Description
Orris Noir eau de parfum by Ormonde Jayne—so haunting, it almost defies description.
The Iris flower is named after the Greek Goddess of the rainbow, the messenger of the Gods and the Black Iris of Amman is the Royal symbol of the Kings of Jordan. Thriving in a landscape of ample sun, it is a rich, purple black flower of smoldering beauty.
This dark, spicy Oriental scent is for those who want to leave their mark.
A spellbinding perfume, Orris Noir is a rich, seductive aria of unmistakable individuality.
Top:
Davana, pink pepper, coriander seed, bergamot
Heart:
Iris, sambac absolute, pimento berries, bay
Base:
Incense, myrrh, patchouli, Chinese cedar, gaiac.
The fragrance is available in eau de parfum or Made to Measure Parfum for which the customer selects the concentration, bath and body products and candles. Orris Noir was launched in 2006. The nose behind this fragrance is Geza Schoen.
HITMAN102 – :
For some reason, not only do I get bored of the scent, but it somehow gives me nausea whenever I get a whiff of it. There’s a note that I can’t seem to tolerate.
PhotonRa – :
Case when unfortunate name undermines great perfume!
There’s zero “noir” about it, as many here stated already. It causes many people to be disappointed too quick because they come to it with preconception that will not be fulfilled. It is not dark and heavy, but rather light, spicy and airy. Now come back to it with this expectation and see how wonderful, well balanced and uncommon this scent is, at least on opening and midlife. After 5 hours it does gets darker, but more common and less impressive.
It is unisex with leaning toward feminine (sprayed on paper), but on men skin (as it was in my case) it could lose some powderness and sweetness and becomes perfect upscale daytime-office men scent.
Longevity is pretty good, 9-10 hours on my skin. Projection and sillage barely reaches moderate, but it also not a skin scent, it kind of lingers 1 ft from skin good 7 hours.
Korovkin_R – :
Nothing noir here. I strongly suspect they mixed its name with Vanilla D’iris.
Both powdery scent, vanilla d’iris is muted, has a leathery spect and vetyver undertone; Orris Noir has a much more frivolous opening, with an “bubble gum” tone.
0vsfyhhhp – :
Dense and dark? Not on my skin.
A leathery iris like YSL L’Homme? Yes. And a very good one at that. Worth a try if you like such, especially since it seems like many people are smelling vastly different things in this juice (based on the reviews).
arny050359 – :
Leathery iris that smells like the inside of a leather good
EhotiumfyDL – :
pepato all’inizio, anzi proprio piccante direi, con un’evoluzione assai originale su iris, patchouli secchissimo e, infine, incenso. molto gradevole la giustapposizione di note speziate che passano su toni floreali-polverosi per assestarsi sul balsamico e l’affumicato. contro ogni previsione non si tratta di una bomba invernale ma piuttosto di un profumo che col tepore, secondo me, deve rendere meglio. non invasivo, neppure persistente, ma godibilissimo. molto buono.
thebestikss – :
Well, this is a big dose of orris from the word go with the bay leaf and gaiaic wood adding an accent to it as the alcohol dissipates. A big wallop of orris root is heavy and you need these notes. I like it more as the bay leaf kicks in and the gaiaic wood adds its delicate smokiness. The pepper, chile and artemisia are also effective in lifting the scent and adding their sort of piquant effect. The best part of this scent is midway as the orris root finally fades and the smoky elements are very evident. Nice but the big wallop of orris puts me off
donchanin – :
Not original, also the smell after a few minutes tired and is irritating. Iris is not perceived. I do not like it.
14rss – :
ORRIS NOIR immediately reminded me of CHAMPACA from the same house.
ORRIS NOIR is more animalic, curvacious, sexual version of CHAMPACA. I get the same sweet syrup, nutmeg and cinnamon. Only ORRIS NOIR is infused with ancient oils, balsams and ointments. There is a honeycomb note in there as well, a full bodied, opulent luscious sweetness hovering over it.
I get benzoin and patchouli, like the dry down of CHANEL CORAMANDEL. I get an animalic sweet and spiciness laced around this composition. There are also fleeting moments of iris blended with dark chocolate powder in the air.
