Jo Malone Fir & Artemisia Review

Sweetly seasonal...

[unpaid/sample/affiliate/ad] Last week, Dora and I headed to the Jo Malone London Christmas pop-up in Covent Garden which is in situ until 24th November, at which time, it ups its very shiny and glamorous sticks and heads off to Edinburgh St James Quarter until 15th December. One of the good things (of many) about Dora is that she is so tiny I can pop her in my black Uniqlo cross body bag so she snuggled very comfortably in there for most of the time. Another thing I can say about her is that she loves a launch - she likes looking at everything, she loves the fuss she gets (she came out of the bag a couple of times for requested photo opps!) and she likes the adventure of it.

At the pop-up, you'll find all the Christmas offerings from the brand including their 'scent of the season' which is Fir & Artemisia as well as games and activities. There's a big prize wheel which is great fun where you can win a variety of things from actual mini products and money-off vouchers to charity donations (I won the latter on my spin and I think the brand makes a donation to UNICEF which I'm quite happy with.

I'd love to tell you that Fig & Artemisia is a hard swerve (because, from personal experience, shopping at Jo Malone is very difficult without popping a little treat to self into your basket as well) but it's not. It's just the most delicious wintery aroma that's unusually dual aspect - I could describe it as a cosy cashmere hug as easily as I could describe it as a frosty walk through a forest. It's certainly wintery, pinging at olfactory emotions while soothing them into something comforting and more-ish.

Something I never really notice in fragrances is balance but Fir & Artemisia is distinct in being a perfect, evenly balanced perfume - I find it sweet, herbal (a sort of sage-like note but much nicer), leathery and resinous in equal measure and I can't think of anything remotely like it. I'm not a hugger, but I think if I met someone wearing it, I'd velcro myself to them and they'd have to peel me off - it's incredibly more-ish and I'm sniffing my own wrists on repeat with absolute joy every time.

Monday mornings are rubbish - the house is chilly, Dora is away attention seeking at doggy day care and it's an effort to gear up to writing for the week ahead but a beautiful fragrance takes the edge off and I'm smiling at the bottle next to me. 100ml is £124 and 30ml is £58. Given that Fir & Artemisia is so seasonal, I'd be inclined to opt for the smaller bottle - that anticipatory emotion that makes all of these notes so perfect for the time of year is long gone by February. That's also the excuse to spray with abandon and trust me, you'll want to! 30ml is HERE.