One of the things I absolutely love about fragrance is just how personal a preference it is. From one person to the next, one’s taste in perfume can vary wildly! Finding a personal scent - one that’s truly your own - can be as unique as your signature. The fragrance we wear can leave a lasting impression on another person. Memories intertwined with perfume-laced stories of first kisses, unrequited loves or someone you held dear. They’re all there for the taking and the making.

I recently had the pleasure of an interview with Linda Pilkington, Founder of London-based perfume house, Ormonde Jayne. Now, I must admit, I’d been receiving press releases from the team at Ormonde Jayne for a while, but had never experienced their fragrances in person. Turns out, I didn’t know what I was missing! Until now…

Like music, scent carries its own secret power. A potency that can transport us back to a time or place without warning; redolence. As I’ve reached my thirties, I like to think that my taste in perfume has somewhat evolved and matured with me - for my interest in it has most certainly grown!

If I try to think back to the earliest scents that made me go “aaah”, it has to be things like the smell of soil - of scorched earth - after it’s rained, following a blistering hot summer’s day. It’s the smell of the Fengal bath oil my Nan used to pour into the hot water, ready for our little bodies to wash away the day’s grime, as we played with the silly elephant trunk back scrubber. It’s the incense my dad and his girlfriend used to burn, on the rare occasions that my sister and I would go and stay with them for a weekend – it spelled escape. Each of them a very type different of smell, offering a very different experience, but all incredibly evocative in their own ways.

In later life, I took a press trip to a gin distillery – where I found myself more taken with smelling botanicals, than I was in actually drinking the stuff! Such is the power that scent has over me. And it is from this experience, that I’ve begun to take more notice of the ‘notes’ that make up my favourite perfumes. Looking for when a pattern emerges in the fragrances that I collect and adore - or even admonish and abhor. There’s a reason for everything!

So, when into my inbox popped an invitation to “be transported back to ancient Mesopatamia, where ever you are, with the help of Zoom and the extraordinary flora of the Silk Route” via a chat with Linda. I immediately said “YES PLEASE!”. Unfortunately, I replied too late to the invite to be sent the Petit Fours of The Silk Road, so will be trying those out over the next few weeks. However, it was a great opportunity to find out more about the Petit Fours from the Signature Collection, that I’d been sent a few weeks back. My favourite of which was Ormonde Woman - a very unconventional and mysterious woody fragrance, which uses Black Hemlock as one of its heart notes. As soon as I read the list of notes, after smelling it’s ‘dusky, seductive fragrance’ I knew it was a perfume after my own heart! See here for a list of my favourite perfumes and the fragrance notes they contain, which became very apparent when I attended a bespoke perfume making workshop to create my own signature scent.

Ormonde Women - Eau de Parfum notes

• HEAD

  Cardamon, coriander and grass oil

• HEART
  Black Hemlock, violet and jasmine absolut

• SOUL

  Vetiver, cedar wood, amber and sandalwood

 It was during the conversation, done over Zoom (due to the restrictions put in place as a result of the loathsome Coronavirus) that I got to know more about Linda and her journey into perfume.

As it turns out, Linda and I are actually from the same neck of the woods! Small world, eh? Originally hailing from Altrincham, which is historically part of Cheshire (where I’m from), she's a natural entrepreneur and counts an ice-cream parlour with home-made flavours, that she owned in South America, as one of her early explorations into taste and scent. 

Linda began life as a Perfumer, and has some great clients to call her own, including the fabulous Blakes Hotel - what happens at Blakes, stays at Blakes… or so the saying goes! Her very first client – a friend, who knew her for being able to create exquisite room sprays – worked for Chanel as a Fine Jeweller. He asked her to create a bespoke fragrance for one of the Chanel jewellery stores and the rest is history! Ormonde Jayne perfumes, which are still independent - having resisted the urge to sell to bigger companies – can now be found at 200 points of sale across the world, including the Grand Dames of Department stores; Harrods, Selfridges & Co and Fortnum & Masons.

One of her most popular signature fragrances, Isfarkand, was actually created as a gift for her husband’s 30th birthday. But people loved it so much, that she decided to sell it as a fragrance in her boutique - with a dash of pink pepper, to really make it sing! Lots of people talk about their experience of wearing it!

Isfarkand - Eau de Parfum notes

• HEAD
  Lime, Mandarin and Bergamot

• HEART
  Pink Pepper

• SOUL
  Cedar, Vetiver and Moss

As we talked some more, we found that Linda & I also share a love of food. It was by channeling this passion that Linda, with her fabulous creative/maker mindset, gave birth to the idea of Gourmande Jayne® - a place where she explores the harmonious relationship between scent and good eating.

Where can I buy Ormonde Jayne perfume?

You can find the Ormonde Jayne Flagship Boutique in London on Old Bond Street, a home they’ve had for over 20 years. If you can’t get there to visit right now, do check out their other locations to find a stockist near you - or shop online. You can order 2ml or 8ml vials and try samples aka Petit Fours, before you decide which full-size wonder to invest in.

The Ormonde Jayne perfume studio and laboratory are based in Kent, where they continue to make all of the scents they have handmade for the last 24 years.

Linda and her team pride themselves in having direct relationships with growers - be that the grasses, coriander or violets that you smell, she will know where they came from. With great fragrances often comes great back stories, which can mean high price points – because they have to do the research right??! But if you love something, you want to invest in a scent that not only turns heads for the right reasons – but one that lasts. Read as: does not contain anything harmful or is not fit for spraying on delicate human skin. Please! Please! Please! Avoid any of those replica perfume sellers - you don’t know what damage you’ll be doing to yourself, or the potentially dodgy supply chain that comes with buying cheap/fake scent!

Q.What is the most amount of money that you have spent on perfume?

When asked where she gets her inspiration from, Linda explained that travel plays a huge part in guiding her nose and her collections. With her newest collection, La Route De Soie, which is inspired by the many destinations you can find on the famous Silk Road (apparently, there are many famous Silk Road routes that can be discovered, each boasting their own incredible fragrance traditions). The Ormonde Jayne La Route de Soie collection allows you to travel vicariously through destinations along The Silk Road such as China, India, Mesopotamia, Egypt and Europe - all from the comfort of your own home. Linda says that planning your own Silk Road journey has become a big thing after being featured in The Times as somewhere to visit - I must check it out and add it to my wanderlust travel wish list!

If you would be interested in purchasing a bottle of Ormonde Jayne perfume, prices range from £90 - 30ml - £110 - 50ml - £160 - 120ml. You can also buy a travel set of 5 x 8ml perfumes for £90, or pick up small Petit Fours for £28-38 for 4 x 2ml samples of eau de parfum. 

Whether it’s from the abstract, atmospheric, woody, citrus, floral, oriental or oudh fragrance family, there are plenty of Ormonde Jayne scents waiting to be discovered. Find out more at Ormonde Jayne.

Q. Do you have a perfume that you buy over and over again? Or do you like to buy new fragrances each time? Let me know your all-time favourites and the memories they evoke when you smell them!