Jo's Scent Notes: Jo Malone London English Pear & Sweet Pea

I remember, like it was yesterday, the first time I smelled Jo Malone London’s first pear ‘blockbuster’, English Pear & Freesia. Picture the scene, at Keats House, where the poet lived in Hampstead. A conservatory, piled high with pears and teatime treats. A seat next to the perfumer, Christine Nagel (who now works exclusively for Hermès).

Gulp. When I Googled it, that event was 13 years ago. (I managed to find a photo of the fragrance that I took at the launch, which you can see above.)

Since then, English Pear & Freesia has gone on to become one of JML’s bestsellers, reincarnated in all sorts of formats – including, for this season, the beautiful English Pear & Freesia Candle, pictured top, as well as a fluted-bottled, limited edition Cologne.

It’s crisp. It’s juicy. It’s a kick-up-the-autumn-leaves and enjoy the outdoors sort of fragrance: very wearable, sitting in the Chypre-Fruity family of fragrances, with a touch of patchouli in the base to give a woody dryness. (I am drawn, always, to Chypre scents. And once you know which ‘families’ suit you best, it really helps narrow down choices.) You could wear it with corduroy. Or jeans. Or a smart white shirt; very versatile, is English Pear & Freesia.

It was quite something, to be invited all these years later to the launch of its limited edition counterpart, English Pear & Sweet Pea – combining a quintessential English fruit with such a traditional bloom. Held atop Marylebone’s Treehouse Hotel, the breakfast event was as florabundant as fragrance launches get – do scroll down for some photos. And it had me pinching myself – not for the first time – at my good fortune to write about smells for a living, and be invited to money-can’t-buy exclusive events to unveil important fragrances, like this one. This time, I found myself sitting next to Jo Malone London’s brilliant Celine Roux, who was the creative driving force behind this, and (since 2016) all of JML’s fragrances.

And oh, how pretty this one is! Which makes it such an unlikely new love, for me. For this time of year, I like ‘em dark. Smoky. Mysterious. Cocooning and velvety. But this? It’s fabulously feminine, but with enough intrigue there to capture my attention. (I discussed this with two other fragrance writers, women at the top of their game. They just adore it, too.)

Composed by leading perfumer Anne Flipo, it’s wonderfully light and airy, at the top – almost a champagne-like freshness, with touches of clean laundry flapping in a breeze. The sweet peas aren’t there right at the start, but they drift in softly – the unmistakable scent of what is actually my favourite of all garden flowers. And that pear. Actual pear, created by boiling pears and distilling the scent from their steam; there is apparently the equivalent of one whole pear squeezed into each bottle.

There’s a muskiness on the skin, after a while, which has me sniffing my wrists almost compulsively. And just a little woodiness, too. All in all – as my two perfumista colleagues and I agreed – it’s exceptional.

I also find myself spritzing and re-spritzing this, whenever I wear it – the freshness awakens my senses again. (I sometimes keep it on my desk, for that reason.) It’s a sublime scent for this time of year, too – that airy fruitiness, but with an almost snuggly quality, after it’s mellowed on your skin. (Note: this IS a Cologne concentration, so spritzing and re-spritzing is almost de rigueur.)

To distinguish it from the limited edition fluted English Pear & Freesia flacon, the bottle for English Pear & Sweet Pea is beautifully faceted – it almost sparkles, like the scent inside. There’s a 30ml size, too – same faceting, totally handbag-friendly.

And – if you love the original – it’s currently available as the fabulous lidded candle, pictured above, with a leaf-decorated lid to keep the dust off the wax.

All in all, utter pear-fection.

English Pear & Sweet Pea/from £55 for 30ml Cologne – buy here

English Pear & Freesia/from £55 for 30ml Cologne – buy here

English Pear & Freesia Candle/£59 for 200g – buy here