So: to Keats House, in leafy green Hampstead - not exactly the roughest location Beauty Bible's ever experienced a fragrance unveiling. (There have been too many draughty warehouses to mention - and we'll never quite forget the Dior Farenheit three-act ballet in a frozen tent on the tundra that used to be London's docks, before Canary Wharf went up. The dry ice and chilled canapés didn't help, either.) But oh, we were excited this time: Jo Malone had Eurostarred in Christine Nagel, who is probably the single reason why suddenly we've gone from feeling that Jo Malone's fragrances are a bit ho-hum to - well, pretty darned glorious, actually. Already with the warm and sensual Cologne Intense fragrances under her slim belt, Christine has now confected English Pear & Freesia, which will launch in September. We're seriously excited about this new partnership between JM and Christine, who has a list of fragrant triumphs as long as your arm: Cartier Eau de Cartier (in 2001), Hypnose Senses (2009), Guerlain's Les Elixirs Charnels (2008), Dolce & Gabbana The One For Women - well, we could go on but we think you get the fragrant drift. This one's crisp and fresh and sparkling and pretty as a picture (a bit like Christine herself), and almost - almost - makes us long for Keats's season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, when we can truly wallow in its soft juiciness.
