Gardenia perfumes come in many shapes and forms, from the sensual to the emotional, often taking certain aspects of this gorgeous flower to the extreme. It's sometimes easy to forget that gardenias are also incredibly beautiful and their scent can be sunny and joyous with no complications. Jo Malone knows a thing or two about finding joy and beauty even when the goings get tough, and she gives us a taste of what it smells like to do so.
Gardenia from Jo Malone's Jo Loves brand is a a gardenia soliflore. It evokes the optimism of a newly blossomed flower on a bright and clear day by concentrating on soft petals and young leaves. The lush tropical facet of gardenias is kept to a minimum and nothing is overripe or past its prime. Instead we get small white florets, bright rays of jasmine that surround the milky white gardenia.
The creaminess of Jo's Gardenia starts in the fragrance's heart notes, the ylang-ylang that complements the gardenia, and continues into the musky dry-down. It makes me think of natural unsweetened almond milk, thanks to the heliotrope that infuses the musk. Gardenia is not a gourmand in any way, but it makes a clever use of this particular quality of heliotrope to add opacity and weight to the delicate white floral scent.
On my skin, Jo Loves Gardenia lasts for about six hours. The sillage is polite, and if not quite cubicle appropriate when first sprayed, it definitely settles into such within the next 30 minutes. Gardenia is easy to wear and to be around. It's cheerful without being annoyingly perky, and it's pretty without stealing everyone else's spotlight. I have a feeling that when Jo Loves get a wider distribution, Gardenia will be among the bestsellers. It's just so hard to resist.
Notes: Italian Bergamot, Gardenia Leaves, Ylang Ylang, Gardenia Blossom, White Narcissus, Sambac Jasmine, Coumarin, Heliotrope, Musk
Jo Loves- Gardenia (£45.00, 30ml EDP) is available exclusively from joloves.com. Please note that they can only ship this small size outside of the UK because of the currents restrictions and regulations (and shipping to the US is priced at £20.00. Ouch). The samples for this review were sent by the company.
Photo: Paperkite On Gardenia by Kristin Elmquist
A very kind friend has passed a sample of this on to me, and given your good review I plan to pack it for my upcoming trip to Rome (we seem to have very similar tastes in perfume - you're the only other person I know who enjoys Molinard's Fleur de Figuier).
ReplyDeleteI'm going 'samples only' in my perfume packing because of hand-luggage-only travel and the consequent limitation to 'the baggie' and only the baggie for transporting all liquids including sunscreen, perfume, moisturiser, cleanser, shampoo and conditioner... And of course, I want to leave a little room in the baggie in case I find a bottle of something delish while I'm away. :-)
Somehow I think this will be very nice on a warm Italian evening. I'll let you know how it goes. x