The only Jo Malone I used to have was Amber & Lavender. It's still my favorite, a very clean scent (and for a JM it's longlasting). Last week I came across a few other JMs at a good price on ebay, £ 21,95 each instead of the usual £ 30,00. My order arrived yesterday.
-Vintage Gardenia:
My first impression was that the gardenia (JM used tuberose instead) was way too metalic. After a few minutes the spices,the true originality of this gardenia, started to appear and the metalic note desappeared. Thanks to the incense, the gardenia became softer and creamier. The problem with my skin is that it absorbs spicy notes, so I don't really know if the cardamon and myrrh give this gardenia very spicy basenotes. Now I read somewhere that Jo Malone hates vanilla (and will never make a vanilla fragrance), but I'm almost sure there is a tiny bit of it in the basenotes.
Vintage Gardenia is to my nose clean and soft opposed to Marc Jacobs' "wet" gardenia. It's longlasting but doesn't seam to have much sillage. Well behaved, not sexual. Thought I don't know how the spicies react on other skins. I'll have to test it on my BF later on.
-Orange Blossom:
This is a pure delight even directly into the topnotes. I smell orange and a green note wich is probably the clementine leaves. Later on the orange blossom starts to appear. Not a rich and strong orange blossom extract, like in Serge Lutens' Fleurs d'Oranger, but more like the "living flower" on the tree (headspace can be nice when it's well used). The lotus brings is just a bit of wetness.
This one is really easy to love and easy to wear. It's not that different from L'Artisan's La Chasse aux Papillions but more citrussy and with more finesse. It doesn't come as a surprise to me that Orange Blossom is JM's second bestseller after Lime Basil & Mandarin.
-Wild fig & Cassis:
I ordered this one more out curiousity because I'm not a big fig lover. I like fig notes on others but not on myself.
Like with Philsykos the start is very green, the fig leaves hit you in the face. The hyacinth makes it even greener. But than...Yeeeaaahaaah!...comes the saver: cassis. The cassis tells the fig leaves to calm down. It's a great contrast. The Â*soft sugary notes of the cassis balance much more the figleaves than the coconut used in l'Artisan's Premier Figuier. If Philosykos is the fig of the Italy and Greece than Wild Fig and Cassis is a bit more french/nordic.
I'll give you my final impressions on this one later on as I still have to really wear it.
-Vintage Gardenia:
My first impression was that the gardenia (JM used tuberose instead) was way too metalic. After a few minutes the spices,the true originality of this gardenia, started to appear and the metalic note desappeared. Thanks to the incense, the gardenia became softer and creamier. The problem with my skin is that it absorbs spicy notes, so I don't really know if the cardamon and myrrh give this gardenia very spicy basenotes. Now I read somewhere that Jo Malone hates vanilla (and will never make a vanilla fragrance), but I'm almost sure there is a tiny bit of it in the basenotes.
Vintage Gardenia is to my nose clean and soft opposed to Marc Jacobs' "wet" gardenia. It's longlasting but doesn't seam to have much sillage. Well behaved, not sexual. Thought I don't know how the spicies react on other skins. I'll have to test it on my BF later on.
-Orange Blossom:
This is a pure delight even directly into the topnotes. I smell orange and a green note wich is probably the clementine leaves. Later on the orange blossom starts to appear. Not a rich and strong orange blossom extract, like in Serge Lutens' Fleurs d'Oranger, but more like the "living flower" on the tree (headspace can be nice when it's well used). The lotus brings is just a bit of wetness.
This one is really easy to love and easy to wear. It's not that different from L'Artisan's La Chasse aux Papillions but more citrussy and with more finesse. It doesn't come as a surprise to me that Orange Blossom is JM's second bestseller after Lime Basil & Mandarin.
-Wild fig & Cassis:
I ordered this one more out curiousity because I'm not a big fig lover. I like fig notes on others but not on myself.
Like with Philsykos the start is very green, the fig leaves hit you in the face. The hyacinth makes it even greener. But than...Yeeeaaahaaah!...comes the saver: cassis. The cassis tells the fig leaves to calm down. It's a great contrast. The Â*soft sugary notes of the cassis balance much more the figleaves than the coconut used in l'Artisan's Premier Figuier. If Philosykos is the fig of the Italy and Greece than Wild Fig and Cassis is a bit more french/nordic.
I'll give you my final impressions on this one later on as I still have to really wear it.
