Orange Blossom

Jo Malone London built this cologne around the image of a shimmering garden oasis. Its central flower, orange blossom, has been a bridal favourite for centuries, traditionally linked with purity, innocence and fertility because the flowers can appear at the same time as the fruit. In its story of the flower, the house recalls that Queen Victoria wore a wreath of orange blossom instead of a tiara at her 1840 wedding, and that Queen Elizabeth II had it embroidered on the hem of her wedding dress.

The scent opens on clementine flower: a floral accord rather than the fruit, sweet with a bitter edge showing through, and light as it lifts. Orange blossom and water lily sit at the heart, the honeyed sweetness of the blossom joined by the dewy freshness of a waterside flower. White lilac, a spring floral with a slightly spicy facet, brightens the shimmering flowers a step further.

At the base are orris wood, drawn from the fragrant root of the iris, and a balsamic vetiver. The orris brings an elegant, powdery woodiness that wraps the sweet fruit and flowers in depth, while the vetiver leaves warmth beneath.

The house describes orange blossom as a fragrant beam of sunlight, warm and wonderful. In this cologne, that brightness is kept crisp by the bitter edge of clementine flower and softly held by orris wood.