Marmalade Dreams

“Using seasonal fruits to create homemade preserves feels like such a quintessentially British pastime, conjuring up images of English breakfasts, high teas and village fêtes. The British love of marmalade has always intrigued me and became our starting point for this collection.” Explains Jo Malone London Head of Fragrance Development, Celine Roux.

Working with two perfumers Nicolas Bonneville and Marie Salamagne to bring different aspects to the collection. “We started with a tasting session. Thinking about different flavours and how to bring an elegance to fruit-based ingredients. Marie told me about a supplier in Scotland that made natural fruit flavourings for the food industry, using a process that could be potentially adapted for fragrance.” The result the development of ‘fruit-extracts’ a bespoke process that supports local sourcing and cultivation in the UK. Using the fruit grown locally in the Highlands- strawberries, blackberries and blackcurrants (which sometimes grow just metres from their site) are harvested and slowly heated to release natural extracts, which are then recovered in a condenser. These extracts are typically supplied to the food industry, but true to our love for the unexpected, we found a way of using them in our fragrances.

“Fruit extracts are very volatile ingredients that can’t be added directly to fragrance oil. But in every fragrance, there’s a small part of water. By switching out the water for a fruit extract, we were able to introduce fruity notes that were fresh, vibrant and completely natural.” Explains Marie Salamagne, with the process used for both our Blackberry & Bay fragrance and a rhubarb fruit extract included our Tangy Rhubarb Cologne. “A wonderfully British ingredient- tart and little bit unexpected.”

The scents themselves pay homage to the single ingredient jams, encouraging you to use each fragrance in combination with another and experience all the fun of the fair. Take it from perfumers, the noses behind our latest collection, as they explain why each of its five fragrances is so special.

Blackberry & Bay: A long-standing favourite, this cologne was set to be at the core of the collection. A scent that was always been about jam-making and born from childhood memories, it pairs with all the fragrances beautifully.