The best Jo Malone perfumes for you will depend on what sort of scent your like—be it sweet, spicy, musky, or floral. After all, you'd struggle to name a British perfume house more iconic than Jo Malone London. With its signature square glass bottles, covetable candles and black and cream packaging, it inspires the same slavish devotion in fragrance buffs as Apple does in techies.
As for the best Jo Malone perfume? Put simply, you’re spoilt for choice. What started in 1990 with the Nutmeg & Ginger Bath Oil—a scent that set the agenda for irreverent and unexpected blends—has turned into an ever-growing fragrance library that sparks joy for people around the globe.
According to Emma South, Jo Malone London's fragrance and lifestyle expert, one reason the brand regularly tops the list of best perfumes for women is that the wide range of colognes somehow manages to be simultaneously luxurious and accessible, straightforward and unexpected. She said, “Jo Malone London has always created a palette of exquisitely simple, elegant scents and curated a world where every sense is indulged." Plus they are known for creating some of the best long-lasting perfumes too.
So which Jo Malone perfume is right for you? Look no further than our list...
Meet the experts on the best Jo Malone perfumes
- Emma South is Jo Malone London's fragrance and lifestyle expert.
The best Jo Malone perfumes as reviewed by a beauty editor
If you blindfolded your best friend and sprayed this perfume, they’d likely know exactly what it was. Pomegranate Noir’s fragrance DNA is so distinctive, largely on account of being so unusual. It opens with juicy red fruits that manage to sidestep smelling too sweet or girlie.
Spicy lilies combine with heady jasmine and peppery rose, proving that a fruity floral perfume can be sophisticated and grown-up. But it’s the smokiness of guaiac wood and the earthiness of patchouli that really linger on the skin, making this a dark, pungent scent. It's one of the most complimented fragrances around.
The just-ripe quality of pear is what really makes this scent distinctive. It’s like the perfumer Christine Nagel has captured the exact moment, when the pear skin is still crisp and crunchy and the flesh inside juicy.
This is partly down to the white freesias, which add a coolness to the blend, before everything is mellowed by amber, patchouli and woods. Quintessentially English, like an orchard in October, this scent is 100% addictive.
At first spritz there’s a sharp bite in this fragrance—thanks to the red apple—which immediately grabs your attention. This is softened when the peony, rose and carnation perfume notes burst though with a combination of honey-like scents and a less bracing kind of green freshness.
The smooth velvety blush suede accord is what steals the show, though. Less cloying than musk, it gives Peony & Blush Suede the most sensual of dry downs.
Rather than opt for the type of marine-based scent whose backing singers are citrus and ambery sunscreen, Wood Sage & Sea Salt doesn’t conform and conjure up a tropical beach somewhere.
Instead, it’s inspired by the windswept Jurassic Coast in the UK, with its rock pools, crashing waves and dramatic cliffs—and you can totally smell that in this scent. The sharp crunch of sea salt is tempered by earthy sage, while the ambrette seeds add a hint of spiciness that’s hard to put your finger on, making this a lively scent that’s both fresh and woody. Decant a little into a refillable perfume atomizer to reapply on the go.
There’s something insanely warm and fuzzy about this scent, without it ever smelling overpowering, or like a church. There’s smoky lavender, myrrh that smells earthy rather than of incense, all sitting atop toasty almond, vanilla (rivalling the best vanilla perfumes!) and tonka bean, which add a sweet, milky smoothness to the blend.
It's a great scent for the winter or autumn, and will make you feel super cozy.
Like a love letter to a sunny garden in spring and a less obvious alternative to plain old orangey citrus.
The bitter-sweet sparkling scent of clementine flower combines with more heady orange blossom and lilac—before warm undertones of vetiver and powdery orriswood make their presence felt. We have one word for this scent: sophisticated. The best Jo Malone perfume for a fresh woody scent for something a little different to the most popular feminine fragrances.
This scent is a modern classic, and where the Jo Malone story began, as it's the first ever Jo Malone cologne.
It takes the zestiness of limes and the tartness of mandarin and makes them magically seem completely herbaceous, with thyme and peppery basil. Even after multiple spritzes, we can’t get enough of the amber-like base, which leaves an addictively warm scent trail in its wake.
You might want to stockpile this for gray rainy days when you need something uplifting, just in case the best Yankee candle scents aren't doing it for you.
