Jo Malone- Nectarine Blossom & Honey

Nectarine Blossom & Honey by Jo Malone is the smell of a summer with a thousand Julys, when every morning you get to eat pancakes topped with peach butter and the sun shines softly and kindly through the kitchen window. Your days are happy and uncomplicated, you go to the fair and win a few games, take a ride on the Ferris wheel and laugh all the way to the top. It is so much fun.

Nectarine Blossom & Honey was released by Jo Malone in 2005. Like all Jo Malone fragrances, it's a seemingly simple composition, sort of a "what you see on the label is what you get", but at their best, these minimalistic perfumes offer a sophisticated alternative to sharp citrus colognes. That's the case here. Peaches, plums, and other fruity notes that aren't too sweet and don't go the mushy fruit way nor do they seek fortification from sugary vanilla notes. No, Jo Malone may have canned the nectarines with golden honey, but they're dispensed here carefully and feel like you're looking at them (or smelling them) through a crystal goblet.

 It took me a while (and several mls of the perfume) to figure out where the vetiver is and what exactly it's contributing. Nectarine Blossom & Honey isn't a vetiver scent, but it utilizes this note to ground the dry-down, tone down the sweetness and add a slightly green overtone that makes me think of beach grass. The dry-down offers a beautiful balance between honey and a powdery soap. I don't always enjoy fruity perfumes, but wearing Nectarine Blossom & Honey feels like taking a vacation from myself, which is fun in small doses.

I get a 5-6 hour wear from Nectarine Blossom & Honey, and I like it both indoors and out. Occasionally there's a bad chemistry day when I get more shampoo than honey and the composition falls apart on my skin and smells too synthetic. On good days, though, I'm ready to take the world to brunch

Notes: Clementine, Peach, Nectarine, Blackcurrant, Plum, Vetiver, Honey.

Jo Malone- Nectarine Blossom & Honey ($60, 30ml) is available from select department stores and jomalone.com.

Art:
Carol Marine- Square Dancing Peaches
Nectarines by Ann Thompson Nemcosky