Jo Malone "Nectarine Blossom and Honey"

This is my summer scent.

I'm saying it now, I'm saying it loudly, and there will be no going back. As much as I can't wear the citrus scents, straight-up nectarine goes on bright and fresh and stays forever. I want to wear this scent from May to September for the forseeable future, under white shirts with skirts and sandals, over thin sweaters, being brushed across the nape of my neck by a high ponytail. It's the sort of scent that makes me think of ribbons.

It's not complex. Nectarine, nectarine, nectarine. But unlike the way an orange scent sours on my skin, the nectarine merely warms and simmers. Like nectarine cobbler, or a peach pie, this is a fruit that smells just as lovely warm as it does straight off the tree. And I'd guess that following Jo's layering technique with another one of her scents would probably change this from a summer scent to something spicy and thick, a baked good right out of the oven.

And as an added bonus, it turns out that Olive is actually allergic to nectarines -- so not only does this scent make me feel lovely and springy, but it makes my sister think of itching and rashes! It's like there's a built-in anti-theft device! Brilliant!

Verdict: MINE!

Jean Paul Gaultier "Gaultier 2"

You have to give them credit for a snazzy sales campaign. The back of the bottle is magnetised, you see, which has made it possible to affix these giant metal plates onto the arms of the salesgirls in a holster-like fashion. They shoot you, then make a big show of putting the bottle against the magnetic holster, where it produces a satisfying "click". As our jaded, beholstered salesgirl deadpanned, "It's the best part".

For all I can tell, this one's unisex. The weird thing is, there are two very distinct, almost parallel scents at work here, and they come together at the end in the same complimentary fragrance. It's a neat trick.

The first hit is of baby powder and tobacco, then an old leather armchair, an attic that smells of mothballs and lemon. The strangest thing in all of this is that the scents really do balance -- the sweetness of the feminine baby powder with the masculine tobacco, then the muskiness of the male leather and the female attic lemon. The finish is a lingering sensation of a thicket of sun-baked flowers on an otherwise deserted, windy, salty beach: again, unexpectedly complimentary. This is the first perfume I've tested that hasn't bothered to find the middle ground from the start in a unisex fragrance; it keeps the male and female scents running alongside each other until they meet at the seashore. I can only assume that the floral is more pronounced on a woman, the marine more pronounced on a man. Fascinating.

Verdict: Intriguing. Could be good for work, for socialising, or just for puzzling over. Definitely worth consideration, though.

Return of the Eliza

Hello, lovelies! Apologies for the unannounced, unexplained absence -- first I got a cold (thus scuppering any testings), then Olive came to town, then all sorts of interesting and fascinating things happened. But in keeping with the blog's theme, we'll just say this: Miss Eliza Bennet went to Bath to take the waters for a month. She's very sorry for the inconvenience, and deeply appreciated your letters.

Shall we start again, then? Good.