Pink Product Review: Jo Malone Red Roses

Today is the first day of the Comments for a Cure Campaign at Brain Spam! Please leave a comment -- for every comment made between today and Friday October 24th, I will donate $1 to the Canadian Cancer Society, up to a cap of $50. Help me reach my goal and join the fight against Cancer!


Having just gone through The Summer Of Weddings, I have amassed a fair amount of wedding-related advice. The obvious one (don't wear white!) is a no-brainer, but a more subtle etiquette tip stuck out at me: Don't wear red.

Whether you choose to accept this advice or not is clearly a personal choice, but the advice-giver says that red is too eye-catching, too dramatic and passionate, and too strong. Weddings are purportedly about romance rather than drama, about a comforting, gentle love rather than a fiery, passionate one. And so, to reflect the romantic theme, one should stick with pinks if one wants to wear something in the red-family (either on the body or on the lips!).

Okay, so that might be the case for weddings, but when it comes to cancer awareness, I say we need to add a splash of Red to the Pink campaign. In the fight against cancer, yes we need compassion and understanding, but we also need the fire. We need to be dramatic and bold and attention-getting, to tell our friends and loved ones that they CAN and SHOULD take care of themselves. (Put down that cigarette! Do your monthly self breast-exams!) We need that passion, devotion, and strength if we are going to end this disease that strikes 1 out of 8 American women.



To me, Jo Malone's Red Roses cologne is a perfect combination of Pink and Red. It is the most realistic scent depiction of a real rose that I have smelled. It starts off supple and lush, with a jammy, greenish toothsome-ness, as if you'd stuck your nose in a big bouquet of freshly-cut roses with plump petals. The sweetness of the rose is balanced by a slight but bracing spiciness, reminiscent of lemon verbena (probably the lemon and spearmint notes coming through). As it dries down further, a touch of cream is apparent, with the slightest suggestion of water droplets sprinkled on petals, but it mostly stays true to the rose. Near the base of the fragrance, there is a salty earthiness that I don't detect often in floral scents, but somehow fits perfectly here.

Red Roses is a fresh and young scent -- there's no overpowering musk or sickly sweet powder associated with it. But, it has a headiness, assertiveness, and composure that usually isn't present in fragrances marketed toward younger crowds. It is at once girlish and womanly, and I could imagine myself wearing it at a day in the park or for a romantic night out with equal ease. Indeed, it might last all the way from a day at the park to a big night out -- this fragrance, despite being labeled a cologne, lasts longer than any other floral I've tried. I can still detect traces of it lingering on my coat collar days after first wearing it. I cannot imagine needing more than 2 spritzes in the morning to last you through the day, and so the 100mL bottle will last for years and years and years.

The matching bath oil in the line smells pretty much identical to the cologne. I find it works tremendously as a post-shower moisturizer, especially on the legs. It is silky, non-sticky, and leaves my sheets deliciously scented if I put it on before bed.


So if you love a beautiful rose, and want to envelope yourself in its sensuous fragrance, Jo Malone Red Roses is a beautiful candidate. Because it is relatively straight forward, I imagine it will be easily paired with other scents to create endless combinations. Plus, you'll be doing some good: Jo Malone will donate $15,000 to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation in connection with the North American sales of Red Roses Cologne and Bath Oil. So get some Red into your Pink Month, and when your friends and coworkers ask you what alluring scent you're wearing, be sure to take a minute to tell them about the Breast Cancer Awareness campaign!


Check out other blogs participating in the Comments for a Cure today: All Lacquered Up, Makeup Makes Me Happy, Mystical Beauty, and see my last post for other blogs participating in the campaign!



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