Blush - 808

The Essence Vault's No. 808 takes its cue from Jo Malone London's Peony & Blush Suede, one of the house's best-known florals, and the resemblance is clearest up top - a juicy red apple burst against soft, dewy peony and rose. Where the original earns its cult following through a gentle, powdery suede base that reads almost tactile against skin, No. 808 swaps that in for a simpler, generic musk that fades quickly and never delivers the same sense of softness. The pomegranate brightness helps keep the fruity-floral character fun and wearable, and the peony heart genuinely captures the original's romantic, ladylike charm, but the overall effect is louder in the first hour and quieter thereafter than the real thing's slow, cosy unfurl. A pleasant everyday floral in its own right, though the suede depth that makes the original so beloved is the one thing this dupe can't reach.