As I’m sure many of you know, Jo Malone sold her eponymous perfume company a few years ago. In the time since, I’ve seen many lovely reviews for the new Jo Malone fragrances and many not so lovely. It seems that most people at the least feel like the new fragrances have been derivative and at worst feel the company has veered far from her original vision. So what’s a Jo Malone-ite to do? Try some of the scents by her new company Jo Loves of course! I’ve received two samples from the company: Pomelo and Green Orange and Coriander.
Pomelo is basically a retread of Grapefruit Cologne. Whew, I’m glad I went ahead and got that out of the way. Maybe that’s not completely fair. Pomelo is Grapefruit Cologne as Jo would have conceived it today. That’s a more fair assessment. It’s fresh and sparkly and easy. Lots of grapefruit and a note of the essential oil spraying in the air as you peel off some zest. Much to my delight, it lacked the musty “old lady” note I get in Jo Malone Grapefruit. Longevity is as expected–ephemeral at best. Jo would have been crazy to not include something in her line for the faithful who have loved her Grapefruit Cologne. So Pomelo is Grapefruit’s younger, hipper sister. Now on to the more intriguing of the scents.
Green Orange and Coriander is perfect to wear on the weekend to a backyard barbeque or Home Depot or wherever. It is so incredibly easy to wear, but I promise there is enough intrigue for a perfumista’s nose. The sparkling citrus from Pomelo makes an appearance here as well but it is grounded by bitter pith and lots of green, unripe zest. It is so beautiful and mouthpuckering and caught me by surprise. Singing baritone is Coriander. I love Coriander. It smells so manly in a classic way that isn’t dated to me. It must be a scent memory for me because I can’t put my finger on why it evokes the response it does for me. I use Kiehl’s Coriander oil as my “non-scent” when I’m feeling lazy or casual. Green Oranger and Coriander is perfect for that role too. It’s much more complex than the traditional “out of the dryer” or “soapy” smells that we associate with clean and unencumbered by fragrance, but it echoes a similar sensibility. The longevity was admirable for a fragrance so focused on only its top notes. So while it may not be earth-shattering to the fragrance world at large, to me it filled a void few fragrances have been able to fill.
Jo Loves consists of four fragrances currently, all marketed with “FUN!” 
adjectives but no real gender bias (well, one fragrance does have Tuille in the name, and I don’t know any men who wear tuille.) Joining shortly will be two mango-based fragrances. Unfortunately they are not currently shipping to America and I haven’t found any stores that stock them. I won’t go out of my way to find Green Orange and Coriander, but once it lands on these shores, I’ll buy a bottle for sure.
These sound so great for summer, I wish they’d show up htere soon too!
I like the idea of the Green Orange and Coriander, and now I want to try that Kiehl’s Coriander oil, too!
Nice to see a review of these. I was curious about the line, and a month or 2 ago was sent “scented blotters” (ie, they sprayed the perfumes on a piece of paper, sealed each separately in plastic, and sent them to me) of the 4 fragrances. My reaction to Pomelo was similar to yours, tho to me it smelled like a combo of JM Grapefruit and Lime Basil & Mandarin. But that was just smelling it on paper, not skin. I found the Green Orange and Coriander to be quite harsh, tho after reading your review, I want to try it on skin; that may soften and deepen it. The Orange Tulle smelled indistinguishable from JM Orange Blossom–at least on paper. I don’t recall the Gardenia at all. 🙁 Thanks again for the review–it’s interesting to learn people’s perspectives on the new line.
Hi, Derek! These sound great — thanks for the info.I’ve been wanting to try them for a while; guess we’ll just have to wait until they make it across the Pond!
I got Green Orange and Coriander and Gardenia myself. I truly like both and reviewed them recently on my blog; I was very pleasantly surprised by the Jo Loves line and will anxiously await its appearance on US shores!
Glad to hear someone else enjoys the line. Although they aren’t revolutionary ideas, I think they’re really solely done and pretty in a very unassuming way.