Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice

By Ashley Kowalewski

Sweet, spicy, delectable: all the things that describe the decadent delicacies you would find at British high tea. Jo Malone London, makers of quintessentially English fragrances, introduces its Sugar & Spice Limited Edition Collection this month with five mouth-watering spritzes meant to evoke that civilized and iconic British tradition.

In the age of the celebrity-named fruity-florals dominating the fragrance market, a collection based on desserts—however delicate they may be—might seem a tad overdone, but not the case with this particular assortment. Jo Malone has always been an advocate of sophisticated fragrances and layered perfume pairings, so this collection offers a bevy of sweets and spices to play with and combine, without falling into the lump of today’s headache-inducing juices.

And while tea time with Jo Malone does not include a tea date with any of the Royals—pity—it will sate your scent-loving sweet tooth. Now all you need is a cup of Earl Grey.

CHOOSE YOUR TEA-TIME SWEET
Jo Malone’s Lemon Tart cologne has tangy notes of lemon tart, citrus fruits and verbena mixed with meringue. A hit of aromatic, lemon thyme delivers a sharp yet refined finish.

Bitter Orange & Chocolate celebrates that wonderful citrus-cocoa combo with namesake ingredients plus a spot of coconut and coumarin.

Redcurrant & Cream is sweet through and through. Redcurrants, strawberries and raspberries flavour this pudding-inspired spritz, while creamy musk makes it wearable, sans saccharine.

The creamy whipped gooseberry-fool dessert inspires the delicate Elderflower & Gooseberry spritz. Green and fruity (gooseberries and elderflower mix with juicy lychee) to form the perfect antidote to today’s mass-market fruity-florals.

Ginger Biscuit marries equal parts sugar and spice. Notes of ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon are rounded out with caramel, roasted hazelnut, tonka bean and vanilla for a mouth-wateringly olfactory experience. Delish.

…Because that’s what Jo Malone London Sugar & Spice Limited Edition Collection colognes are made of: In Bitter Orange & Chocolate, Elderflower & Gooseberry, Ginger Biscuit, Lemon Tart, and Redcurrant & Cream, $70 (30 ml) each, www.jomalone.com, www.holtrenfrew.com