ORRIS NOIR’s “noir” spirit seems to be missing. I do not find it dark, mysterious or hard to pull off. It is a good oriental – feminine, tame and well composed. ORRIS NOIR dries down to a less sweet warm scent, earthy, round and vegetal. This perfume has average longevity and sillage on me.
I wasn’t fully captured by this perfume, like I wasn’t blown away by CHAMPACA either. So the search for my favourite ORMONDE JAYNE continues…
yuri169 – :
This is a crazy heavy blast of pepper out of the bottle. Pepper and woods. Iris is probably my favorite note so I was excited to try this. Unfortunately, I get no iris. Orris root however is a different story. Orris root I can feel…powdery, a bit bitter, a bit earthy. But my soft delicate beloved purple flower…nope not in this one.
Having said that, this is a very well done incense and wood scent. I do think that the wearer must LOVE pepper to enjoy this one. If you are put off by pepper as a note I would steer clear of this. I did enjoy trying this but as I am searching for a true iris I will keep searching. Another beautiful iris “noir” scent to try is Heeley’s Iris de Nuit.
rht764bedyWelty – :
I get a slightly sweet, buttery, balmy, resinous vibe from this scent. It’s warm, feminine without being really floral, and very sexy. Although I think there is a sweetness to it, the dryness of the incense keeps the scent grounded and interesting. It makes me think of a beautiful cashmere jumper, maybe just slipping off one shoulder as I lean in to kiss my man. 😀 It really draws me in and it really satisfies my yearning for a new, warmer scent for autumn and winter. It’ll be great for the party season, it’s so elegant. Love it! Definitely worth a full bottle.
I have been avoiding Ormonde Jayne ever since I finished my bottle of Osmanthus, but now I feel inexorably drawn back. I currently have three OJ scents on my wishlist. Bang goes my resolution…
andrey313247 – :
I dismissed this out of hand the first time I tried it. All I smelled was pepper. But then the other day I was messing around with the sample (trying to measure how much came out per spray – true!) and I kept sniffing the tray I’d sprayed it into. I wound up rubbing the tray on my wrist. It smelled great! It has the same cedar drydown as its siblings Frangipani and Ormonde Woman but it has better sillage and a seductive incense note that I like very much. I don’t think I like it quite as well as the other two but still, it’s quite nice.
taras10 – :
I’m surprised so many reviews say there is no iris in this. To my nose it is big iris up front and it is a beautiful smooth iris that lasts (like the vintage Dior Homme), not a synthetic industrial type of iris (like the new reformulated Dior Homme). Very beautiful. And the dry down is classic peppery Ormonde Jayne. I love it.
antaryvaw – :
Once you get over the initial disappointment that this is neither iris nor noir, Orris Noir is actually a rather pleasant,warm, sweet& spicy fragrance. I agree with Doc Elly on the rough edges, this would be less interesting if it was more polished. On my skin, there isn’t much development after the bergamot fades. This is not a bad thing because the spice-wood-flower combo is really nice.
Orris Noir lasts about 8hours on my perfume-eating skin. Sillage is somewhere between moderate and enormous depending on the dosage. My EdP bottle is nearly empty and although I like this a lot, love the staying power, find it very wearable and suitable for all occasions and have gotten many compliments, I probably will not repurchase it any day soon as it lacks the vow!-effect to me. I would recommend this to persons who want to explore the oriental spicy category but are afraid of the heavyweights.
FriendSydney – :
Orris Noir could definitely have been a LeLabo. If not for the smells itself, surely for the misleading label. LeLabo is famous for releasing fragrances named after an ingredient which too often doesn’t play a relevant role in the composition itself (Rose 31 and Vetyver 46 among others). Orris Noir does basically the same thing. No iris whatsoever, not “noir” at all.
That being said, if you’re fine with a peppery-woody-incensey fragrance dominated by a nice, yet unquestionably synthetic vibe, this is a pretty decent composition. Kinda dry yet, somewhat, slightly powdery, woody and incensey with nice piquant undertones. Far from being a masterpiece yet nice.
