Lime Basil & Mandarin Jo Malone for women and men

I think that this is one of the best known from the Jo Malone line and I'm not surprised. I do not like aromatic or citrus scents, but this one is a definite winner, it's not just a hum drum, beachy citrus.
This opens so bright, makes me think instantly of sunshine. I get a tang of the lime and bergamot in the opening but then floods in the basil and mandarin and on me the mandarin really shines and smooths out the sharpness of the spice and citrus. Basil I find has quite a deep resonant scent and this fades wonderfully as the fragrance wears down. This just becomes softer, it's fairly linear, but this doesn't bother me. I find this very unisex. Reminds me a bit of O de Lancome, but this one is more well rounded with warmth of the mandarin, whereas O de Lancome is more dry.
To me this is great any time of year, but I like it in winter because it reminds me of spiced oranges.

I only smelled this for the first time recently. It has such a pretty opening and it seems like it might simply be a long-lasting take on the eau de cologne. The heart turns out to be fairly short-lived, but the basenotes, while quiet, are quite durable. The base hints at vetiver, patchouli and iris, having a dry, dusty feel. It seems a bit like dried citrus rind, the perfect ending to the citrus-dominant start.

It screeched away for hours on me. As a lover of all things clean & green I really tried hard to like this, but couldn't. The word I keep coming to when thinking of it is screech.Gave it to a female friend and it smelled great on her.Sang a soft fresh tune.
On me it yelled itself hoarse.

I think it is a lovely perfume ON PAPER and it turns very harsh sour lime on me, not agreable at all!

Lime Basil & Mandarin is a hale, clean fragrance that is just about as good as it gets when it comes to lime scents. Straight up lime and basil, together in harmony. It lasts maybe 4 to 5 hours on me, tops, but most definitely lasts longer when layered with the bath products. If you want a nuclear-powered, albeit fruitier, version of this, try Nouveau Bowery by Bond No. 9.

The Malone line is best suited for the warmer months I find.

Love the citrus, so this works for me. Best for warmer months. Gives you lift if you are in so in need.

I do find this leans more for men. Blend it w/ Pomegranate and it brings out the femme.

Like most of the Malone line, this is a clean, soft and fairly linear scent.

The Malone titles are right on the money. There is no buyer beware. You get what it says it is.

Sillage and longevity are above average (for Malone).

I make a wonderful crayfish and mango salad and it smells exactly like this cologne!

I tried this today and found it very pleasant. It opens with sparkling citrus, dominated by the lime note. The heart is still citrus-y but with basil and other herbal notes, I smell mint and coriander both of which are unlisted. This scent dries down quickly, and suddenly it turns from citrus-aromatic to something chypre-esque.

Sillage: light to moderate
Longevity: 3 hours
Overall Rating and feel: 5/10. This is truly unisex. It's almost as if someone created an inferior summer flanker of Jean Couturier's Coriandre with less attitude, longevity and sillage.

I find the mandarin in this to be absolutely radiant, and the lime-basil keeps things grounded.

For about 15 minutes on a muggy day, this makes me feel like I'm a gigantic Thai yum tofu salad, but that moment passes.

I can see how a lot of people wouldn't like the overt basil, but I find it lends a lot of depth and interest. This cologne has a lot more longevity than the average Jo Malone, on me about 3-4 hours, with a sort of afterglow even after the basic scent is no longer distinguishable.

I bought the small bottle and will eventually be replenishing it with the large version.

This really is one of those colognes for people who don't want to be caught wearing cologne: i.e. people who have been chopping basil and slicing limes, and then sniff their fingers, glad that a bit of natural scent remains. My daughter's young school friends love it, as it is subtle and "natural."

I can see that it would be a good masculine, especially for men who are a bit shy about perfumes.

On me, no longevity: it is gone in an instant. I suspect the fruit and herbs scent from a chopping board might even last longer.

If you really want fresh herbs and citrus, I would go for the Guerlain Aqua Allegorias such as Pamplelune, Herba Fresca or Mandarine Basilic.

