Ormonde Jayne Seraphim

Seraphim is a specially commissioned, limited-edition fragrance created exclusively by Linda Pilkington (of Ormonde Jayne) for the website 20ltd out of London. When it was first released, there was a howl of protest from perfume fanatics who were genuinely bent out of shape that a well-respected perfumer might accept a commission to create a high-priced, limited edition fragrance. From Now Smell This:

1.) "This is pretty disappointing from Ormonde Jayne - Linda's prices are already high (although the fragrances are completely worth it, in my opinion) and this just sounds like more "I'm so special, you're so special" pretentiousness." 2.) "(Pilkington) should sell some stickers too, so you can stick it on your neck together with the price and everybody can read it. This is disapppointing and probably created for the clients who like to point out what an expensive thing it is." 3.) "I do not see how this sort of project highlights the art and artist-status of perfumers. There is no special artistic merit in contrived scarcity/exclusivity. Nor does it warm my heart to think that the execution of a perfume that more people could afford and enjoy would be delayed to amuse 50 ultra-wealthy buyers" . . . and so on.

I can appreciate the desire of a fragrance fanatic to try everything he/she can get his/her hands on, but rather than lob charges of elitism and snobbery over a bottle of perfume, why not accept that just maybe Ms. Pilkington was excited by the opportunity to create a fragrance that, while not bespoke, also wasn't limited by the harsh realities of the mass marketplace. Like it or not, Seraphim is a rock-solid piece of work that might never have seen the light of day if Pilkington had to worry about whether she could sell enough units in her boutique to justify the cost of its production.

In a passage written for The Perfect Scent that Chandler Burr's editor nixed from inclusion in the final published edition, Burr describes his rather visceral reactions to the scents of particular raw perfumery materials, and one of those materials was ylang ylang: "Ylang ylang smells like lighter fluid. A flower of vaporous petroleum that jets into the air like a sheet of flame waiting to ignite."

And wouldn't you know it, but ylang ylang is the wind in Seraphim's wings -- a jet propulsion of fire from heaven that's brightened by bergamot ("a glistening liquid lacquered cool luminescence") and polished with rosewood. There's also the bright, sparkling pitch of violets, iris ("the smell of very dry hay in a wood barn") and roses to add shine to the heart of the juice while infusing all that wide open space with an All Grown-Up Now! confidence.

Once Seraphim rounds the bend, the musks and ambers begin to assert themselves and it turns into one hell of a sophisticate, its tank full of jet fuel now softened, tamed, warmed and lightly sugared. There were moments when I took a deep inhale and got goose-bumps from how effortless Seraphim makes good perfumery seem: "Oh, this stunningly beautiful stuff? Ah, I picked it up online -- no big deal!" as every other perfume in the room begs for scraps from its sillage.

It approaches its drydown on a soft vanilla cloud, wrapped in a musky cashmere blanket and dreaming of hills dusted with coumarin. It's been over seven hours since application and this stuff is still ticking . . . and ticking . . . and ticking. Pure wearable genius.

Photos of the packaging and bottle below:

***Note: additional raw scent note descriptions for bergamot, iris and rose were quoted from the same Basenotes article where Chandler Burr described the jet-fuel quality of ylang ylang.