The World of Jo Malone

I must admit Jo Malone has never really captured my attention, their bottles are too simple to lure me over to the Jo Malone counter and take a whiff (I admit it, the appearance of a bottle will often sway my decision to buy or not to buy). And the couple of times I did  wonder over to the Jo Malone counter and spritz, let's just say the results wore less than appealing.  After a recent road trip to T.O where an ever so pleasant SA at Holt's really explained the whole concept of Jo Malone  my interest was peaked once again (let's just say she was so pleasant, I was willing to buy something just for the time she spent with us, plus it didn't hurt that she kept giving us samples).

For those new to Jo Malone world, the Jo Malone philosophy is that "Fragrance is a personal statement".  Jo Malone has 6 main scent categories (fruity, floral, spicy, woody, light floral, and woody); their scents can be worn alone or combined to create your personal scent.  In the Jo Malone world, they refer to this as the art of fragrance combining. Their site even has a fragrance combining menu, just keep in mind that these are only suggestions; combinations are only limited by your imagination. 

A Jo Malone purchase cannot be done on impulse, it requires patience and a helpful SA who is willing to provide you with samples so you can practice the art of fragrance combining at home.  The first Jo Malone scent that captured my attention was the wild bluebell cologne (classified as a light floral).  However, alone I felt the wild bluebell was missing  a little something extra, luckily I was armed with samples and I was able to forge ahead with the art of fragrance combining.

Here are the combinations I have tried:

1. Wild bluebell + English pear and freesia = I didn't hate it but I didn't love it, it smelt a little too spicy for my taste.
2. Wild bluebell + Nectarine blossom & honey = Nothing spectacular, in fact it smelt like soap.
3. English pear and freesia +Nectarine blossom & honey = Not impressionable and way too fruity.
4. Wild bluebell + White jasmine & mint = I actually would love this minus the mint. 
5. Wild bluebell + Orange blossom = too citrusy

Five combinations later, nothing was still really speaking to me, I was on the verge of giving up on Jo Malone.  It didn't help that I was getting over a cold and couldn't really smell anything, so I kept making a co-worker sniff me.  I loved the smell of the wildblue bell, it was decent on its own, yet I was determined to find a complement scent to give it a little more oomph.  Another Jo Malone scent that captured my attention was the limited edition Plum blossom, yet for some strange reason, I thought this was a stand alone cologne.  I was just about to write off Jo Malone when it dawned on me, why not combine the two?

My winning combination or shall I say my personal Jo Malone statement:

Plum Blossom and Wild Bluebell

  

The only down side is that introduction into the Jo Malone world is a little pricey (especially in Canada).  A 30 mL bottle will run you $70, whereas a 100 mL bottle will run you back $125.

♥ Viv