Very masculine to me. Used to like this...Now I just smell cannabis. Strange.

Recieved a sample of this this morning, which I really appreciate. My mate seems to get these things somehow.
I have two opinions:
By itself; Not a fan, so much citrus makes me a li'l sick. I rate citrus fragrances below zero. Its exactly what it says it is.

Mixed; YES! This is awesome for taking a fragrance you dont like at all (maybe its too musky or offensive or just dull) and turning it into something completely different. Steer clear of already disliked fragrances that are so disliked via overload of citrus, for obvious reasons, such as YSL live Jazz, Burberry Sport and the Beat, Kenneth Cole Black.
Also steer clear of clean, aqua fragrances like Lanvin le'homme sport, Nautica Voyage, Cool water and Echo.

i would recommend mixing Jo Malones together, but NOT Pomegranate Noir, thats just an insult lol.

Opposites attract

I had previously received a small sample of Lime Basil and Mandarin and found it pleasant but a bit masculine on my skin. It functioned similarly to a traditional Eau de Cologne, with lots of citrus and herbs. I already had other Eau de Cologne scents I like better, and with Lime Basil and Mandarin having Jo Malone's typical lack of longevity, I dismissed this one as nice but nothing special.

Got a 9 ml bottle as a surprise in a swap and decided to have my husband try it this time. Wow! This one works much better on him. It's straddles the fence between an Eau de Cologne and a chypre on his skin. The patchouli and vetiver basenotes linger for hours, softened with a bit of spice. After reading the other reviews on here, looks like I'm not alone in pitching this one to the guys, though there is certainly no reason for the ladies to avoid it if the notes look interesting to you. If it works with your chemistry, it's pretty darn good!

I like, but do not love this scent. My husband likes it on me as he hates anything that smells like the 'souq'. We spent years in Saudi and he cannot abide anything spicy. This is fresh and zingy but does not last long. The only JM scent I have found that has any staying power is the Vintage Gardenia, which he also does not like (I wear it when he goes away as I love it!) LBM is kind of a no-brainer for me - when I need something simple. I think this is good for either sex.

I have a friend who's signature scent this is. I must say, I don't like it on her or me. I think it's maybe because she's a heavy smoker and uses it to smell 'fresh' - I've always found that if you smoke you are better off wearing 'dirtier' scents or it does smell like you've doused detergent over yourself. The person who wears this needs to be outdoorsy and healthy, or a man.

So I was going for a walk with my dog the other day.
As I was walking down the stairs I passed my neighbour, and the whole staircase smelled of his perfume. "Wow, this guy smelled quite nice"- thought I.

A few minutes later, I passed a guy also walking his dog. "Hmhmh, that must be a pupular one, this guy smells of the same cologne as my neighbour"- I noted to myself.

It wasn't till a bit later on when I realised that I kept on smelling this masculine cologne-type smell around me even when no men (or, as a matter of fact- no one else except for my dog) were around. And then I remembered that the very same morning I sprayed a bit of Jo Malone fragrance on my neck.

So when I came back to the flat I took my sample, sprayed it on my wrist, and yes, this was the somewhat harsh, manly cologne I mistakenly took for someone else's perfume. The combination of lime and vetyver is simply great- calming and revitalising at the same time.

The only negative side of it is, as in the case of Jo Malone's other fragrances, the (non)longetivity. Those must be one of the shortest living fragrances out there, and the hight price does not really make them worth buying... I am really surprised how fast the head notes are disappearing, leaving the somewhat less remarkable background stay on for just a tiny longer.

That being said, my mum loves it and it is the only perfume she uses since she tried a sample I left on the table. On her it lasts forever!

