Few things make me feel like I’ve 100% made it in life like burning a Jo Malone candle on my bedside table or whipping a bottle of the good stuff out of my handbag as if it’s NBD.
As a brand, Jo Malone have it all so RIGHT don’t they? Obviously the scents are hard to rival, but then there’s the stores themselves, the packaging, the font….bloody hell I love the Jo Malone font. I can buy my Jo Malone fragrances slightly cheaper at the airport, but it’s still a glam shopping experience as you find yourself sniffing fig candles in that familiar comforting beige store; nestled between Mac and Mulberry in Heathrow T3 you can sort of pretend you’re in Knightsbridge rather than fighting your way past screaming kids for mosquito repellent and cheap sunglasses.
I don’t know how I’d describe Jo Malone to a far away alien but it’s classy and aspirational and lovely and gorgeous and safe, without being snooty or pompous or any of the other things that can put you off a luxury brand sometimes.
So with that little love letter out of the way, I thought I’d blog about three of my current Jo Malone faves. Two of them have been sitting in my “to blog about” list for so long that one is apparently to be discontinued soon (HOW DARE THEY?!) and the third is one I only discovered this week as I nipped into the new Regent Street store to nose about. I haven’t bought the third one yet, but it’s firmly on my Christmas list. There are some others I have my eye on too but I’ll save those to the end as I’m not *quite* sure, I need to get some testers and wear them a bit more.
For the two that I have bought, you’ll notice that I went for the 30ml bottles. I wouldn’t usually ever recommend 30ml bottles as price per ml you’re not getting great value – at £42 it works out to £140 per 100ml as opposed to just splashing £85 on a 100ml bottle – but I’ve become quite fond of the small sizes for travelling. I always have one in my handbag and they’re great for flying. I didn’t buy the small ones to be practical though, I did it because I’m always super paranoid that I will stop liking an (inevitably expensive) scent three weeks after buying it. I wanted to start small and graduate to full size once I was convinced I did in fact love them “in real life” and not just in the store. Clearly I’m becoming hideously sensible.
And the good news? I love them both. Dearly.
Let’s get on with what they are then…
Vanilla & Anise – £42 for 30ml or £85 for 100ml here.
So this is the one that the lady at Regent Street told me was now discontinued. It wasn’t in store (and they have everything in that store!) and I haven’t noticed it in any concessions but it’s still on the Jo Malone website. Yeah can someone please pay me so that I can stock up on the 100ml versions before it’s too late?! I don’t know if it’s going or not but it seems like it is soon to be no more. GET IT WHILE YOU CAN, SISTERS!
I only discovered this back in August so I will feel it slightly unfair if one of my fave fragrances ceases to exists a few short months after I discovered it.
The reason I’d never sniffed it before? Vanilla.
As a general rule, I hate vanilla. It’s too sickly sweet for me. It was only because I was mind-numbingly bored at Heathrow and had points to spend that I stood there and smelt every single scent there was. Five times. I kept coming back to the Vanilla & Anise though. It’s just NOT sickly. It’s warm and rich and oaky and gorgeously enveloping. I bought a bottle and wore it throughout my Gran Canarian adventures and never looked back.
If it really is being discontinued I may cry.
Wood Sage & Sea Salt – £42 for 30ml or £85 for 100ml here.
This was released to a huge amount of fanfare last year but I never smelt it at the time. Earlier this year though I rubbed it on my wrist from a magazine sample (sudden flashbacks to childhood memories of rubbing my mum’s mag pages all over my wrists to be grown up and fancy) and I fell in love. I bought the 30ml size this summer and I still ADORE it. I was wary because I prefer not to wear “very popular” scents but I don’t care with this one. I love wearing it.
It is, as the name suggests, a woody fragrance. It’s supposed to remind you of windswept rugged beaches (think Norfolk, not Jamaica) but I don’t think I get that myself. I don’t think “mmmm salty air” when I sniff it, but I do adore it. Endlessly.
Ginger Biscuit – £85 for 100ml exclusively in the fancy new Regent Street store.
I didn’t know Ginger Biscuit but this was a famous cult scent back in the day (not sure when, should have paid more attention when chatting to the lovely sales assistant) and it has been re-released exclusively in the new Regent Street store to much fanfair from loyalists who have been struggling to get by without it.
I sprayed it on me that day then went back the next day to spritz again and I definitely do need this one. Sometimes after a few hours of wearing a new scent I change my mind (which is why I’ve learnt to not impulse buy perfumes and to always spray them on ME as the true test, rather than just a paper card) but I am convinced I do need this one.
As the name suggests it smells of ginger biscuits, but like with the Vanilla & Anise you don’t have to worry about it being too sweet. It’s warm and spicy and sensual, with roasted hazelnut and tonka bean thrown into the gingery mix. I really loved it, but then I would gladly eat ginger biscuits day and night…all washed down with ginger tea. GINGER RULES.
The coloured cap is an optional £4 extra in store, but I think it makes for a cute addition. ST will be made very aware of this perfume, I just don’t know if I should get this next or stump up for the 100ml Vanilla & Anise before they’re all gone.
As for the other Jo Malone scents I have my eye on, I’m undecided but think I’ll be convinced in time by 154 (another woody one – I just love the wood it seems), Incense & Cedrat (mystical precious goodness, sexy and a bit blokey) and Oud & Bergamot (I love a bit of oud). There’s an Oud & Bergamot Body Oil actually which sounds pretty damn heavenly.
On me, I’ve never been a fan of the ‘classic’ Jo Malone faves – the Pomegranate Noirs and Lime Basils of this world – but the ones I’ve mentioned above are definitely worth a sniff next time you’re passing a concession or store. (Assuming you’re near Regent Street for Ginger Biscuit and that Vanilla & Anise isn’t about to fall off the face of the earth, natch).
Yeah. My Christmas list is getting exceedingly long.
Do you have a Jo Malone fave that isn’t Pomegranate Noir or Lime, Basil and Mandarin?! Am I being a massive traitor here?! Many of my girlfriends and family swear by both of those and I don’t actively dislike them, I just couldn’t wear them myself. I think I have the nose of a boy basically. Great!
x
I LOVE Wood Sage & Sea Salt. I sprayed it not expecting to like it, but like you couldn’t stop sniffing it afterwards. It’s hard to describe the scent though, as I don’t think it smells particularly like the name. I also think it gets better as the day goes on and it ‘wears in’ to your skin.
My other fave Jo Malone one is the English pear and freesia (or something like that), obviously a bit more floral and brighter. I like it as a day time perfume, although since buying the wood sage this one has fallen out of rotation a bit. I like the sound of vanilla & anise (I actually like the smell of vanilla) although if it’s going to be discontinued, not sure – don’t want to fall in love with a scent I can’t buy again!
Yes it definitely wears in, I love it so much. I need to smell English Pear again, I think I had it as a candle once so I must like it! So tempted to stock up on the remaining Vanilla & Anise bottles but really can’t afford to. THE TEMPTATION IS TOO MUCH THOUGH! X
Grapefruit for me! I wear it all the time and just LOVE it. Am going to treat myself to Wood Sage & Sea Salt at some point as it’s just amazing and I’ve wanted it forever.
Do you have any idea which other discontinued fragrances have been brought back at Regent Street?