The Jo Malone offices kindly sent along a slew of samples and test strips, so I was spoilt for choice this morning. After a quick deliberation (during which I sniffed so much I got a bit lightheaded), I settled on what was billed as a floral, "Vintage Gardenia with Cardamom & Myrrh".
Immediately, I was worried that this was too heavy to wear to the office. Spicy and musky and piney and mulchy, it's quite a knockout on first application. And then... it vanished. Spooky.
I'd been warned about the staying power of Jo Malone's line, and was ready to write this one off at the one-hour mark. But then it suddenly came back, more mellow and warm, and now I like it very much.
The sandalwood and spice remind me exactly of a carved wooden fan my father brought me from Japan when I was little. The fan itself was scented sandalwood, and I would take it out and briefly flutter it in my face to catch the heavy scent before quickly trapping it back in the box in an attempt to preserve the fragance. I loved the odor, but even then I knew it was too mature for a child.
Any gardenia in this scent lurks well below the woodsy spice on me. My boss Pun Fu liked it a lot, saying it smelled like the inside of a candle shop, but in a good way. I think it's a bit much for a summer day at the office, but I will certainly try it again when we're well into autumn. Sadly, it does seem to largely cut out at the four-hour mark, surging infrequently after that point.
This might be an excellent cologne on a man. I'm not really into the male/female scent split, but on a man's skin this might come across as more natural than it does on mine. I'm in no rush to go beyond the sample at the moment.
Verdict: Good all-around warm-me-up on a gray November afternoon
No comments:
Post a Comment