Jo Malone London has ventured into the garden once more, this time exchanging bouquets of orange blossom, jasmine or peony for fresh produce.
The British perfume house, celebrated for pioneering fragrance combining, introduces limited-edition scents featuring beetroot, the carrot, green tomato, and butternut. These creations emphasise sweet, nutty, earthy, and woody facets anchored in patchouli to lend an intoxicating depth that transforms them from merely pretty to provocatively alluring.
The Brit Veggies collection, launching this month, expands into bath, body and home offerings as well. However, hold off on tossing the salad for now. Céline Roux has three key insights to share.
It’s amazing how good vegetables smell.
“They’re quite edible, but in a different way”, says Roux of the collection, which avoids syrupy excess. Scarlet Beetroot carries fruity notes, Carrot Blossom introduces “a bit of yumminess, a touch of apricot”, and Velvety Butternut is “very creamy and woody”.
To unify the collection, Roux uses patchouli, a scent that “smells damp, like soil”, to evoke the routines of watering, weeding, picking, and harvesting. She explains, “I thought it would be nice to have this gentle link to where the vegetables come from, the soil.”
In Singapore AND elsewhere, the fragrances wear well.
“They have a certain clarity,” says Roux. “I think they will work very well.” Each cologne travels slowly through top, middle, and base notes. Velvety Butternut, for example, opens with ginger, then gives way to butternut, and settles into patchouli.
For warm, humid climates like Singapore, where fragrances can feel heavy and overwhelming, Roux assures that Jo Malone London’s new compositions remain light and refreshing. She also
highlights scent layering’s versatility, which extends wear by inhibiting evaporation.
For the evening, she is excited to combine a vibrant scent like Scarlet Beetroot with a sensual one like Pomegranate Noir, showcasing the adaptability of these fragrances.
The pursuit of luxury comes with responsibilities as well.
“We at Jo Malone London balance luxury with social responsibility by incorporating sustainability, ethical sourcing, community support, and well-being initiatives into our brand,” says Roux.
In addition to recycled and recyclable packaging, the brand also invests in manufacturing powered by renewable electricity and aims to reduce emissions across the entire production process. In addition, it emphasises the use of responsibly sourced ingredients and greater transparency about its materials.
Jo Malone London is an advocate for mental health too. It has donated more than 3 million British pounds (S$5.15 million) to charities for this purpose. A founding member of Unicef’s Global Coalition for Youth Mental Health in 2022, the brand advances long-term solutions to the problem.
