[unpaid/sample/affiliate/ad] It’s going to be quite a fragrance filled week, one way and another – that seems to be that way that beauty world works: one week it’s all skin care (my least favourite of all testing), the next make-up and of course, everything seasonal as and when. I’ve always loved Jo Loves fragrances – all the way back to Orange Blossom before Jo sold her brand, Jo Malone London, to Estee Lauder. When you find someone who creates fragrances that just resonate, that you could recognise in the dark and that your olfactory senses stand up and salute, it’s a rare thing. Pomelo will always be my true love. Speaking of true love, it’s Valentine’s day coming up and as the trio is centred around roses, it feels fitting whether you celebrate this day or not. Rose is the ultimate up-lifter but needs careful handling (I discovered a now discontinued Molton Brown Rose bath oil and it was awful – it made me smell like a baby!) and I have to say, Jo does know how to pair rose with other notes to amplify and unify.
I am just guessing, but I bet that these mini-bottles were an absolute nightmare to create – I can’t think of any other brands off hand that use this size and there will be a reason for that. White Rose & Lemon leaves is the brightest, most optimistic rose you’ll ever smell. It’s fresh and energetic – the kind of scent that you’d chase a wearer down the street to discover what it is. I make a rose and lemon drizzle cake that is so delicious because of the addition of the rose – in the case of this fragrance, rose is made delicious because of the lemon.
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Rose Petal 25, so named in celebration of 25 years of Jo’s career as a shopkeeper (her words, not mine) is a salad of rose – bearing in mind that Jo started her career working in a floristry shop, that is exactly what Rose 25 smells like. The verdant, wet scent of different flowers vying for the attention of your olfactory senses can feel both overwhelming and enticing at the same time. Rose 25 is an abundance of rose de mai and ambrette with lychee sparkling through to give a fruity nuance – a little goes a long way but that little is everything. The final fragrance is new – Rosé & Dates, perhaps in homage to her new(ish) home in Dubai because there is definitely an eastern vibe to this perfume. It’s sweet and alluring with deep and spiced notes that gave my brain a ping of hookah pipes and Marrakesh markets – I’ve never been to Dubai so I don’t know what it smells like as a place but I love that this creation throws up so many memories in one spritz. In the background of Rosé & Dates lies a kind of smokiness that is oud-ish but I don’t like oud and yet I feel very drawn to this – I don’t really get any Rosé notes (and trust me, I’m a fan) and on my palette, I can’t think I’d pair the two, but this works. The Trio is £75 HERE.
I would strongly advocate for the Layered Candle, £90 HERE – all of the fragrances in the Jo Loves Fragrance Trio but layered in wax. I had this on the burn for most of Saturday and Sunday and it’s just a joy – and it works so well in layers. I have only made my way through to Rosé & Dates but the switch up from White Rose & Lemon Leaves is obvious. Sorry as I am to have had my time with White Rose & Lemon, I’m enjoying the contrast. It was the most dreary of weekends – cold and grey – and this candle gave me the signs of spring that I need. If you want longevity, opt for the trio but if you want a mood setter, opt for the candle.
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