Build Bath & Shower

In April, British lifestyle brand Jo Malone London had set up a two- day makeshift fragrance bar in the gardens of the Amanbagh boutique hotel near Jaipur, as an experiential precursor to its launch in India. It was called a fragrance mixing session . “I love the smell of peonies, but it’s a bit too floral, too nice for me. Can we make it a little bad, dark, add a tinge of a rainy, grimy city?” I asked them. To my absurd brief, Thomas Patterson—communications assistant at Jo Malone London , who was playing bartender at the fragrance bar —first dabbed some of the Jo Malone signature Peony & Blush Suede on my wrist. He tried mixing two other scents, with ambiguous results, until he brought out the Black Cedarwood & Juniper. “ Fragrances react differently on different skins, and you have to give them a moment to settle in with you,” he said as he dabbed the second scent on my other wrist. A warm base woodiness toned down the sweetness of peony. The scent, like a subconscious ...