Happy Valentine's Day - Jo Malone Blue Agava and Cacao Cologne Review

Yesterday I did a bit of perfume shopping with my boyfriend. I really wanted to try something by Jo Malone as there are so many different fragrances available, I thought there must be something to suit everybody. Now usually I like to be surprised with gifts, but perfume is one of those things that you can get so horribly wrong so I went along to choose, I wanted to smell as many as I could before deciding! Blue agava and cacao is not a fragrance I would usually be drawn to. To be honest, the reason I even wanted to check it out was because I had read in a magazine a while ago some celebrities favourite perfumes. I think it was Amelle from the Sugababes that chose this one, and it was the only perfume I had not heard of. I usually go for very safe, girly, floral scents, and it was hard actually to not just buy the Rose cologne that they had decorating every corner of their shop in aid of Valentine's Day. Blue agava and cacao is not a safe or convential fragrance for me in any way.
The fragrances on the Jo Malone website are divided into categories, this is under the floral category. There is also a light floral category, which I guess would be where I normally lean towards, this is more of a heady floral. Also, it's not floral in an obvious way, there are a lot of other notes in there to keep this interesting. For example, I can smell hints of cocoa and vanilla. It is described on the website as "Inspired by the rhythm and vibrancy of latin music" and I think I can see what they mean by this. It's a passionate, interesting scent which I'm sure will have a few people asking you what perfume you're wearing. It's a little overwhelming at first, because it is so different from the perfumes I'm used to wearing (to give you and idea, my favourites are YSL Elle, Chanel Coco Mademoiselle and Givenchy Very Irresistible) but after the top notes fade, the smell that lingers through the day is not overwhelming at all. There are supposed to be hints of lime and grapefruit, so this becomes a pleasant mix of warm yet fresh.The cologne is priced at £32 for a 30ml or £64 for a 100ml. Not extortionate I don't think, I'd expect to pay that for a brand like Chanel or Dior and this is definitely a little piece of luxury on par with those brands. Apparently this is a brand popular with a few celebrities, when I was in there, Graham Norton walked in, he was looking at the bubble bath, I found this really amusing for some reason!

I love the presentation when you buy from Jo Malone, the little box had a ribbon around it, and in the bag, the paper was sprayed with the Rose cologne, it's the little touches that matter.

Maybe this fragrance isn't for you, but I think there's plenty on offer for anyone to find one that is. Happy Valentine's Day ladies, I did the whole dinner and wine thing on Friday night, so not really going to do much tonight, how are you spending yours?