Jo Malone (brand) has done it again – launched another quirky limited edition, the Brit Veggie Collection, that consists of three fragrances – Carrot Blossom, Velvety Butternut and Scarlet Beetroot – in unique, colorful bottles.
Saturday Question #301:
Jo Malone Brit Veggie Collection – Should We Even Bother?
Did you try these perfumes? Do you want to? Will you? What about the next new collection from the brand?
My Answer
Jo Malone was my “starter brand” (back when it still could be considered a niche brand). I still own and wear many of their creations. At least three of them will easily make it into my top 25 (and several more would not be far behind). Some of my favorites behave amazingly on my skin. Others are more fleeting, but I don’t mind reapplying them throughout the day. Every time I read about a new limited edition collection, my immediate reaction is: I should try it before it’s gone!
The last time I liked a new perfume from the brand was two years ago, when I briefly contemplated buying one (or three) bottles from their Mementos Collection. I didn’t buy any of the bottles (I haven’t even finished the set of samples yet!), and I don’t think I’ve ever regretted it. But still, it was a positive experience.
Since then, I’ve tried everything new I came across in stores, and I can barely remember even that I did, let alone the details of how those perfumes smelled (other than that I wasn’t impressed).
Today, the main goal of venturing into the local mall was to check out this new Brit Veggie Collection: even though I found the inspiration behind that collection odd, I thought it could be interesting and unusual. It wasn’t. The bottles were quite cute. The perfumes were so uninspiring, even on the first spray, that I wasn’t tempted to try any of them on my skin.
I am officially annoyed: there is no justification for releasing such boring perfumes in a line with 40+ current fragrances. $90 for 30 ml isn’t the highest price out there, but at that quality level, the lineup of brands available at Sephora beats these hands down. It could have been so much more interesting! Those bottles are new and unique; it’s not as though they needed to reuse an existing bottle size. They could have done smaller bottles for the same price with better ingredients and more interesting compositions – and they would sell out anyway. But they chose mediocrity. And I think that I shouldn’t even bother checking out this brand any longer. It’s sad.
Undina's Looking Glass 
I will not bother, because I don’t believe in vegetable perfumes. It just seems like weirdness for its own sake, plus L’Artisan already did it.
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OH NO! I was going to go sniff these Undina. We have been talking Jo Malone on the Perfume Posse this week and they came up. What a crying shame.
Portia xx
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Yes, very sad indeed. I wore Jo Malone from its beginning and loved the fragrances I chose then (Vetyver was outstanding, and Grapefruit wonderful). I suppose I was concerned after Jo left, wondering if it would remain as good without her and her creative input and enthusiasm, and then I became more so as the number of launches increased; it was hard to keep track of them all – they disappeared rapidly and more arrived. Prices began to soar. My only surviving favourite became a ghost of its former self. I feel that the standard is not as high – maybe it’s quantity over quality? And profits. Perhaps it was all inevitable once the company was bought by a huge conglomerate, we’ve seen this happen many times. So, farewell, Jo Malone, I will miss you but won’t be coming back.
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I’ve been on a no buy / lo buy scenario because I simply have too many (of many lines) in my collection. I decided to try this set because it sounded fascinating to me and the discovery set was very tempting. In any case, I enjoyed this!
(… and waving hello because I had been slacking off other than NST …)
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