Jo's Scent Notes: Back to work scents
The extraordinary thing about autumn is that one minute, you’re going: ‘I never want summer to end’ – and the next, you’re scrolling cardigans on Vinted and dusting off your favourite crumble recipe.
But I also love this time of year because somehow, it’s the real season of new beginnings. (I don’t want to start anything in January; I just want to lie in bed and watch box sets.) I love that whole ‘new pencil case, back to work’ vibe – feeling energised again, after a languid couple of months. My presenting work is always quieter in summer, and we also dial down the pace of content on Beauty Bible because we reckon that you – and we – have better things to do than look at our screens so often.
Still, autumn also marks a tilt n my fragrance wardrobe that mirrors that of my clothing wardrobe. So, this week, I thought I’d share some favourite ‘back to work’ scents. Fragrances that somehow have a little more structure and backbone than summer’s sunlit, floaty options – perhaps the equivalent of the crisp white shirt you might be wearing under a mannish suit, or a tailored jacket.
If you are literally going back to work in an office, they’re also not so va-va-voom that you’ll intrude on a colleague’s workstation. (But then again, nor are they the understated embodiment of a trend that has suddenly gripped social media, for ‘very demure, very mindful’ make-up/fragrance/clothing, which has brought out my raging inner Suffragette, because I thought we were over having to pretend to be something we’re not, and while I like to think I’m mindful I have absolutely no need to tone down my natural exhuberance to be ‘more demure’!)
Clicking on any of the names will take you to the fragrances online, to explore further.
Chanel Cristalle/£145 for 100ml eau de parfum. This is a blissful rediscovery for me, on a recent spritz ‘n’ sniff interlude in their Bond Street store, recently. If ever there was a ‘crisp white shirt’ scent, this is it: almost crystalline in the way it sparkles, with floral notes of hyacinth and jasmine tethered by green notes of oakmoss and vetiver. It’s such a perfect, classic structure, but Cristalle also has an almost aromatherapeutic effect on me, too, clearing my mind before a meeting. Alas, Chanel have discontinued the super-fresh eau de toilette – but the eau de parfum is still exquisite, and seasonally perfect.
Hermès Concentré de Pamplemousse Rose/£100 for 100ml eau de parfum . Be quick, be quick: I’ve a hunch this one’s going to disappear from the shelves soon, because it’s getting increasingly hard to find. Again, super-fresh and airy, with a dew-drenched rosiness and lots of zesty freshness.
Ostens Impression Cedarwood Heart/£95 for 50ml. As a perfume note, cedarwood most definitely rocks a ‘back-to-school’ vibe, so redolent of newly sharpened pencils. Ostens is a British fragrance house which works with a French supplier called LMR Naturals, famed for their ability to extract the magic from natural ingredients, and here is a perfect, woody cedarwood that is absolutely ‘Close your eyes and imagine a Derwent 4B’. It also comes as a perfume oil, which I sometimes layer under other fragrances to ramp up their woodiness; oils also work to help scents cling to skin, so it turbo-charges their staying power.
Maison Louis Marie No.04 Bois de Balincourt/£55 for 15ml perfume oil. This perfume house is a great new discovery, with a California-based, Belgian founder and a bit of a cult following. I’m very much liking the non-silly prices. My favourite is this perhaps slightly more masculine offering (they’re all ‘shareable’, though). I find it grounding and de-stressing (always a bonus in a work fragrance), with lots of cedarwood, again, smoothed by sandalwood and piqued by cinnamon and nutmeg, with a breeze of vetiver. Sit at your desk and imagine yourself forest bathing, in this one. Again, because it’s an oil, it’s very long-lasting – but won’t project across an open plan office!
Jo Malone London Lime, Basil & Mandarin/£118 for 100ml Cologne. I have always been in awe of people who do manage to carry off a white shirt and stay uncreased till the end of the working day, but even if you’re the type who always looks like you got dressed out of the laundry basket – and I am often one – it’ll make you FEEL fresh and unrumpled. It’s an absolute modern classic, and for good reason – gloriously fresh, crisp and elegant.
Here's to a productive (and great-smelling) season…
