When I first tried Jo Malone ‘Honeysuckle and Davana,’ I couldn’t decide if I really liked it.  I was at Bloomingdale’s walking on my way to lunch and spritzed it, and almost forgot about it. Then I started to sniff my arms where I sprayed and I thought it was quite mossy. I guess I was expecting a sweet honeysickle flower. The weird thing is that we went to a Jo Malone stand alone store after lunch and I sprayed again, and this one felt more flowery, as if blooming on a summer day.  I asked, could he department store version be different? (‘Of course not,’ she says) Maybe I just missed the top notes earlier – which smells like a flower out in the sun, faded by the glare. It’s a bit like shampoo accord, for sure, but its brightness was unmistakable. And then the green – the mossy notes come in, and it adds that bitterness that I was talking about earlier. And then I am instantly reminded of a fragrance I have known since childhood: Cacharel’s Anasis Anais, with its floral/green/mossy combination. Suddenly, I started to love this scent more. I asked for a proper sample and now I am trying it for a day and I already feel like it should belong in my wardrobe. It’s very un-Jo Malone like, too – it is not light and airy, and this has tenacious strength. A small bottle may be in order.

Here we are, already in the middle of summer. I have been craving my citrus fragrances, my colognes, but of course, most of my perfumes are still in storage, and maybe I am drawn to lighter scents because I am finding a lot of what I have out are heavier (probably because I moved in wintertime)  But today I am wearing Jo Malone’s ‘Tropical Cherimoya’ and I am happy.

But should I be? Even though I am loving this right now, I am realizing it’s really not that great of a scent. It’s your typical fruity floral – this one is just a generic pear, and there is some sour apple here somewhere, and the notes say passion flower, but on my skin it’s all fruit. I really do not know how a cherimoya smells, to be honest, but I don’t think a photo-realistic scent is what the Malone house is aiming for here. But as I said, for some strange reason, this is satisfying my current craving. I wish it had a more coconut-y or sun tan lotion feel, but the tonaka bean base is ok enough, I guess. So – kinda boring, but for now, satisfying.

I wrote unfavorable about Jo Malone English Oak and Red Currant  (here )  Jo Malone released two English Oak perfumes at that time, and I am a little more favorable about English Oak and Hazelnut. As a matter of fact, I got a small bottle of this. This release has almost the same base of the woodsy oak, but the hazelnut note was a little more appealing to me then.

I am wearing this today again, and I am not as impressed. The oak is there, for sure, and the woodsy vibe is fine. But, I find it a little screechy now, and a little too generic department store masculine wood. I feel like I have smelled this before, and while I do not totally regret the purchase, I don’t know if I would ever reach for this when I am looking for something to wear.

Some recent Jo Malone releases have been very exciting (Star Magnolia, anyone) but apparently they are still capable of duds. I hate to be very blunt about it, too, but maybe because I really like the brand and am very upset when they disappoint me.  I even like a lot of the work of its nose, Yann Vasnier so that may be making me doubly upset.

English Oak and Red Currant is from their English Oak Collection – which is a unique wood, sweeter and deeper than sandalwood and cedar wood. They promised this would have a ‘roasted’ quality, and of course I imagined smoky, sultry. But what I get is just generic wood that quickly disappears. I barely get the fleeting red currant. Quite quickly I get the base – a generic synthetic wood thing. That’s all. It’s nice and pleasant, but I really loathed it. As much as I want to be a completist for the brand (It is much represented in my wardrobe) this is a big big skip for me.

(Addendum: I had the same perfume on my scarf and it bloomed beautifully: the red currant is sweet and spicy at the same time,  and the wood gave it a nice balance. So really,, it’s my skin.)

I met a friend for drinks the other night, and as soon as I smelled him I knew that what he was wearing was Jo Malone Basil and Neroli. Well, firstly I know that he loves Jo Malone, so hat was my first clue. But Basil & Neroli smells exactly like what you think it would smell like – which is, basil and neroli.

So the next day, of course, I went and tried on the sample I have had for a while now. I had been saving it for the perfect day, and I thought why not today? It opens with that burst of basil and neroli – the neroli here is cold and juicy, there’s just a right amount of lemony goodness in here. The basil smells just like te herb. I have never been a particular big fan of basil, the smell, the spice, and even the perfume note, but here I didn’t mind it. This perfume is instantly wearable, as I think most Jo Malone fragrances are, and I bet it is selling well. If you are looking for a crowd pleaser, look no further.  And if Tom Ford Neroli Portofino is too expensive for you, this is a great alternative.

But wuth that being said, it’s still too summary for a cold night, which it was the other night when my friend was wearing this. It’s too cologne-y, for me, on a cold winter night, since the basil isn’t as heavy a spice enough. I will get this at some point as a great addition to my Jo Maloen collection, but I will wait till the weather gets warmer.

For the holiday season, Jo Malone is releasing a limited edition scent called Orange Bitters. I thought Orange Bitters was a cookie, but I realized it was a cocktail, and my heart started to flutter. (From Wikipedia: Orange bitters is a cocktail flavoring made from the peels of Seville oranges, cardamom, caraway seed, coriander and burnt sugar in an alcohol base) First, I love boozy scents, and also the idea of it sounds very un-Jo Malone like. I have been for the most part impressed with their latest releases. And to top it all off, look at this beautiful beautiful bottle – festive, art-deco ish, elegant. This smelled like a winner, well, metaphorically.

Too bad it literally did not smell like one. It smells citrusy all right, btu it also has that sweet sugary note that I don’t like. It was pretty cold when I tried it on, and the sweetness overwhelmed everything else. The notes on the press release say ripe mandarin, but I just smell ripe sugar on me. And there’s no depth – nothing earthy, spicy, or dark to frame it. There’s supposed to be sandalwood and amber here but I don’t get them. And I was initially allured by a dry prune note (I thought, what? Luten-ish?) but I didn’t get it either. This perfume is just all kinds of wrong for my skin, and I feel disappointed because I really want that bottle incorporated in my Jo Malone collection.

I have been very happy with a lot of Jo Malone’s recent releases that I blind-bought  their limited edition summer release Nashi Blossom. And I will not lie that part of the enticement for me was the beautiful bottle. I kind of regret that decision. Though I am glad that the beautiful bottle is among my cherished collection, the juice underwhelmed me.

Nashi is a name of an Asian pear, and I googled it to see what that looked like, and I remember the fruit from my childhood. I remember we would buy the fruit during Christmas time, and especially during New Year’s when we would fill our tables with round things – it symbolizes coins for good luck. I don’t remember the fruit having any kind of smell, to be honest.

What I do smell in this perfume is sugar, and lots and lots of it. The pear is that screechy artificial kind, and it’s really bothering me. To make matters worse,  a rose note comes in and it’s just as fake smelling. And did I say it was sweet? the perfume reminds me of those Hi-C juice boxes that kids drink. To say that I am disappointed is an understatement. On my skin, in the summer heat, the plastic smell even blooms. Not quite a scrubber, but close.