Bold & beautiful: Jo Malone Wild Bluebell

Before I have even taken a whiff of the newest Jo Malone fragrance, Wild Bluebell, I had seen the campaign image all over the Internet and fell in love with it at first sight.
The advertising features a model instead of a flacon, which is unusual for Jo Malone, since we are used to seeing flacons surrounded with main ingredients that make up their compositions. Instead, we see a somewhat outré and very gorgeous Wild Bluebell character, who sports a lilac wig and reclines quite comfortably with some rather fluffy bunnies.
The absolutely adorable, incredibly arresting campaign image was the brainchild of Jo Malone’s new Creative Director James Gager. Gone is the safe, serviceable (though very successful) “product as hero” visual, and instead we have this edgier, more fashion forward fairytale shot. Love it!
In short, this new fragrance heralds a fairly radical change of direction for the brand, and Gager comes with quite a history of helping brands cement their places in the marketplace as both clever and cool. Gager was formerly Senior Vice President Creative Director for MAC Cosmetics Worldwide, and rightly described by the Lauder group’s John Demsey as a “game-changer”. He began conceptualising all creative activity for M.A.C in 1999; and is the man responsible for the likes of Barbie for M.A.C, Hello Kitty for M.A.C and Lady Gaga for Viva Glam. He is considered to have been instrumental in growing the brand to be the number one makeup artist brand in the world, which is definitely no mean feat.
But on to this glorious fragrance! Light and fresh as well as complex and original, the creator of the perfume is Christine Nagel who presented a new version of bluebell, composed of various notes, including green fresh notes, flowers (lily of the valley, rose hip) and what has been called a “spicy chord of cloves”. Bluebell is a wild forest flower and the English bluebell is an endangered species, so Jo Malone gave a donation to Woodland Trust in thanks for using its name. Genuine bluebell does not take part in the composition, but its recreation composed of various notes. The full line up is:
Top notes: bluebell and cloves 

Heart: lily of the valley, jasmine, rose hip 

Base: white amber and musk
Jo Malone Wild Bluebell arrives on the market in sale from September 12, 2011, as 30 and 100 ml Cologne accompanied by bodycare products and a scented candle.