Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor.
Ormonde Jayne Sampaquita is as refreshin as a sip of lemonade on a hot summer day. It makes me feel rejuvenated and refreshed. The top notes are a Venetian lace of citrus notes, lychee, green leaves and white petals. Then the lemony melody softens into a floral medley. Here, water lily note is what I notice the most, paired with the spring-like brightness of freesia and the lush richness of jasmine sambac. The dry down is pleasantly earthy and musky.
Sampaguita, another name for a variety of jasmine sambac, comes from the Tagalog words “sumpa kita,” which means “I promise you.” It is the national flower of Phillipines, where the sampaguita is also known by a host of other names: sambac, sampagung, campopot, lumabi, kulatai, pongso, malur and manul.
Notes: Lychee, grass oil, bergamot and magnolia; sampaquita absolute, freesia, muguet, rose and water lilies; musk, vetivert, moss and ambrette seed.
Photo by willmack via flickr.
5 Comments
Farran: Now I have to go back and check my sample. I wasn’t impressed, but this wouldn’t be the first time I re-tried on your say-so and was pleasantly surprised! June 8, 2005 at 2:39pm
Liz smellslikeleaves: Sampaquita and Ormonde are my favorites of the Ormonde Jayne line. I have long searched for a perfume which showcases magnolia properly (in a way that recalls the scent of the enormous magnolia tree in the front yard of my childhood home). This is it. The cristalline water lily note adds a lovely counterpoint to the lush magnolia and jasmine. The topnotes are a bit mundane, but the lushly floral-yet-earthy drydown is spectacular on my skin. It’s a very happy scent, but not simple or mundane at all. And it LASTS. I still smell it on my wrist the following day. I am glad to hear that you like it as well! June 16, 2005 at 12:20pm
Victoria: Yes, the top notes were my least favourite part, but in the context of the composition, they work well. I agree about the great magnolia rendition. I find that many of OJ scents are misnomers. For instance, I smell more of magnolia here than jasmine (which is what sampaguita refers to). All in all, Sampaquita and Ormonde are my favourites too. June 16, 2005 at 5:02pm
Leigh: Hi,
I grew up with sampaguita, and am tickled by the description of it as “sumpa quita/kita,” which can mean either “I promise you” or “I am swearing you off and wishing ill on your entire genealogy.”
In the Philippines, it is no longer used as a token of love. I wish it still were. Nowadays sampaguita is made into leis hawked from one car to another by streetchildren, hung on jeepney rearview mirrors and grimy statues of saints, and draped by the armful on coffins. So much so that one time I was wearing La Chasse Aux Papillons and one friend asked me, “Wait, how come it smells like a funeral here?” (It’s a belief we have, that if a room suddenly smells like jasmine/ sampaguita, it means the ghost of someone recently deceased has decided to pay you a visit.) June 22, 2005 at 9:00pm
Victoria: Leigh, thanks for this fascinating insight. In India, jasmine sambac is frequently used in all sacred ceremonies, and it does not seem to have the same funerial association as in the Philippines. We wore lots of jasmine garlands at the wedding I attended. Of course, there are several different kinds of jasmine, and when I asked for a name of jasmine in Hindi, I was given at least five different names. However, one of my friends who is originally from the Philippines said that she cannot wear La Chasse Aux Papillons for the same reasons you do not, it reminds her of funerals. June 22, 2005 at 9:12pm