Rating: 7/10
agafonio – :
A perfume like no other. I love wearing black and this always suits a special evening out. A little goes a long way though – to overdo the spraying gives me chest pains! I have had this since it was first released and will always be very special to me. Ormonde Woman would be my next choice.
marrker – :
My first impression is of a sweet, candied, fruity scent, neither orris-like nor dark. There is a dry woody note, but it’s a light wood, sort of like dry oak planks. As it settles in, it becomes a rich, slightly sharp and spicy floral-oriental scent. I like it a lot.
Like some of the other OJ scents that I’ve tried, it has what I perceive as rough edges, notes that don’t quite mesh but are close enough not to be perceived as separate, something like beat frequencies in closely spaced musical pitches, producing the olfactory equivalent of rough timbre. Whether intentional or not, it’s an interesting effect. Sillage is moderate, and the scent lasts at least 6 hours on skin. It’s not my favorite OJ scent, but it’s up there near the top.
grigsilla – :
Remember that scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, where the bad guy rushed to select the cup of eternal life? I loved the line, “He chose poorly”.
Orris Noir is a poor choice for me. I thought I could do pink pepper, as it opens my favorite Bois D’armenie, but here it is shoved aside for a stink-popper spice note and an equally foul smelling base. Sometimes I try things for no other reason than to be pleasantly surprised, but here there’s just no ta-da.
I suspect those that like this like spicy orientals in general. These scents demand a very specific chemistry, which I seem to be lacking.
So alright, not a go for me, but the scene was kept short and I moved on to wiser selections.
puzat – :
Well, you certainly won’t hear me complaining about the weakness of Ormonde Jayne ORRIS NOIR! This is a very dense and dark, myrrh-rich composition which lives up to the house’s warning: “not for shrinking violets.” I would compare this composition to something that Andy Tauer might put together: thick and deep, very perfume-like and even intense.
The keyword here, though, is noir, not orris, to my nose. ORRIS NOIR is a heavy oriental perfume which does not showcase iris so much as roots of the plant, along with whatever soil may happen to be clinging to them! The opening is a tiny bit abrupt and a smidgeon animalic and tarry at the same time, but the drydown is a truly beautiful and refined oriental and absolutely worth the wait.
DEMA_SASHA – :
after winning in the fragrantica contest for the valentine day and happily winning a bottle of this luxury perfume I think I should write a good review about it.so I try my best.
first of all I’m most likely a floral fruity girl,so this is a new experience for me between my other perfumes.
at the first sniff it’s sweet,floral and a bit spicy.spicy notes become bolder,taking over the first notes after some minutes.to me there are some woody notes like pine that make it incredible for a cold day of winter.but because of the strong spicy notes I can imagine wearing it in a desert too.
as the woody notes start to fade,the warm scents and kind of oriental flowers appear.at this level it reminds me a bit Kenzo Flower.
this is very unique,high class fragrance.I think it matches the best way to winter,but it’s good for the fall or spring,but in summer it would be untakable.best for the evening use,although seems to match the other times of day too.
to me,the interesting point was how the smelling change from top notes to the base notes.
provocative,not heavenly but dark and somehow masculine perfume.
Swetlanciks – :
Goes on bright and fruity and dries to dark Iris and powdery black velvet jasmine incense. Lovely and layered.I’d have to say this one matches in name in beauty and mystery.
NCMiller – :
The first time i tested that i kind of like it, but it was my least fave of Linda Pilkington creations. I revisited yesterday from a big sample and i don’t like it at all. Especially in the top notes the coriande( one of my favorite spices)has a weird oily feel that although fades by time is always there.Paprica is evident, but the whole spicy leaf thing brings to my senses a nice warm winter stew,that i d;love to eat but not wear on my body. Cinnamon and patcouli appears on the drydown but by then i want to scrub it.
vin – :
I’m wearing it again today.I smell a creaminess (Sambac?) and more wood underneath today. Still brightened with that peppery edge. It is lovely and has great staying power.
tony140688 – :
A very strong pepper note in the top had me thinking “Wow, this is a pepper perfume.” Soon a powdery iris underneath showed up, then took over. But it’s after an hour or two, when the sweet resins and cinnamon come out that I really started to love this perfume.