Jo Malone Archives - Page 6 of 7

Be good and you might find the Jo Malone Cologne Collection under your tree this Christmas – or just buy it yourself

November 9, 2016 Paris B 22 Comments

If there’s one beauty category that intimidates me, I’m not afraid to say that it’s fragrance aka perfumes. Perfumes are shrouded in an air of mystery and snobbery that I just cannot relate to because I’m just very straightforward about things. All I can say about a perfume is one of two things – I like it, or I don’t like it. I can’t even explain why LOL!

Why else do you think I don’t talk so much about perfumes? I can’t be that blog that breaks down each scent to its little molecules, because I have no idea what’s going on. How’s that for truth eh?

So, walking into a perfume store like Jo Malone intimidates the hell out of me. When the sales people ask me “What kind of scents do you like?” I freeze up. How would I know?! I’d only know when I smell it!

Which is why my first purchase from Jo Malone wasn’t a full sized perfume. It was a travel collection of minis, that introduced me to the brand and to the concept of fragrance combining. Since then, I’ve had numerous queries on where these sets can be bought. The answer – In an airplane 😛 They are special duty free sets that are only available very selectively on certain airlines. I think selected sets can be purchased at the UK Jo Malone website or certain stores but I’m not sure if it’s a permanent thing.

So, when my eye fell on the Jo Malone Cologne Collection set for Christmas 2016, I just knew I had to share the information! 😀 If you are new to Jo Malone, or are loathe to drop over RM400 on a bottle of perfume, only to realise that it isn’t quite your taste, or if you want to combine different Jo Malone fragrances, without selling your kidney, this one is for you! 😀

Have a London Lark and cavort through London-town with Jo Malone Basil & Neroli Cologne

October 14, 2016 Paris B 7 Comments

When the announcement of the new Jo Malone Basil & Neroli Cologne was first made, I had a little laugh over it. It was about the time that I had just started my little basil growing experiment (still going strong, thank you for asking!) and I was big on everything basil. A perfume in the scent was perfect to round it all up!

Interestingly, the brand launched this with the rather vague descriptive phrase “A London Lark”, intending to depict a fashionably fun London. A ‘lark’ as I’m sure you realise is rather like a jaunt or a frolic or caper – all words that have fallen out of use in daily English, rather unfortunately. I highly doubt they meant to refer to a little brown bird LOL! 😛

The launch did bring to my mind a little hint of Camden Town – a little trippy and a little eccentric. For me, London is one of 3 things – loutish, proper or eccentric. Basil & Neroli kind of falls into the last category 😛

I take a short trip to the dark side with the Dark Amber & Ginger Lily Cologne Intense at the Jo Malone Cologne Intense launch in Malaysia

January 27, 2016 Paris B 4 Comments

I first experienced the popular Jo Malone fragrances after a flight – weird right? I know! But in-flight duty free was where I first picked up a sampler pack of popular Jo Malone fragrances, and discovered the art of fragrance layering. It was fun, and I enjoyed discovering new ways of wearing their scents. If you can find one of these sampler packs, pick it up – it’s worth the discovery.

But the one “problem” I’d always had was that Jo Malone scents tended to be quite “pretty”. It is the favourite of beauty bloggers (the bottles photograph well alongside iPhones and Macbooks and peonies) and the scents tended to be light and floral. They are colognes after all, and while some scents last longer than others (Pomegranate Noir, how I love thee!) they are fairly fleeting.

Well, until now!

Quite a while ago, 2010 if I’m not mistaken, Jo Malone London launched a new range called Cologne Intense. As the name implies, these are heavier, stronger, more intense fragrances when compared to their regular white label range.

Befitting of the name and the impression it invokes, the new range comes in black bottles, that are at once sleek and heavy in appearance and impression. The range now comprises 7 scents, and are now available here in Malaysia. I had the opportunity to take a sniff at the scents during their media launch quite recently, so I thought I’d share my overview impressions of the Cologne Intense range. Do bear in mind that I’m no perfume connoisseur! 😉

Coming in September: Jo Malone Peony & Blush Suede Cologne – A pretty feminine scent

July 27, 2013 Paris B 17 Comments

I’d been having lots of fun playing with my Jo Malone sampler set when I learned not too long ago that in September, there will be a new fragrance launched – Peony & Blush Suede.

Fascinating. Does suede have a smell other than it just being leather? I was quite intrigued by it and took a healthy sniff of it at the preview launch a little while ago. Not available yet folks! Look for it in stores in September.

The thing that hit me was how floral it was.

I don’t know what peonies smell like and I won’t pretend to. I don’t know what suede smells like either because the last suede item I own has fallen apart. Suede doesn’t hold up as well as regular treated leather, for me. But to me, suede will smell of leather. So the idea here is for the scent to open up with a sweet floral and dry down to that of a musky leather.

Sadly, it didn’t smell like that on me when I spritz it on my skin. That’s the thing about fragrances you know. The description can sell it to you, but then you spritz it on your skin and you go “Whaa…??? What was THAT?!”

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