Jo Malone releases a brand new scent each year (sometimes, a few times a year) and last year’s autumnal scent was a big hit for me! This year, when I saw that the new scent is the Jo Malone Honeysuckle & Davana cologne, my heart fell a little.
Honeysuckle, as the name implies, is very sweet in scent. If there’s one type of scent that I abhor, it is that of a sticky, sweet, floral. Not for me!
But I was curious as to what “Davana” was. I’d never heard of it, so I looked it up. Davana, as it turns out, is an aromatic herb (Artemisia Pallens), cultivated to harvest its oil, which is used as essential oil then used in perfumes. It is supposed to smell sweet and fruity, but smells different on different people. So, now you know what Davana is! :D
But more interestingly, how does the Jo Malone Honeysuckle & Davana cologne smell?
Well, sweet for one.
There is no escaping the unmistakable sweet, floral scent of flowers. Honeysuckle & Davana is quite easily pegged as a floral scent. I do find it quite light however. It is rather like a scent that wafts along behind you, as you enter a room.
It isn’t the head-on scent of roses and honeysuckle (which form the middle note), but a rather more creeping sort of scent, that seems to slowly envelop you. I detect also a slight scent of jasmine, which I usually shy away from. But this is the same sort of jasmine type scent that I get in Dior’s J’Adore, one of my favourite perfumes, so it sits well with me.
But what makes Honeysuckle & Davana wearable for me, despite my misgivings, is the slightly musky, earthy base note. Jo Malone says that it is moss, which I find most intriguing.
However, the whole package does resonate as being very English, for what could be more English than trailing sweet honeysuckle flowers amongst the mossy woods? :)
I like how the scent makes me feel clean. I know that’s a strange description for a scent, but it’s how I feel when I spritz it on. It makes me feel like I’ve just stepped out of a shower, despite the tropical heat and humidity. There is no cloying, sticky sweetness, that makes me feel like scrubbing the scent off me, nor is there a suffocating, powdery floral that stifles.
I find that the Jo Malone Honeysuckle & Davana scent cuts across the humidity, to offer a freshness that I sometimes struggle to feel in this heat. Yet, in cooler weather, when it rains, the slightly earthy base envelops you and makes you feel comforted, making this scent quite easy to wear in all sorts of weather.
While it can be worn alone quite easily, like all Jo Malone scents, you can combine the fragrance to create something more special and your own. Having experimented, this is my favourite combination.
At home, I wear Honeysuckle & Davana with 154, my favourite Jo Malone cologne. 154 is a spicy, warm, musky scent, that I absolutely love! For me, it helps to bring out the earthy, musky moss in Honeysuckle & Davana, and tones down the floral. It becomes a much stronger scent, which I enjoy.
While I was speaking to someone at the Jo Malone counter, they suggested also combining my favourite combination with Earl Grey & Cucumber. The fresher scent perks up the otherwise more moody, broody scent combination, and offers it a lightness. I enjoyed that! Which means I might have to get me a bottle of Earl Grey & Cucumber now :P
On its own, as with most Jo Malone colognes, the scent isn’t one that lasts all day. But for me, because I use the heavier scents, I find that there is enough depth to take me through the day, allowing me to catch hints and whiffs of scent throughout the day.
My advise to anyone when it comes to perfumes, is always to test it out on your skin in person, before splurging. Perfumes are very individual, and now that you know that Davana is a scent chameleon, it makes it even more imperative that you test it in person.
I do find that for me, the Jo Malone Honeysuckle & Davana cologne smells a little more mature. It isn’t a sweet, flirty scent that young girls will go for. It smells like something a woman, having taken a look at the world and tested her womanly wiles, now knows what she wants, and goes for it.
Perhaps that’s why I don’t mind it – once I’ve grounded it further with 154 :D
Does the new Jo Malone Honeysuckle & Davana cologne tickle your fancy?
I do think I’d like this as a room fragrance, so I’m going to take a sniff at their candle. There are some Jo Malone scents I don’t like on me, but which I love in a room scent! :)
Paris B
Jo Malone Honeysuckle & Davana comes in the cologne and candle
PRICE: RM485 | US$136 | £94 for 100ml – also comes in 30ml sizes and in candles
WHERE TO BUY: Jo Malone stores
My daughter told me about Jo Malone perfume which she got and i was interested to try. Only yesterday i visited one of thier stores in KL, and ive tested 5 types of thier colognes. Only one captures my deep senses of smell, this Honeysuckle and Havana cologne. It smells unique, elegant, sophisticated floral fruity. When I wear it, it’s like I am the only one who’s wearing it . It gives me so much confidence and freshness. I really really love it. Unfortunately, i only got free because i ended up buying the Peony and Blush suede and its kinda fresh and elegant too. Over all no regret of getting this expensive but worth to buy colognes. Xoxo