Lime Basil & Mandarin is available from Beauty Encounter, starting at $20 for 0.3 oz
Looking for a fragrance recommendation? Visit Fume Finder: the Katie Puckrik Smells fragrance app.
Shooting from the Lip
My rip-snortin’ jaunt from ballet girl to punkette to pop singer to TV host & all the messy stuff in between
Perfumes: The A-Z Guide
Witty and provocative reviews of 1,800+ perfumes
What the Nose Knows
A fun and quirky romp through everyday smells
Aroma
A cultural history of smell
The Emperor of Scent
Maverick Luca Turin's entertaining tussles with perfume and science
The Perfect Scent
An insider's look at the creation of two bestselling fragrances
A Natural History of the Senses
An aphrodisiac for all five senses
The Secret of Scent
Luca Turin's scientific look at perfume
Essence and Alchemy
The voluptuous history of natural perfume.
Katie, if you had to choose between Jo Malone's Lime Basil & Mandarin or Bvlgari's Au The Vert, which one would you choose? :)
ReplyDeleteThey're pretty different, because LB&M is so citrussy-POW, and Au The Vert is very dry and spare and green tea austere. I prefer the Jo Malone.
DeleteDid you really just invoke the poetic genius of Big Willie-Style era Will Smith in this review?
ReplyDeleteYou're my hero.
I was invoking the poetic genius of the Sugarhill Gang and "Rapper's Delight". That's probably who Will Smith was invoking, too.
DeleteI am a big fan of JM's Dark Amber & Ginger Lily so I will have to sample this one.
ReplyDeleteOn a completely alternate note, I have seen you mention your fondness...ok obsession...with incense fragrances, and I would like to recommend Chantecaille's Kalimantan. Thanks to a sample from TPC, it certainly is my newest obsession. Incense, leather, wood and the perfect smidge of sweetness.
Kalimantan is really nice! I need to revisit that one. I found it too sweet at the end for my taste personally, but it is a goody.
DeleteDomestic:
ReplyDeleteI would choose Jo Malone. Having smelled neither. Only because it sounds more interesting.
I'm sticking with candle version. I got a decant of this and found any interesting depth disappeared quickly on me, leaving a one-dimensional vague citrus. I don't do well wearing Jo Malone, it seems. Love the votive, nevertheless.
ReplyDeleteI have to try this one for the summer. I find most Jo Malone fragrances to be wearable and very long lasting even though they are light
ReplyDeleteI recently bought it and don't find me wearing it a lot even though I really like it, I almost find it too hefty what seems weird for a citrus. I guess it really needs very hot weather and I would love to smell it on a guy.
ReplyDeleteCybele
Katie - what do you think of the whole Jo Malone layering thing? I've never really gotten into the individual scents - they are nice, but often too spare for my taste. (I've been looking for a great Orange Blossom - and tried JM Orange Blossom today. It's pretty but lacks a certain WOW.) But then I see that the house recommends that they be layered in various combos. Hmmm.
ReplyDeleteHave you tried layering their stuff? Is it worth messing around with or more of marketing hype thing to get you to buy more products in the line?
Aside from happy accidents during "sniff missions" when I'm trying out more than one perfume, I'm generally against layering big, complex fragrances. Sure, spray some Molecule 01 to woody-up a rose or something, but I get indigestion just thinking about some of those sweet, powerful Jo Malones layered with the sneezy shrill ones. If that line were truly interchangeable with each other as layering components, each individual perfume would have to be a lot more streamlined and consequently, less interesting on its own as a composition. I think it's marketing hype.
DeleteHow funny, I just tried this scent and was going to see what you thought of Jo Malone in general. JM has such a sheer, spacious character, all open skies and country lanes. To compare two white florals, I tried JM Vintage Gardenia on one wrist, Michael Kors on the other. Vintage Gardenia seemed to be borne on a breeze--even in airless Sephora. Michael Kors, by comparison, was like being smothered in older-lady-boobs.
ReplyDeleteOh, as a follow-up to my taint seeking: Gucci Pour Homme. Whoa. It's like burying your face between a pair of--may I say?--Armenian butt-cheeks. Uncanny.
Hi Philip! I remember liking that Vintage Gardenia, but being disappointed that the listed myrrh and sandalwood weren't really detectable.
DeleteI love love love Gucci Pour Homme. (The one in the houndstooth box, right?) It doesn't exactly lodge me in swarthy butt cheeks, but I do dig its earthy incense.
What is your personal top 5 perfumes by jo malone?
ReplyDeleteI don't think I can name 5 Jo Malones that I like. Let's see: Lime Basil Mandarin, Red Roses, Orange Blossom. Those are the ones I enjoy personally.
DeleteI love orange blossom and jasmine mint. Have you try the Intense collection?
DeleteI have tried the Intense collection, but was a bit "nose blind" to them - have just smelled so many big ouds and orientals lately.
DeleteI was surprised that I would like this. I bought it after trying a free sample. It makes me happy, like I just stepped out of a shower. It should be names something different, because the notes really don't sound enticing. I would have never bought this or tried it based on the notes! I happened to get the free sample and gave it a try and loved it enough to buy a large bottle. BTW, love and bought the roses as well as orange...There are 7 different types of roses in the rose JM scent.
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to have your expectations challenged and surpassed. I'm also a fan of JM Red Roses - I like the honey-ish tinge to it. I have to be in the right frame o mind to wear it, though. Sometimes it can feel borderline sickly on me.
Delete