Jo Malone
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
The initial spray delivers a sharp, almost sting-like freshness as cypress resin and lavender's mentholic edge collide, creating something reminiscent of crushed herb stems. It's bright, slightly austere, and wholly unexpected—a green proclamation that this won't be a cosy, comforting scent.
As the top notes dissolve, the composition's true character emerges through the wine grape's fermented spice mingling with earthy vetiver and dry cedarwood. The amber begins threading warmth through what might otherwise feel austere, whilst the fougère creates a velvety, almost powdery quality that softens the green austerity into something more nuanced and contemplative.
The base settles into a predominantly woody-mossy dryness, with vetiver and cedarwood forming a sturdy skeleton whilst the wine grape's spice lingers as a faint, ghostly presence. What remains is lean and architectural—more suggestion than statement, a whisper of earth and distant grape leaves.
Cypress & Grapevine arrives as a paradox wrapped in green silk—simultaneously herbaceous and indulgent, austere and sensual. Sophie Labbé has crafted something that feels less like a fragrance and more like an olfactory contradiction, one that refuses easy categorisation.
The cypress announces itself with a crisp, almost resinous clarity, supported by lavender's peppery bite, creating an opening that feels faintly medicinal, yet deliberately so. There's nothing antiseptic here; rather, it's the green freshness of an ancient vineyard at dawn, when dew still clings to weathered grapevines. What makes this composition compelling is how the wine grape note doesn't read as fruity in any conventional sense. Instead, it introduces a fermented, slightly spiced undertone that converges with vetiver and cedarwood in the heart, creating an unexpected aromatic density. The amber adds warmth without sweetness, threading through as almost imperceptible sweetening against the fougère's herbal grassiness.
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3.5/5 (80)