Star Magnolia Jo Malone 2017 Cologne

I discovered this fragrance by chance, didn’t think much of it. Bought it, tested it, and was pleased.

Feminine, gentle, clean, no laundry detergent.
-White magnolias with leaves, unsweetened freshness, a scent that always works.
-Freshly showered without a sea breeze, so synthetic and fruity can work too!

Longevity is about the same as a strong shower gel. 2 hours.
On clothing, it lasts longer. It would be unfair to expect more from a cologne.

Unfortunately, the fragrance is no longer produced, but I will wear it as long as I can.

Star Magnolia is the new fragrance from Jo Malone that I was able to test recently. First of all, I noticed the bottle, as it had a white-milky coloration, which immediately made it clear to me: This fragrance is limited edition. Because all bottles that do not come in the standard bottles are always limited at Jo Malone, with the exception of various collections like the wonderful Rare Teas.

Now, in contrast to the last new fragrances from Jo Malone (the five also limited fragrances from the Bloomsbury Set), I honestly wasn't that keen on the new fragrance this time, even though I have come to like Jo Malone's scents more and more. Because this time, magnolias are the main players in this fragrance, which sounds pretty much like, well, like a flower to me :D

When I think of flowers, the first scent notes that come to mind are always dry and stuffy, although that doesn't always have to be the case, as there are also beautifully sweet-scented plants, or even watery fragrances that smell like stepping into a flower shop.

Moreover, magnolias sound like a true women's fragrance, and yes, the new scent is indeed something for you ladies rather than being unisex. Hm, you know that I sometimes feel uncomfortable testing a women's fragrance "in public" (in this case, "public" means the number of all ladies in a fragrance store :D), but this time there was no "danger" for me, as I was sprayed with the new fragrance by the nice saleswomen shortly after entering the store :)

So here comes my scent impression:

The fragrance starts off quite citrusy. You can smell a beautiful, almost juicy lemon that comes across as quite zesty and therefore smells wonderfully refreshing. Shortly after, the ginger also releases its distinctive scent. The ginger smells nice here and fits well with the summery atmosphere. However, neither the lemon nor the ginger lasts particularly long and fades away quite quickly.
The magnolias (aha, so this is what magnolias smell like…) smell, of course, floral, but not sweet. They initially have a watery scent, meaning the kind of scent you can perceive at florists. In the later base, they come across as slightly stuffy, but not as extreme as is sometimes the case with some floral fragrances. This "stuffiness" is still in a quite pleasant range. Aside from that, the flowers seem quite clean and pure.
Well, basically that's it, as the notes in the base are a bit weak. You can smell the sandalwood a little in the background, but the amber is very faint, so the fragrance doesn't smell sweet, and in the base, you can really only smell floral notes.

The sillage is average, perhaps a bit weaker. The fragrance is not very close to the body, but you still have to get quite close to smell it.
The longevity is about four to five hours, but it probably lasts a bit longer on clothing.

The bottle is rectangular, filled with clear fragrance liquid, and has a gradient from transparent/clear to white-milky. The label on the front is white and a bit harder to read than usual, but it looks nice with the light colors. The knob-like cap is also white this time. Additionally, the bottle has a nice floral neck ornament representing star magnolias. A beautiful bottle that visually stands out nicely from the standard bottles of Jo Malone.

Yes, the new Jo Malone is quite nice. However, I must first express my main criticism: It doesn't smell incredibly spectacular. It doesn't give you a feeling of something new. It's something that you could have already sniffed many times before (as far as general floral fragrances are concerned, since the magnolias don't smell that different from many other floral fragrances). But it belongs to the well-made floral fragrances that come across nicely and should especially shine in spring and summer. Whether the fragrance really smells very much like magnolias, you'll have to find out for yourselves, as I have never "seen" magnolias in any other fragrance; besides, I don't know what magnolias look like (well, I just Googled it :D), nor how they smell. Because as I said before, I'm a guy, and guys are known to only recognize roses as flowers; everything else is simply called "flower" … or is sometimes disparagingly referred to as "vegetable," he he.

If you want to test it, it's important to know that it comes across a bit differently on the skin than on a test strip. Because on paper, the citrus note unfolds weaker, and the fragrance smells generally stuffier than it actually is. And don't let my "it's stuffy" opinion unsettle you, because personally, many floral fragrances come across as so dry to me, but maybe that's also because I don't really connect with many floral fragrances. As a guy, I personally don't want to smell too intensely like "flower" :DD
But I do enjoy sniffing around you ladies… um… I mean in terms of fragrance, of course… .DD

As mentioned, Star Magnolia is a spring and summer fragrance that is quite nice and could especially appeal to you ladies, so testing it could be quite worthwhile, so I recommend you give the fragrance a try, even if it may not be anything new :)