White And Safe

I always forget about the Jo Malone line. When I first started discovering niche lines, it was one of my favorites. Later on, I became a little bored with them. They are nice, for sure, but they felt a little too "common" for the perfume snob in me. That's not their fault, though. They get imitated so many times that sometimes I can't distinguish them from the latest concoctions at Bath & Body Works. (For the record, I like B B & W products) When Jo Malone launched their "Intense Cologne" series last year, my curiosity was piqued, and one in particular sounded appealing to me in paper: Iris and White Musk.(They also claim in their press release that these were inspired by Middle Eastern scents, which I thought was so opposite of the Jo Malone aesthetic)   A dirty flower? I am so there! Plus, iris is probably one of my top 3 favorite notes, and musky always calls my name. When I spritzed it, I was full of hope. And then....it's a fine fragrance. But, and this is a big but - the musk did not really do it for me. It's musk alright, but it is a pretty tepid one. I wasn't expecting dirty animalic musk, but this is just too well-behaved for me. The iris on the top  is sharp and cold, just the way I like it, and rounded by something citrus. It disappears quickly, and the musk enters, and for a while I have visions that it will evolve into something more interesting but, alas, it's just your typical white musk, not unlike the Body Shop version. In the end, it's clean, soapy...and safe. And very Jo Malone.