Jo Loves- Pomelo

Jo Loves Pomelo is a bracing, full bodied bittersweet citrus. It's very satisfying in a vetivery way, and I can tell you that the two things standing between me and a bottle are a) the shipping charges (20GBP) and, b) the fact I probably don't need a sibling for the original Jo Malone Grapefruit. Actually, Jo Loves Pomelo is more the lovechild of Grapefruit and Guerlain Vetiver.

Pomelos (the fruit) are generally sweeter than grapefruit. I'm not sure I really get it here. The fragrance opens with a big blast of grapefruit with maybe some pomelo peel; fresh one, not candied. The perfumer managed to walk the line between juicy and bitter incredibly well, giving us a gender-neutral fragrance that combines earthiness and green freshness, yet feels very smooth. I smell a lot of vetiver and only a little patchouli, and all through its wear, a very realistic grapefruit/pomelo thing that maintains its crispness on my skin no matter what: humidity, a workout session.

An obvious question is how Pomelo by Jo Loves compares to Micallef Pomelos. It's apples and oranges, really. Micallef is a soft musky perfume that's much more about skin and powdery flowers than the actual pomelo. Micallef Pomelos is also much more feminine.

Jo Loves Pomelo has an impressive staying power (and also a good sillage). It's a great way to energize yourself before tackling a weekend project, and I would have loved a full range of home and body products with this scent to enhance the effect. Pomelo is a happy and uncomplicated perfume. It carries no emotional baggage and simply lets you be. I can't say that anything from this genre could ever be a staple/signature for me even if I were prone to olfactive monogamy, but sometimes taking a vacation from myself is a lot of fun.

Notes: pomelo, rose, clove, vetiver, suede and patchouli.

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, as I mentioned above,  is priced at £20.00). The samples for this review were sent by the company.

Image by Dennis Wojtkiewicz.