Fragrance Girl

Joy – Jean Patou

Yesterday I was reading Neil Pendock’s delightful wine blog, where he mentions Joy by Jean Patou.

“The high cost of Joy is on account of its being made from twice the amount of essential oils as other perfumes, those oils being predominantly jasmine, Bulgarian rose, tuberose, orris, orchid and lily of the valley.”

Having heard nothing but good things about it, I’d been toying with buying Joy for some time. I had even put some in my imaginary Amazon basket. By coincidence, Amazon sent me an email yesterday saying that some was on its way to me. Perhaps I’d accidentally clicked on something. Or perhaps, once an item is in your basket for long enough Amazon does you the favour of taking the decision out of your hands.

Grateful that it somehow magicked its way to me this morning, I had a go and put some on. My first thought is ‘Chanel’. It’s those aldehydes, and if you like them, you’ll love Joy. It’s got top notes of Aldehydes, Peach and Leafy Green. Heart notes are Rose, Jasmine, Ylang-Ylang and Tuberose. Base notes are Sandal, Musk and Civet (according to OsMoz).

Yesterday, very sensibly, I Smell Therefore I Am was saying that it doesn’t matter if you smell like your granny as there are worse things than smelling like an old lady. Completely agree. On the other hand, surely you wouldn’t actually buy something if it made you smell like your granny?

To add to the aldehydes, the tuberose note doubles up on the granny message. I’ve mentioned before that any kind of rose or tuberose fragrance reminds me of old ladies.

Luckily I’ve bought the Joy body lotion, which will be a serviceable hand cream for the foreseeable future. My little girl will love it too. And little girls, like old ladies, are allowed to smell of roses.