Wednesday 21 March 2012

Smelling of Gardenia

I am feeling really unwell this morning, so sorry for the shorter than normal post. I just wanted to share a couple of new discoveries I've made this week....

First up is a new perfume. I have been a Jo Malone fan for ages, and love Red Roses, Vintage Gardenia and French Lime Blossom (I like floral scents, have you noticed), but I do find that they don't last very long. I sometimes wear Chanel No.19, when I want a deeper, more grown up scent, or mix my Red Roses with a mist of Jo Malone Pomegranate Noir to boost it up a little. I was given Diptyque's Philosykos  for my birthday by my wonderful friend Rachel, which is another corker. It smells of figs on summer day, with white cedar that keeps it fresh rather than cloying. I have run out of the majority of these in the last few weeks, and feeling adventurous, decided to try something new.

I'd read about Jo Malone's new venture (she no longer runs Jo Malone, having sold it to Estee Lauder) which is called Jo Loves. It's a small range of fragrances and candles that she has personally picked and is only producing small batches of (12,000 of each, very small in the world of fragrance apparently). I adore the scent of Gardenia, so decided to try her Gardenia perfume. It was a bit of a risk, as she has no stand alone shops, only a pop up in Selfridges (with a scent booth, I so want one of those!), so getting hold of samples is tricky. Anyway, I decided that it was in the interests of this blog to try it out (and it is described by Jo as 'Mary from Downtown Abbey, in the red dress'. I was sold....I can be Mary, I just need the Abbey). 

So, yesterday morning a red box with black edges arrived at my door, filled with that crinkly shredded paper stuff (Fifi was in seventh heaven) and a massive bottle of Gardenia perfume (I'm not going to lie, there may have been a candle in there too, but it's been a very bad couple of weeks and I wanted a treat, don't judge. Or tell Mr. G). And oh my gosh, it is incredible. So much more punchy than Vintage Gardenia, with a soft, creaminess that whisks me away to a secret garden (hopefully in the grounds of my new Abbey) with a battered copy of 'Love in a cold climate' or some other nostalgic read. And best of all, it wafts through the day, so when you are grabbing a pack of nappies from a shelf, or unloading the dishwasher, you get little bursts of this floral deliciousness. It is, without doubt, my new favourite perfume. And, if you are dreading having to wash your kitchen floors, Jo herself told me (via Twitter) that a tiny bit in the water will make your house smell amazing. A decadent but fun thing to try!



On the downside, it is not cheap and next to impossible to find samples of. At £95 for 100ml (unlike the Jo Malone range with is £72 for 100mlM, it is not a cheap purchase, and not one to make lightly (ignore me and my irresponsible spending habits...it was like Russian roulette, fun but the stakes were high, I'd have had to have worn it whether i liked it or not.....). So maybe wait until Jo Loves launches it's own shop or concession (or come and find me and have a sniff), or try Selfridges for a sample. 

However, while you hunt down the elusive samples, i will revel in being one of the lucky few to smell this delicious, well at least until Fifi needs a nappy change...

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