“Imagine the scene where the sun shines on the local British village fete. Families gather, brightly coloured bunting flutters gently in the breeze and jars of homemade jams and marmalades sit proudly atop gingham tabletops. It’s this idyllic setting and all the fun of the fair that has inspired our latest collection: Five delectable scents inspired by nostalgic scenes and marmalade dreams. A summer dream bottled, with a dash of science and expert fragrance development included, making our Brit collection truly special and unexpected.”
Marmalade Dreams by Jo Malone, their summer 2021 collection is not so much niche as it is a reflection of a very British way of life. The summer village fete, complete with the aforementioned bunting and jam jars is truly something unique to villages all across England.
Working with two perfumers Nicolas Bonneville and Marie Salamagne, they set about 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.
