Celine Roux expects Jo Malone London's new scent, Sea Salt & Bergamot Cologne, to make waves

A decade after launching Jo Malone London's wildly successful Wood Sage & Sea Salt Cologne, Celine Roux, the brand's Vice President of Global Fragrance Development, today unveils its companion to the world: Sea Salt & Bergamot Cologne. In our interview, Roux discusses what sets this sibling scent apart, how the British coastline inspired it, and how speaks to current international fragrance trends.

Walpole: What was the inspiration behind the new Jo Malone London Sea Salt & Bergamot Cologne, and what story did you hope to tell through this new fragrance?

Celine Roux: I first came to Cornwall in 2012 with my family, when my son wasn't even one year old. Being from the south of France, I was expecting to see beaches and sunshine. But at the time of my visit, it was cold and rainy, and I discovered something completely different.

I fell in love with the scenery, the people and the little villages. I especially loved the coastline and the rugged cliffs. I discovered something so unique about Cornwall and the English coast that I was determined to create a fragrance inspired by it. I called the perfumer and said, "I want to create a scent that smells like the cliffs, the mineral quality of the Cornish landscape" and Wood Sage & Sea Salt Cologne was born three years later in 2015. The fragrance grew naturally and organically over time and today it's one of our most beloved scents.

When the marketing team suggested creating a companion fragrance, I thought back to the original inspiration. Wood Sage & Sea Salt was about the scenery, the landscape and the view. If we were going to create another fragrance, I wanted it to feel like an immersion in the Celtic Sea. I wanted something even more mineral, with more sea salt, a textured freshness, and a little bit sexy. That's how Sea Salt & Bergamot Cologne came to life. It's inspired by memory, and it's like a little bit of escapism, which I think is quite important these days.

Could you please describe the Sea Salt & Bergamot Cologne and explain how the British landscape has inspired the new scent?

Sea Salt & Bergamot is all about the salty, mineral freshness of the coast. I didn’t want it to feel like a traditional aquatic fragrance. Sea salt sits at the heart of the new cologne, while the bergamot brings luminosity and freshness. It’s energising, stimulating and saltier than Wood Sage & Sea Salt.

It is a very timeless and versatile fragrance. I almost compare it to a crisp white shirt: something you can wear at any time. There are no gourmand notes; it feels elegant, enduring and invigorating. Like Wood Sage & Sea Salt, it also feels very unisex.

For Sea Salt &Bergamot we went back to the English coastline, but instead of viewing it from the clifftops, I wanted to capture what it feels like to plunge into the Celtic Sea: that first rush of cold water and the energy of wild swimming.

What is it that makes this scent such a special new addition to the Jo Malone London line-up?

For me, the key idea was immersion: that feeling of plunging into the Celtic Sea. I really wanted to capture that first moment when you dive into the cold water. The beach has always represented escapism, and especially in the world we live in today, it’s so important to have those happy, joyful moments to escape to. We all aspire to them, and you rarely have a bad memory of being at the beach: it’s usually connected to something positive. Fragrances like this can take you back to that feeling. It’s escapism, but in a very English way.

Sea Salt & Bergamot Cologne is a spiritual sibling to the incredibly popular Wood Sage & Sea Salt. What is the biggest difference between them?

Wood Sage & Sea Salt is smoother, a little woodier, and has a softer sea salt freshness. Sea Salt & Bergamot is more energising, more stimulating, and saltier. Wood Sage & Sea Salt feels more as if you're walking and looking at the view, whereas Sea Salt & Bergamot is about fully immersing yourself in it.

Does the scent reflect any broader trends you are noticing in the fragrance sector right now, and what role does each note play in shaping the overall scent?

After years of fruity notes dominating the market, there is now a growing appetite for scents that feel saltier and more savoury. Although we are beginning to see more emerge, it remains relatively small. Citrus fragrances have also evolved significantly in recent years, becoming more nuanced and sophisticated.

When it came to developing the fragrance notes, the sea salt accord came first, and the bergamot came way later. The sea salt creates this mineral freshness and combined with everlasting flower, it gives the fragrance that warm, salty skin effect, which I think is really interesting. The combination of salt and bergamot was very luminous, but I didn't want a fragrance that felt overtly citrus. That's why we chose bergamot rather than lemon or orange: bergamot brings freshness without feeling too lemony. You don't smell lemons on the beach, so I wanted to keep the freshness while staying true to the landscape.

Then you have moss and woody notes. The light woody notes evoke the driftwood you might find along the coast, bringing texture and depth to the composition. And I really wanted the scent to last longer, so it has more fragrance oil, so it's definitely a little bit richer, but not heavy.

What is one of the most interesting global fragrance trends you've been observing in the way people wear and enjoy scent today, and what does this mean for your brand moving forward?

I think now it’s less about the status and more about how it makes you feel when you wear your fragrances: people are wearing fragrances for themselves and no longer just for others. There’s also a sense of 'naturality' in fragrances, a return to nature. At Jo Malone London we always call our fragrances by their ingredients, so nature has always been a source of inspiration. England is a playground for me with unlimited new things, stories and ingredients to explore and sometimes you can create newness going back to the places that inspired us in the past.

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