Leather & Artemisia

Now if they named this perfume "Champagne & Green Suede" it would've certainly described Leather & Artemisia better. Leather & Artemisia opened with a very tingly, green GRAPE note that is as realistic as it can get. I could almost taste the green peel when I sniffed it. A quick search on Wikipedia revealed: "Traditional absinthes were redistilled from a white grape spirit (or eau de vie)". No wonder this stuff smells like champagne. Combined with the orris note the first impression what I got was a green, milky iris. How cool is that! As time goes on this scent started to take on a woody body from the papyrus with some sweetness (I swear there's a hidden vanilla note), and then powder. Eventually it turns into a slightly sweet suede that is less memorable than the top and mid stage, however still pleasant. I would describe the texture of the base more like a "liquid foundation" as opposed to the "face powder" powderiness found in other perfumes. I get a good 12 hours from 1 spray on my hair. On skin though it lasts about 6. Leather & Artemisia is probably the only Jo Malone that develops through wearing, and I really like perfumes that change over time. I want 2 bottles!! Edit: got my bottle today and the store is already running low on this one. Bystanders get on board!

I have been so looking forward to this; I first sampled it on a trip to the UK in March and it was my favourite of the collection. Leather and Artemisia smells distinctively British: dry, spicy, grown-up. Being the end of my holiday, I was running out of money and I could not afford it; unfortunately, when I was back home in Germany I could not find it anywhere; at the shops they said it was a limited edition, they had stopped selling it, etc... I put it on my Christmas list and my husband bought it on the Jo Malone website; it has just arrived in a beautiful cream and black box with a little complimentary bottle of Lime and Basil. I am wearing it now. It smells chic, warm, spicy; like sitting on a leather sofa in the library of an English mansion, wearing a long sequined dress, the French doors opened to let in the balmy scents of a warm night. Very romantic and sophisticated. A new favourite.

It's a beautiful, gentle, soothing, slightly old-schoolish, velvety/suede (far from leather) scent. Very feminine. For some reason reminds me of how my teachers' old piano smelled, when I was a kid. Gets sweeter after a while. Such a lovely, comforting close to skin scent, I'll probably use it most at home and right before bed. It'll be beautiful at work, too, but maybe it'd lack in that "can-do" aura department I find appropriate at work, which for example Chanel's Sycomore and Lutens's Daim Blond excel at.

I had thought Tobacco and Mandarin was my favorite from this set, but Leather & Artemisia has it beat. It's a beautiful suede scent with green and slight licorice notes. It's wonderful. Light, office-appropriate, and beautiful. I got a compliment on this today (March 14, 2017) from a co-worker. This was five hours after applying, so I must be getting at least that longevity from it. Update: Another compliment on 05/05/2017. Ran out of my little 30ml bottle on 05/08/2017.

Smells like warm, soft, delicate, well-blended high quality aromatic spice tea in colder weather. Not the overpowering, in your face kind of spice tea. Very lovely, one of my favorites compared to the normal series which I find just alright. Slightly sweeter and has a hint of freshness in the warmer weather. Personally prefer it in colder weather. Moderate sillage and longevity, much better than the normal series. Could still smell on clothes 1-2 days later.