seductive and quite bewitching. I am glad I got around to testing Ormande Jayne perfumes. I found 2 so far that I want very much and will end up buying. Tolu and Woman. Not everything they make is a homerun but what I like about this brand is when they get it right, they create magic. Tolu is in one word Magic.

This has to be one of the classiest yet still accessible perfumes I've ever smelled. This smells like quiet luxury to me. It smells like someone with generational wealth, as opposed to nouveau riche. It is so well-constructed and smells high quality. It's present without being ostentatious. The opening reminds me of a more modern Sisley Eau du Soir, which I thought was really lovely but I didn't have the vibe to pull it off (I may revisit in another 10 years). But this takes the best parts of Eau du Soir and makes it more down to earth and cozy. It's spicy and balsamic. As it dries down, it almost becomes soapy but not in a bad way. It's like the most luxuriously fragrant soap I've ever smelled, mixed with spices and amber. Also becomes a little sweeter. This can be a casual fragrance for every day and it can be used for special occasions. I love Ormonde Jayne, they make truly special fragrances that are elegant but never snobby and make me feel truly put together even when I'm not!

I couldn't wear Tolu when I first received the OJ Discovery Set. At the time, my body chemistry went to war with anything resinous. So glad that got sorted, because now it works on me, and it is absolutely gorgeous! While I love the peppery openings of many of the OJ scents, this one starts out much differently. There is an initial wave of orange blossom and sage, but still with a resinous underpinning. On me, the floral mid notes emerge quickly, predominantly a hint of rose and orchid. I never have the sense, though, that this is a floral perfume. The delicate spice and warm tolu keep their presence known throughout. It is sophisticated--a new classic for the 21st century. This scent is for the woman who wants to reach beyond gourmands and white florals into something that is complex, spicy, resinous, and a hint woody, while still being utterly feminine. Saving my pennies so I can spring for a bottle or travel set.

A structured and modern oriental beyond attempts to lean into images of feminine or masculine, a true in-between and on-its-own. Earthy and warm, Tolu can appear, depending on temperature and my mood, almost plush but not too sweet (no faux baroque or vertiginous flower secretions here to reinforce the reign of divas of whatever gender here), woody but never harsh (no armour of booze or desperate grapefruit bitterness to sound over softly beating hearts). A natural, clean, warm and sometimes happy balm, that is Peruvian tolu for me. I use also the stronger concentration (custom, more expensive - I couldn’t resist) that lets the base radiate into a bigger statement. However, there is a beautiful and naturalistic lily-of-the-valley layered into the warmth of woods and resins going on for while, which I love and miss in the higher concentration. For me, both versions masterpieces.

A beautifully structured, sublimely balanced, brilliant take on the "oriental" genre. Tolu turns the genre on its head by using fresh, sharp green herbal notes as well as a tinge of fresh, watery flowers on top of the ambery, incensy, resinous base, rather than the typical sweet vanilla and warm spices. This creates a gorgeous and disarming interplay between warm and cool notes that has me unable to stop sniffing my arm. I see a couple of reviews calling it powdery, but I'm not smelling powder at all. Though incense, to me, doesn't read as "powder", as apparently it does to others? (I consider scents like violet, iris, and some types of rose "powdery"). This review is based off a few hours spent with a decant; Tolu's immediately going on my BUY list.