Okay, it’s official now… with these two additions to my perfume collection I have a pretty decent Jo Malone collection to my name! Blackberry & Bay was my introduction to the brand, Orange Bitters was my first Limited Edition one and Myrrh & Tonka my first foray into their Cologne Intense range.
This Lavenderland Collection came as a total surprise to me! I had seen their Wild Flowers & Weeds Collection (Limited Edition 2019) online but as I never saw them in person I wasn’t able to sniff them and didn’t want to do a blind buy. So imagine my surprise when I came across this Lavenderland Limited Edition, from only February 2020, already in the McArthurGlen Designer Outlet in Roermond during our visit in July.
The Collection is comprised of four new fragrances celebrating English Lavender; Silver Birch & Lavender, Wisteria & Lavender, Lavender & Coriander and finally Lavender & Musk which only comes as a pillow mist (a new product from Jo Malone) or diffuser.
As someone with really sensitive skin prone to breakouts there is no way I’m going to take the risk of spraying anything on my pillow as it’s going to be in direct contact with my face and that’s just a disaster waiting to happen… But if you have skin genetics on your side, by all means fall asleep amongst a field of lavender, it sounds dreamy!
I personally only picked up Silver Birch & Lavender and Lavender & Coriander as I found the Wisteria & Lavender a tad too floral and powdery for my liking.
Jo Malone Silver Birch & Lavender Cologne
I love the simplicity of Jo Malone fragrances as they always have a minimal number of notes and hence don’t evolve much on the skin. Essentially “what you see is what you get” i.e. your first spray is pretty much the same aroma as the one before it wears off.
According to Fragrantica, Silver Birch & Lavender is a woody aromatic fragrance for both women and men. I would say that’s pretty accurate except for the lavender part, which is missing.
The lavender note, even though it’s a middle note, is quite distinctive upon first spray! I would personally describe this one as a woody lavender. It does indeed have quite a masculine tinge to it which I can only characterise as say…a manly lavender soap.
- TOP NOTE: Grapefruit
- MIDDLE NOTE: Lavender
- BASE NOTES: Silver birch and roasted oak
Jo Malone Lavender & Coriander Cologne
Lavender & Coriander is described as an aromatic spicy fragrance by Fragrantica, again for both women and men. However, I’m going to have to disagree on both fronts with that description as I find it to be more of a sweet lavender (thanks to the vanillary-ness of the tonka bean) and hence much more feminine than its Silver Birch & Lavender counterpart.
The coriander is hard to distinguish on its own, I think along with the sage, it just provides an overall herby freshness to the lavender.
If I was to recommend just one from this collection, this would be it! Lavender & Coriander has both that classic quality that you automatically associate with any lavender perfume but with a modern twist thanks to that overall freshness.
- TOP NOTE: Sage
- MIDDLE NOTES: Lavender and coriander
- BASE NOTE: Tonka bean
As for longevity, as both perfumes are technically colognes, they are only one degree stronger on the perfume scale than an eau fraiche. As “Colognes” have a concentration of 2% to 4% perfume oil to water/alcohol content in a bottle with “Parfums” being that of 20% to 30%, they usually have less staying power than a said proper perfume.
However, even though a cologne’s longevity is approximated to 2 hours, with these two I easily get 4 to 6 hours - especially when you do the trick of spraying on clothes as well as skin as perfumes lasts longer sprayed on fabrics. I would compare these limited editions’ lasting power to that of Jo Malone’s core line colognes as opposed to the Christmas limited edition Orange Bitters which does stand by that 2-hour reputation.
There you have it, what do you think? Are you a fan of English Lavender?
Did you spot this collection in February on release date or only come across it during the summer months like me?
Also, is it just me or does the fact that the coloured base of the Silver Birch & Lavender bottle not match that of the cap bother anyone else? In all the promo photos I’ve seen since, they clearly have the matching caps on the Wisteria & Lavender bottles instead. As a perfectionist (who is finicky with my colours), I notice these things…just me?
xxxemma