As the quarantine loosens up, more and more people are opting to try their luck with nearby destinations. For many though, staying at home remains the norm, opting instead to travel via their imagination and their senses.
Fragrance has always been tied to memory, but it can also evoke images of people, places and things that we’ve yet to experience. This is why certain scents make us feel powerful, others make us smile and some stir up deeper feelings of love and even loss. Such is the power of the senses and the right mix and balance of notes.
The grandeur of love and the collective memory of a lost world, now found again, are just some of the images that come to mind with Jo Malone London’s latest collection, Lost In Wonder. When we first heard about the collection, which features a luscious Fig & Lotus Flower Cologne and a handsome Cypress & Grapevine Cologne Intense, we were right smack in the middle of a strict quarantine. Traveling the world was impossible, not to mention dangerous, so why not travel through time and space with one’s senses? Lost In Wonder did just that, taking us to the fabled hanging gardens built by a lovestruck but noble king for his enchanting queen.
“The enigmatic fragrances from the new Lost in Wonder collection will transport you to a past moment in time, imagined in the present,” says Chris Wyatt, Jo Malone London’s Vice President of Global Education during the virtual launch. “As a brand we have always believed that fragrance has the power to transport you to special and magical places whether that be an imaginary enchanted land or a treasured memory of the past.”
When we finally got to try the scents themselves, we felt ourselves transported to another place, old and yet eternal. It was indeed a garden, one filled with fountains and delicate channels that ran through through rows and rows of trees heavy with dark foliage and plump fruit, the juice spilling out into the sun. One moves through light and shade, stopping by ponds and carved stone benches, hand in hand with a lover. It’s a heady mix, one that is apt for the grandeur of a royal affair.
The Fig & Lotus Flower and Cypress & Grapevine Cologne Intense both have an aqueous quality to them, calming down the juiciness of their fruit notes and the enlivening their green and woodsy dry downs. Like all Jo Malone London fragrances, they can be layered with other scents, mixing and matching as one would one’s wardrobe. Wyatt suggests pairing the Cypress & Grapevine with Wood Sage & Sea Salt or English Pear & Freesia. For the Fig & Lotus Flower, he recommends blending it with Wild Bluebell as both have dewy aquatic notes.
Who knows when we will be able to travel for real again, to step into a plane, train or automobile and feel that thrill, that excitement. In a time when even a short trip to the neighborhood grocery can cause anxiety and even panic, it’s comforting to know that there are other ways to get around our collective cabin fever. Even the brands are picking up on this.
“As a brand we are always ready to adapt and embrace new challenges, keeping our valued consumers front of mind,” shares Wyatt. “The pandemic has shifted consumer perception and what we value, we prioritize what is important to our well-being and what really matters to our consumers and stylists is to be flexible and attentive to the needs of our stakeholders. A key part of this is understanding how people value fragrance as part of their wellbeing.”
Through our senses, we can feel warmth and comfort, we can feel calm and safe. Sometimes, we can even find love.
