A New White Shirt from Jo Malone

by: Serguey Borisov

I quit counting the fragrances in my collection. And never approximate the total cost of the perfume collection, for sure. I get enough grief from my friends about the hobby: “Seems like you amassed a perfume collection instead of buying a car.” So my perfumista life is still bright. Till one day my wife asked me how many white shirts I have. Oh ... it turns out, I've got two lifetime supplies of white shirts already. And even if I would never ever buy another one, they will still generate during each holiday.

There's no secret though, as a white shirt is universal and a very convenient gift. The gift-giver only needs to know the size of the collar, which rarely changes. As strange as it sounds, there are such universal “white shirts” among fragrances, also (and usually I advise never to make a gift of perfume). "White shirt" fragrances are those perfumes and candles you can either give without risking upsetting the recipient, or receive as a gift and quietly enjoy its freshness and unsullied simplicity.

Jo Malone is one of those perfume houses that produces ideally universal gifts. Neutral pleasant fragrances that stay inside any comfort zone, perfect gift packaging design (beige, black, gold) and a good legend (“you can create a fragrance that will be your secret, mixing any of our colognes”), all of which won Jo Malone fragrances the status of the best (but not binding!) gift. Oh yeah, and one more important factor for a gift: the price is higher than all of the popular fragrances advertised on TV.

The beige Jo Malone boxes with black ribbon, like the turquoise Tiffany & Co. bags or the orange Hermès boxes, were created for ostentatious bourgeois consumption: to buy in a posh boutique in a good company, to stroll down on the main streets with the logo-package, to drink coffee in the best cafe in the city, to take a walk with it on display, then to take the box home. Seems like it's not necessary to have a special smell—the prestige of the brand does all the work, as it's expensive, well known for its quality and considered decent for the people of our environment.

“Do I know Jo Malone? Every self-respecting girl from a decent family should have several Jo Malone flacons to combine.” Substitute “Jo Malone” in this expression with other classical brand names—Hermès, Christofle, Wedgewood, John Lobb and others, and you'll find out where this brand, created in the late twentieth century, aims.

This bourgeois type of perfume consumption was described in France of the second half of the 19th century. The subtle colognes of neroli, citrus, lavender and ephemeral powdery iris-violet perfumes were considered decent for nobility and bourgeoisie women. All Roaring 20s perfume in the floral, chypre and oriental genres could be a protest against bourgeois convenances; if the bourgeoisie smelled faintly, considering bright smells as bodily principle signs, the Flapper girls and Grande cocottes were perfuming themselves excessively, being provocatively feminine, attracting all attention.

The newest Wood Sage & Sea Salt cologne by Jo Malone would produce a sensation among the noble public in the 19th century. It's exactly what the most noble person needs for her taste: gentle, clean, decent, muslin-like, pale. I doubt that someone could manage to arrange an overdose by such a gentle citrus musky-soapy cologne. You can pour a bottle on the carpet and welcome guests in half an hour with open windows. Ideal for significant events (weddings or meeting with the parents), and suitable for any other occasion (from solemn funeral to fair circus). Pale green sweetish herbs disappear from the radar with cool citruses, and leave behind a soap purity ghost and musky-woody silence with a salty spicy tinge. (By the way, the taste is not salty at all—the taste is bitter and mildly pungent with a sour aspirin-like taste.)

For a long time I took it as the smell of coastal cliffs by the sea, washed with soap. I felt like  Jim Carrey's hero in The Truman Show film. The scent seems bitter and salty and it is not the sea and salt, but some ideal—a beautiful, nice-smelling Hollywood salt.

And then I found it in my memory, The Smell of It. It recalls the smell of the long hair of a girl after a long walk on the beach, with wind and salt tangled in the hair that still smells of shampoo or conditioner. Whatever the feminine cosmetic it is, it smells nice. And I think that only this short moment of recognition could justify the purchase of Wood Sage & Sea Salt. If your brain fail to come up with some romantic stories, the fragrance can only whisper “pheromone-alikes.”

The official Jo Malone website offers two combinations to add some depth to mineral woody musky Wood Sage & Sea Salt cologne. The dietary cologne can be refreshed by evergreen citrus cologne Lime Basil & Mandarine, and with the help of floweryPeony & Blush Suede it can be made warm and cozy. In both cases, I feel like we are not talking about a perfume, but a yogurt or skim milk smoothie instead. “Dietary cologne surprisingly useful for the figure.”

Jo Malone fragrances in general were born to be flawless and perfect. In their search for perfection they have acquired universal recognition and commercial success, but also almost lost their own character with all the disadvantages. Fashion army soldiers, you know.

Like white shirts, fragrance Wood Sage & Sea Salt is a song about the beauty of purity. But also, this is the swan song perfumer Christine Nagel sang with Jo Malone London. Christine developed a recognizable style working with the London brand, so she was invited to the Hermès perfume laboratory, to collaborate and become the in-house perfumer with “the olfactory haiku creator” Jean-Claude Ellena. I think that this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship, with new fruits in the form of new marine and mineral flavors. Jo Malone London has not made statements about new perfumers so far.

Wood Sage & Sea Salt

Notes: Sage, Grapefruit, Sea Salt, Ambrette, Driftwood, Red Algae, Plum, Musks.