Oh dear. I do sometimes think that Jo Malone gets far too much attention from me in comparison to other fragrance-makers; as a brand, they are kind of like a very cute and confident little girl that can’t be ignored. You know that type of impossibly pretty, curly-haired blonde that runs upstairs to put a tutu on whenever there are visitors and then hurtles back down the stairs to perform a pitch-perfect rendition of Annie? (Usually when everyone is trying to enjoy a glass of wine and talk about adult things.) Her.
Everything is always just so covetable and nice to look at – and in terms of mass appeal, the scents are never too wacky or unusual, the ideas behind the product campaigns are universally pleasing… This is by no means a criticism of Jo Malone London; I’m mostly in awe of the marketing skills and behind-the-scenes creativity that must go into keeping each new launch fresh and interesting and completely lust-worthy. Especially when the new launches are so frequent. It’s just that I realised, moments before sitting down to write this review, that the brand manages to get itself a hell of a lot of air time!
Browse the archived Jo Malone posts…
We’ve only just had Rock the Ages; a series of scents – such as Tudor Rose – that were specially designed to celebrate different eras in British history. Now we have something pretty and sweet to take us into spring – the Blue Skies and Blossoms collection. Perfectly named and perfectly timed – just when the first bit of sun peeks out from behind the clouds, here are three re-released fragrances that are spot-on for the new season in terms of both appearance and scent.
If you were a super-sleuth, you’d be able to tell from the image above which one’s my favourite; I knocked the bow off the bottle and it has reset itself at a bit of a jaunty angle. I found that the outer two fragrances; Plum Blossom and Sakura Cherry Blossom were just a bit too girly for my tastes. Pretty – the Sakura Cherry is powdery and romantic, the Plum is slightly more juicy – but a bit on the soapy-soppy side for me. Osmanthus Blossom, however, is the kind of greenish, fresh scent that makes you want to sit in a field in a straw hat and drink ready-made cans of G&T. A bit peachy, a touch sharp – I like it more than the Geranium & Verbena from the latest collection, but not as much as the fizzy, summery Cricket Pavilion Cologne from a couple of years back. (Can’t even remember the proper name for that one now!)
**UPDATE: HA! I knew this scent was familiar. I already reviewed it! You can read my original review here – I called it a “a spring picnic laid out on the lawn; peach melba, apricot tart, a sparkling wine poured into long-stemmed glasses”. Well, at least I’m consistent, though I seem to have let my standards slip since the last review – gone is the laid-out picnic and sparkling wine on the lawn, I’ve taken to sitting in a field like a drunkard with ready made cans of Gin and Tonic!*
You can find the “Blue Skies and Blossom” collection at John Lewis here – £86 per 100ml.
*disclaimer, for those who take everything literally: I am NOT drinking ready made cans of G&T. Or sparkling wine, for that matter. If you’d like to follow my pregnancy diary, it’s over here.
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