I feel no shame in admitting that, occasionally, it’s the packaging of a product that sparks my interest, at least initially. This is particularly true when it comes to scent, because one could argue that a perfume is as much an ornamental item as a beauty product – I get almost as much pleasure from seeing a Chanel No5 bottle on my junk-shop dressing table as I do from sniffing it on my wrist.
I would never discount a perfume on the grounds of naff packaging (I revere YSL’s Opium, for example), but a lovely atomiser is a pleasing cherry on top. Almost literally, in the case of Miu Miu’s first signature scent (£48, which became available nationwide earlier this week), which comes in an opaque blue-glass flacon topped with a red disc stopper. It’s the most gorgeous bottle I’ve seen in a long time, and I’m not too proud to say I squealed. While it’s slightly mad-looking, and surely not to everyone’s taste, more importantly, the perfume inside should please everyone. It’s a very wearable white flower blend, but not the sort that’s cloying, like week-old lilies polluting the entire house. It has a fizzy liveliness that feels cheering and a green note for those who demand freshness in their perfumes.
Even lovelier, albeit in a less striking container, is Jo Malone’s new Mimosa & Cardamom (£42). I’ll confess that I’ve found many of the firm’s recent offerings too soft and girly (some limited editions aside, I haven’t loved anything it has put out since the delicately sweet and sour Blackberry & Bay), but this is a much more sophisticated and distinctive affair. Ironically, this is an instance when image and marketing – all hippy-chic and love beads – seem a mismatch. For me, it has the dry, ever-so-slightly blokey vibe I look for, as well as a sexy warmth reminiscent of hot skin on the beach. Like almost all Jo Malone colognes, it’s resolutely day wear rather than something in which to paint the town red, but its spiciness still makes it feel rather special and smart.
If neither of those appeals, a third option is Jo Loves Pomelo (£45), a beautiful, crisp, grapefruit and grass scent that – unlike many in the citrus category – goes nowhere near toilet cleaner territory and stays on the skin all day. Elegant, clean, tasteful and a little mannish, it’s an expensive white shirt in a bottle.
