Sunday, September 28, 2014

Jo Malone London Wood Sage & Sea Salt Cologne Review

"You can smell the salt in the air only when you were far away, far too long."

This is what I thought after I went out of the airport in Istanbul and took a long deep breath. I have been to this airport before, many times. But it was the first time I could ignore the traffic chaos, taxis, police cars, smell of exhaust, smell of the passenger's sweat but on top of everything there was a sheet of salt aroma covering everything else. Maybe it was only to those who were missing it as much as I do...


Jo Malone London Wood Sage & Sea Salt Cologne



Jo Malone's newly release fragrance Wood Sage & Sea Salt spiked my interest because of my constant longing for sea climate, the fresh breeze and salt in the air. I love the detail in the packaging. Although the flacon comes in Jo Malone's chic carton box as usual, instead of a ribbon the box is wrapped with a sailor's rope. The nose behind Wood Sage & Sea Salt is Jo Malone's regular perfumer Christine Nagel, who now left the brand and joined Hermes as an in-house perfumer.

Wood Sage & Sea Salt opens with a kick of citrusy freshness of its grapefruit notes. Soon after I can smell the salt on my skin resembling a breeze from the sea. This phase of the perfume makes me happy. Since it has nothing fruity or exotic, it doesn't give the feeling of a summer holiday beach but as dry and woody it is on my skin, I can relate the scent with a coastal feeling, waves beating the rocks as the breeze messes up my hair. 

To me Wood Sage & Sea Salt is rather a linear perfume, which has a complex opening and a unique scent all along. As the citrusy opening slightly gets more woody with a ghost of sage appearing and vanishing yet reappearing, it might smell a tad spicy from time to time. As the musky base uses herbal ambrette, it has a tad of floral feel to it too. Very well blended, these notes never steal the scene to make this fragrance their own, make Wood Sage & Sea Salt one of the most complex fragrance of the brand.

Similar to most fragrances of Jo Malone, Wood Sage & Sea Salt is not particularly long lasting and it stays close to skin. On me I can notice it for 2 hours and smell it for 2 more hours. I would classify its sillage is moderate. I believe both men and women would enjoy this fragrance alike. 


Jo Malone London Wood Sage & Sea Salt Cologne

I have been a enjoying Maria Candida Gentile's Finisterre (reviewed here) which was my go-to fragrance this summer. I was asked how these two fragrances with similar themes compare. The sea notes in Finisterre is mainly coming from Ambergris, freshness provided by pine tree notes as during the dry down Sandalwood is pronounced. Wood Sage & Sea Salt on the other hand has a herbal musky base. Freshness comes from citrusy notes as our noses are more used to it, I would give a thumbs up to Finisterre to be more unique in this aspect. I prefer the blend of sea salt with woody notes on Wood Sage & Sea Salt though. Since the compositions and percentages are different it is hard to compare longevity, Finisterre stays up to 12 hours on me. 



Jo Malone London Wood Sage & Sea Salt Cologne

Final thoughts: Subtle and short but complex and unique, Wood Sage & Sea Salt is a great fragrance for those who are in search for something different for upcoming fall and for those who miss a breeze from the sea, as long as they don't mind reapplying after a few hours.


Have you tried Jo Malone's new fragrance? How important do you think longevity of a fragrance is?


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11 comments

  1. We have such similar tastes! I was hooked into this the other week. I've bought Jo Malone for years and one of my real bugbears is how, since the Lauder takeover, the longevity of the fragrances has deteriorated. Presumably they are using more alcohol and less quality oils? The fragrances themselves are still often interesting but its frustrating (and expensive) to have to reapply every couple of hours. Susan, London

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    1. Hi Susan,
      I didn't know that the longevity of the fragrances are different than how they were before. I don't usually take flacons with me to work so once it fades, I live with it. This is why I gravitate towards long lasting ones. This one is so unique though I couldn't say no. I will probably use it more when I am going out for a few hours. And yes our fragrance tastes are so similar :-)

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  2. Hey Sara, I'm leaving the comment again because Blogger ate the first one... (I figured out it's not that I can't leave comments. It's just that the first one gets eaten for some reason).

    Anyways, 4 hours are really a bit short! I was thinking it's a climate thing, but maybe it is skin chemistry instead. I'm glad you like the scent nonetheless though :)

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    1. Hi Sunny,
      I am so sorry that you are having issues with leaving comments to blogger :-( I miss you comments. Now I remember I had a similar issue and what I did was I was copying the comment I have written before I hit publish, it would get lost. Then I would paste the comment again and click publish once more, then it would work. So strange. A few times I would forget to copy it and would almost dump my computer out of the window for loosing all my comment lol.

      I was very surprised to read that it lasted to long on you, you are so lucky!!

      Delete
  3. I've been reading a lot about this particular fragrance. I have yet to try Jo Malone... and it seems like I need to go to a store soon :-)

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    1. Hi Lily,
      I was always afraid of Jo Malone since these layer so well, it might be an expensive start in the line. Go and check them out in a day when you have good self-control ;-))

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  4. What a great review! I'm super curious about this one- sounds totally unique! I don't always mind re-applying fragrance a few times a day, especially if I'm smitten with the scent! xo

    -Jen

    www.vibrantbeautyblog.com

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    Replies
    1. Hi Jen,
      I am so happy to hear that you liked the review. I am a fragrance lover but started reviewing them here just yet, so your feedbacks are so important for me. You are right about reapplying, each time you are like mmmm I love this especially when the top notes are good.

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  5. I didn't really like the scent the first time I tried it, but it completely grew on me, and reminds me so much of my childhood growing up closer to the sea and being surrounded by damper woods. Sadly, this only lasted me around 3 hours. Am tempted to pick up the body creme though.

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    Replies
    1. We have similar motivation in liking the scent, it reminds me of my childhood too. The longevity is really an issue here, you are right. If it would last longer, it would be one of my favorite fragrances all time.

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  6. Wunderschöne Review... ich würde den Duft gerne an Dir riechen. Bei mir ist das Holz leider sehr, sehr zart... ich hatte es mir etwas herber und rauer gewünscht. Aber es ist ein sehr schöner, subtiler Duft an mir. Mineralisch, ohne hart zu sein. Ganz liebe Grüße!

    ReplyDelete

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