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Ormonde Jayne Tolu EDP Perfume Review

Ormonde Jayne Tolu EDP

When the weather gets cold, I often find comfort in incense and amber fragrances.  I thought I was fine with my current collection of thick resinous, spicy amber scents and then I tried Ormonde Jayne Tolu.

Tolu is refined. Tolu is a modern sweet resinous scent. It doesn’t attempt to recreate 19th century spice routes. If Tolu reminds me of anything “old”, it only reminds me of late 1950’s Vogue fashion photography where the graceful, long-necked model is draped in taffeta and honey-hued furs. Tolu is an elegant, modern amber.

Tolu opens as spicy and fresh with an interesting “nuttiness” to it. It’s like honey-soaked tree nuts toasted over heady orange blossoms. I was taken off guard by this caramelized sweetness of this perfume the first few wears. Tolu gets better with time. In fact, every hour of wear it gets better. This is one of those perfumes that really starts to smell “louder” or blossom with wear. The heart is this amazing blend of spicy orange blossom, rose attar and resins. It reminds me slightly of Hermès 24 Faubourg but in the Ormonde Jayne style. The dry-down is a rich and warm with sweet resins like tolu with powdery amber mixed with  frankincense.

Notes listed include juniper berry, orange blossom, clary sage, orchid, Moroccan rose, muguet, tolu, tonka bean, golden frankincense and amber.

Virginia Grey

Give Tolu a try if you like amber or resinous fragrances or perfumes like Hermès 24 Faubourg, Calvin Klein Obsession, Guerlain Shalimar Parfum Initial, and/or Sage Amber. Tolu is unisex in my opinion. It’s a great choice for anyone that enjoys wearing resinous scents. And with Tolu you get sweet resins paired with sheer, spicy neroli and florals. Try it if you are looking for a cool-weather orange blossom.

I find that the fragrance is long-wearing and has great projection.

I admit that I didn’t “get” Tolu at first. It took a few wears for me to fall in love with it. Why? I’m conditioned to like heavy, thick, “literal” amber perfumes…think Serge Lutens. By the 3rd wear of Tolu, I couldn’t get enough of this sophisticated amber.

The 1.7 oz EDP of Tolu retails for £80 and is available at Ormonde Jayne.

Victoria’s Final EauPINIONPowdery, floral spiced, modern amber. The addition of heady orange blossoms is what makes this fragrance stand out from the rest. It’s one I want to add to my collection.

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*Disclaimer – Sample provided by Ormonde Jayne. I am not financially compensated for this review or any others. My opinions are my own. Virginia Grey pic from www.fanpix.net. Product pic from Ormonde Jayne.

14 thoughts on “Ormonde Jayne Tolu EDP Perfume Review

    1. It is quickly becoming my favorite from the line. I tried it a few times during the summer and wasn’t crazy about it. It’s perfect for me now.

  1. I’ve been using a sample of this for about 3 months now and concluded that it’s not FBW. I just can’t shake the powdery vibe and towards the end of it’s life on me, I just feel like I’m wearing baby powder.
    Aaron recently posted..Hello world!

    1. It smells like straight up baby powder on my husband. It was actually a scrubber for him. He’s super sensitive to powdery fragrances.
      On me, I like it. It’s more spicy and it’s powdery but in a tasteful way, not a low-brow diaper bag way.
      This is why we must try on skin before buying anything.

  2. I love Tolu, and I think your description and that photo are just a perfect fit. It’s so sad that when it doesn’t work on someone’s skin it goes baby powder.

    1. Amber is weird like that. That one Huitieme went all diaper bag on me but I sniffed it on somebody else and it smelled like a spicy amber. Oh, well. I’ll take this as a “win” for my skin.

    1. I really didn’t like this one the first few wears because of the “toasted nuttiness”. Finally it “clicked” with me and I’m finding out how I can get a 10ml, lol.

    1. lol! You have to have a bottle of this (or gift a bottle of this) because of that!
      It really is a good fragrance.

  3. MMMmmmm! “Honey-soaked tree nuts toasted over heady orange blossoms” and some sweet resins… Sounds so yum! The rose and frankincense concern me because I almost never enjoy those when present, but the rest sounds just fab!

    1. I appreciate frankincense but I can.not.do those dry, acrid resins in large doses. However, I love rose and there isn’t much rose in Shams (or at least I don’t pick it up).

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