Jo Malone London Wood Sage & Sea Salt Cologne Review

"You can smell the salt in the air only when you were far away, far too long."

This is what I thought after I went out of the airport in Istanbul and took a long deep breath. I have been to this airport before, many times. But it was the first time I could ignore the traffic chaos, taxis, police cars, smell of exhaust, smell of the passenger's sweat but on top of everything there was a sheet of salt aroma covering everything else. Maybe it was only to those who were missing it as much as I do...

Jo Malone's newly release fragrance Wood Sage & Sea Salt spiked my interest because of my constant longing for sea climate, the fresh breeze and salt in the air. I love the detail in the packaging. Although the flacon comes in Jo Malone's chic carton box as usual, instead of a ribbon the box is wrapped with a sailor's rope. The nose behind Wood Sage & Sea Salt is Jo Malone's regular perfumer Christine Nagel, who now left the brand and joined Hermes as an in-house perfumer.

Wood Sage & Sea Salt opens with a kick of citrusy freshness of its grapefruit notes. Soon after I can smell the salt on my skin resembling a breeze from the sea. This phase of the perfume makes me happy. Since it has nothing fruity or exotic, it doesn't give the feeling of a summer holiday beach but as dry and woody it is on my skin, I can relate the scent with a coastal feeling, waves beating the rocks as the breeze messes up my hair. 

To me Wood Sage & Sea Salt is rather a linear perfume, which has a complex opening and a unique scent all along. As the citrusy opening slightly gets more woody with a ghost of sage appearing and vanishing yet reappearing, it might smell a tad spicy from time to time. As the musky base uses herbal ambrette, it has a tad of floral feel to it too. Very well blended, these notes never steal the scene to make this fragrance their own, make Wood Sage & Sea Salt one of the most complex fragrance of the brand.

Similar to most fragrances of Jo Malone, Wood Sage & Sea Salt is not particularly long lasting and it stays close to skin. On me I can notice it for 2 hours and smell it for 2 more hours. I would classify its sillage is moderate. I believe both men and women would enjoy this fragrance alike. 

I have been a enjoying Maria Candida Gentile's Finisterre (reviewed here) which was my go-to fragrance this summer. I was asked how these two fragrances with similar themes compare. The sea notes in Finisterre is mainly coming from Ambergris, freshness provided by pine tree notes as during the dry down Sandalwood is pronounced. Wood Sage & Sea Salt on the other hand has a herbal musky base. Freshness comes from citrusy notes as our noses are more used to it, I would give a thumbs up to Finisterre to be more unique in this aspect. I prefer the blend of sea salt with woody notes on Wood Sage & Sea Salt though. Since the compositions and percentages are different it is hard to compare longevity, Finisterre stays up to 12 hours on me.