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Ideally, I’d be writing this with a few rays of sunshine gently warming my skin, a radiant blue sky with just a whisp of cloud and a backdrop of vibrant, tall poppies swaying in a green field. As it is, I’m making do with a gloomy grey day in South East London. But now you know where this new and limited collection from Jo Malone is heading – and has to potential to take you, in your imagination at least.
Firstly, the bottles are so tactile – rougher on the bottom third than the top two which I’m assuming is a physical representation of the earthiness of this collection. It’s very Farrow & Ball in a sense, a brand that Jo Malone has collaborated with before, with its paired back, neutral toned presentation. The two that I have are Primrose & Rye and Poppy & Barley, but the others are Oat & Cornflower, Honey & Crocus and Green Wheat & Meadowsweet.
It’s an odd thing – using cereals and grains as fragrance notes: they add a rather universally ‘warm’ feel to the florals that accompany them, but in honesty, I still wouldn’t be able to pick out barley over wheat in perfume! I can detect the grain in Primrose & Rye far better than in Poppy & Barley but, having been brought up in the countryside, I’m no stranger to grain silos and the best I can liken these notes to is hay. It’s a general warm and rich hay-like tone topped with fresh and flowery notes. Primrose is deeper and more comforting, while Poppy is light and more sparkling. Also, if you’ve ever had a heated wheat bag for aches, it’s a bit of that smell as well.
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Overall, the collection has caught transitory moments of the British countryside in a tiny fragrant time capsule and I think you’ll find some interesting moments of recognition. The last isn’t amazing on these – I don’t mind in the least because part of the pleasure of a perfume is in the spraying and if you need to top up once or twice, that’s an extension of the joy. I’m still side-eyeing Jo Malone and their interpretations of Britain and England in particular because I am sure as I can be that they’re tilting towards the Japanese/Chinese market and their perceptions of our country. If it was all about being ‘really’ British and country, there would be a cow pat note in there somewhere ;-).
They’re £47 each HERE and I expect they’ll do really well. I find them charming and wearable and a beautiful spring moment caught in a bottle.
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7 comments
Absolutely loved this post! I have been blown away by how gorgoeus these scents are and have completely swapped out my go-to perfume for Oats and Cornflower this week! Big love babe xx
Haha, cow pat note made me laugh – imagine picking up a bottle of “Eau de Cow Pat”.
Cowpat? Love it!
I tried the Cornflower & Oat at the weekend. It turned very oaty on me, even the SA said it smelt like porridge. LOL
The Poppy & Barley was the other one I tried, for some reason I got loads of violets(yes there is a violet leaf in the perfume), but it was very violet on my skin.
Haha, great review!
Yeah I am a bit ‘raised-eyebrow’ at this relentless ‘Ralph Lauren world of England’ that’s going on. (Still, an urban version would be pretty intolerable, with notes of petrol and fried food).
Saw these here in Brown Thomas and love the look and feel, but winkling out a fragrance was really hard work.
They always come up with something different and unique don’t they? I’d be keen to smell them, I am not sure if I would want to wear grain-scents or not. I feel like I would either love it or hate it! haha The bottles are really cool though.
xx Jenelle
http://www.inspiringwit.com
I like Jo Malone and sampled these last week – and liked most of them. The bottles and packaging are gorgeous – although it’s not a lot of fragrance for the money. However, I’d spend more at Jo Malone if only the assistants would just leave me in peace to concentrate on the fragrance rather than their endless whittering and telling me the notes I can expect to smell. It doesn’t matter where you shop for Jo Malone, they all do it and it’s relentless – I’ve asked to be left in peace and then another assistant starts hassling.