“Duty Nurse to Ward 3 – Repeat – Duty Nurse to Ward 3”. The tinny words blared from the hospital inter-com just as Nurse Sinclair came on shift. She whizzed down the mottled orange colour linoleum corridor in her ugly rubber soled hospital shoes in the direction of Ward 3. When she entered the ward, she suddenly saw that Mr Cartwright, the patient who was to have his varicose veins cut out of his legs, was lurched over the side of his bed and had been ill over the linoleum floor. Nurse Sinclair was in such a rush that she only narrowly averted slipping into the bilious green vomit. Tenderly wiping Mr Cartwight’s mouth, she mopped his brow and made him comfortable. “Looks like the tropical fruit salad of lime and mandarin didn’t agree with you Mr Cartwright” she said while taking industrial strength detergent and pouring it over the citrus smelling sick. She expertly mixed the citrus sick with the extra strength cleaning product so it could be wiped up with disposable hand towels. Her head began to ache: “Uggghh” she thought to herself, “this reminds me of Jo Malone’s noxious scent of Lime Basil and Mandarin!” and with that she dropped to the floor and proceeded to be sick herself.

Review dedicated to Ash in I.C.U.

I wore this for a while when I could not obtain Eau de Rochas. It's like EdR, but just not as complex or long-lasting. It's beautifully fresh and summer-morning-ish, but on me it's gone in a flash. Perhaps if you applied the body lotion first and the cologne on top, it would last a little longer.

Oh my god. This is amazing. The lime is very natural and fresh. It opens like a lime bomb for the first minutes, then settles to lovely heart part, where there is something smokey and somehow seductive, but still very fresh present. The sillage is very, very good and I really would like to get my hands on this beauty as this could be awesome in hot weather.

I was hoping for the fresh spicy scent of lime basil with a sharp hit of citrus zest. It starts out green and beautiful, like Eau d'Hadrian, but fades fast into a decidedly male drydown on me. Not for me.

I like the beginning of this -- juicy clementines! Then, oh something happens, and the clementines are getting buried under something that does smell quite like basil. Somehow I thought it would be a good combination, but it really isn't. Instead, what this mixture does, is represent a pretty true cilantro smell. That seems to be the only cilantro fragrance I'll ever need...

To me, this is a true unisex scent. I really enjoy the lime, basil, and mandarin notes. Then with dry down, the lilac and vetiver, and iris comes into play. I find it fresh and enjoyable.

I was standing in line to get coffee today, caught a whiff of this scent and thought "Wow, that guy next to me smells good!." Then I realized the smell was coming from ME and the Lime Mandarine & Basil sample I was testing out. Suffice to say, this strikes me as a masculine scent, and a great one at that. It is a fresh scent, as you would expect from a citrus aromatic, but with an unexpected depth and complexity. Guys, you should try this one out.

Fresh, sparkling clean. Perfect for when I want to reach for something light during these breezy spring mornings. I am addicted to this smell. I first purchased it at the Jo Malone boutique in the flatiron in nyc many years ago. My boyfriend at the time said it reminded him of the goth girls he had a crush on in high school! I found this a cute little nod of approval. When we broke-up, he asked for the bottle! Anyway, smelling it now...all I can think of is how much I'd love to share this frangrance with the special man in my life because I think it would smell outrageous on a man!

I have loved this perfume for years now and miss it when I don't wear it. It is addictive and uplifting yet sexy too - citrussy without being sharp and the mandarin and basil counteract the lime. Just the most gorgeous smell

I really love this smell; however, I only selected that I like it becuase I agree w/fragrancefiend that it is very masculine. I'm going to give it to my husband...I'm sure I will LOVE it on him!

I really don't like how this smells on me. This is from a females perspective, it may work w/ a man's chemistry better. But, it smells very harsh and peppery on me. I was doing some light yoga while wearing this, and I got this yucky sour b.o. odor from it. I only like to do reviews if a perfume strikes me one way or the other and this one definetly left an impression.

This fragrance, like many of the Jo Malone scents, is extremely clean and fresh smelling. In the case of Lime Basil and Mandarin, I like it better in the soap. The lime is dominant and the smell is more masculine - reminds me of an English aftershave my dad wore. Even when combined with Jo Malone's lovely Orange Blossom, it still seems too manly. It is a very popular scent though; one of the top sellers for Nordstrom in that line.