The epitome of a clean, uplifting scent, Grapefruit Cologne is also cut with rosemary, lavender, peppermint and pimento to pique the sunniness and bitter freshness of the grapefruit. Moss cushions the fragrance in earthy, woody warmth.
Grab a bucket—the blackberries, blackcurrants, fresh bay leaves and intensely warm cedar in Blackberry & Bay are so reminiscent of blackberry picking in the woods as a child you can almost taste the tart juice trickling down your chin.
This is the best Jo Malone perfume if you're after one of the best nostalgic perfumes!
Scents with the word ‘rose’ in the title often live under a cloud of suspicion that they’re too girlie. Yes, Red Roses is romantic thanks to no fewer than seven rose varieties but it’s also modern, with crushed violet leaves and a hint of lemon adding a spicy and citrusy twist for a variation on the best floral perfumes.
The honeycomb adds just the right amount of sweet to keep it feminine without veering into saccharine, teenage fragrance territory. Imagine the moment you unwrap the paper from a freshly cut bouquet of roses and hold them to your nose—this is that moment, bottled.
Who is Jo Malone?
Jo Malone London was founded by perfumer Jo Malone in 1990. Hers was a rags to riches story—after growing up on a council estate in England, battling dyslexia and quitting school with no qualifications, she went on to launch a cult perfume brand in the form of Jo Malone.
She sold her namesake company to Estée Lauder in 1999, but was still at its UK helm as chairwoman and creative director. In 2006, she sold it to Estée Lauder in its entirety. She now runs Jo Loves, a similar perfume brand.
What Jo Malone fragrance does Kate Middleton wear?
Jo Malone Orange Blossom is reportedly one of Kate Middleton’s all-time favourite scents, with its crowd-pleasing notes of fresh clementine flower and a soft floral heart of white lilac and water lily, before drying down to powdery orriswood.
However, while she opted for a different scent to mark her wedding day, she still gave a nod to her signature scent by decking out Westminster Abbey with Jo Malone Orange Blossom candles—one of the best scented candles around.
How do you pick a Jo Malone fragrance for a wedding?
Perhaps what Jo Malone's scents is most synonymous with is special occasions, especially weddings. Brides-to-be can even book in for the Scented Wedding Service either in store and online. During the consultation they’ll be encouraged to share their Pinterest boards, before being guided through a selection of scents in order to be matched to the best Jo Malone perfume for their big day.
Emma South says: “Choosing a new perfume for your wedding day will mean you’ll only ever be reminded of that special time when you spritz it on.
"Think of what you want to be reminded of on the day—maybe you’re getting married on a beach, for example, and you want to be reminded of the sea air—and use that as a memory anchor when choosing your scent. Orange Blossom is always popular as the flower is a symbol of everlasting love. Scent pairing is also great idea, as you could wear something new but also layer a familiar scent on top so it doesn’t feel like a radical change.”
There’s also a multitude of ways that you can use scent to echo the details of your big day to make it as romantic as the cheesiest rom coms. South says, "Mist the hem of your dress or veil. Scent the wedding stationary—menus, order of service—and the table clothes, burn candles on the tables at the reception and include scented hand washes in the bathrooms. All of this can also be very evocative for guests who will associate that scent with memories of your wedding day."
Perfume layering: what Jo Malone perfumes go together?
Each Jo Malone fragrance has been designed to be worn alone or combined with other fragrances, in what the brand calls ‘Scent Pairing’. South says: “Layering scents and textures creates a fragrance that is bespoke and personal to you. This could be freshening up a floral with a citrus zing or adding spice for alluring warmth.
"You can adjust your fragrance combination to suit your mood, style or the season, knowing that whatever you choose will be unique. Lime Basil & Mandarin for example, brings a citrus burst and daring herbal dash to other Jo Malone London fragrances.” For summer, Emma recommends pairing it with the Grapefruit Cologne for an “extra splash of uplifting brightness”. Or if you prefer heavier scents, layer it with Pomegranate Noir Cologne for sensual depth.
As for where to start? “Look at the different fragrance families. You may find you are drawn to different perfume notes, such as citrus, spicy, fruity or floral. You will have an emotional or sensory connection with a particular genre of scent. From there you can play to lift or to deepen the fragrance, to spice or to complicate, to simplify or to add mystery, and ultimately create something special to you.”
It’s also worth remembering that perfume clings to moist skin. So layer your favorite juice over a body wash or body creme for added longevity.
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