Few fragrances say "British autumn" quite like Jo Malone London's Blackberry & Bay. Launched in 2012 and composed by perfumer Fabrice Pellegrin, it captures the memory of picking blackberries from the hedgerow: tart, juicy fruit, crushed green leaves and a soft woody finish. It has become one of Jo Malone's most recognisable colognes and a fixture on UK wish lists. It is also, like most of the Jo Malone range, a considered purchase — a 100ml bottle currently sells for around £130 at Selfridges and other UK department stores, with the 30ml size sitting at roughly £60 or more.
That price point is why "Jo Malone Blackberry & Bay dupe" is one of the most searched fragrance terms in the UK. In this guide we look at what the original actually smells like, why people go hunting for an alternative, and how our own Blackberry Woods — Insp by Jo Malone Blackberry & Bay stacks up.
What does Blackberry & Bay actually smell like?
Jo Malone describes Blackberry & Bay as a fruity cologne with a green, woody backbone. Fragrantica lists its main accords as fruity, fresh spicy, aromatic, citrus and woody, with a lighter sweet and floral edge. The structure runs roughly as follows:
- Top notes: blackberry (built on a natural blackcurrant extract for a tart, juicy fruitiness), with a bright grapefruit citrus lift
- Heart notes: bay leaf (a green, galbanum-style aromatic note that gives the scent its crunchy-leaf character) and dry cedarwood
- Base notes: soft white musk with vetiver and more cedar for a clean, gently woody drydown
The overall impression is fresh rather than sugary. The blackberry is tart and realistic, the bay leaf keeps it herbal and grown-up, and the woods stop it from ever becoming a simple fruit scent. It is unisex in practice, despite being marketed to women, and works as well on a crisp morning as it does in high summer.
Why people look for a Blackberry & Bay dupe
The honest answer is cost per wear. Blackberry & Bay is a cologne-strength fragrance, so many wearers find they reach for it generously and reapply during the day. At roughly £1.30 per millilitre, a daily-wear bottle disappears quickly. Others simply want to try the blackberry-and-green-leaf style before committing £130 to it, or want a bottle they can spray freely without wincing. An "inspired by" fragrance built around the same idea offers a way to enjoy that mood on an everyday budget.
Introducing Blackberry Woods — Insp by Jo Malone Blackberry & Bay
Blackberry Woods is our take on the tart-berry-and-green-woods family that Blackberry & Bay helped popularise. It opens with a juicy, slightly sharp blackberry accord, moves into a herbal green heart with a bay-leaf character, and settles onto a dry cedar and soft musk base. The direction is fresh and outdoorsy rather than gourmand.
Pricing is where the difference is most obvious. Blackberry Woods is available from £19.99 for 15ml, £34.99 for 30ml and £44.95 for a 50ml Extrait de Parfum, with a 12ml oil roller also at £19.99. Because it is made at extrait concentration rather than cologne strength, you should find you need fewer sprays than you would with the original.
Best for: everyday wear, office and daytime settings, autumn walks, and anyone who likes fruity fragrances but finds most of them too sweet.
Being upfront about the comparison
We want to be clear: Blackberry Woods is not a clone or replica of Blackberry & Bay, and we do not claim it smells identical. It is our own original composition, inspired by the same fruity-green-woody style. Anyone who knows the Jo Malone original well will notice differences — in the exact character of the berry note, the balance of green versus woody elements, and the way it develops over the day. Concentration, ingredient sourcing and skin chemistry all play a part. What we aim for is to capture the spirit and the wearing experience of that fragrance family at a fraction of the cost, not to reproduce a trademarked scent.
Longevity and projection
Blackberry & Bay is a cologne, and Jo Malone designs its colognes to be light and layerable, so many wearers report around three to five hours before it fades to a skin scent. Blackberry Woods, being an Extrait de Parfum, is formulated to sit closer to the skin but last longer — in our experience a realistic expectation is six to eight hours, with moderate projection for the first hour or two before it settles. Fresh, green fragrances of this kind are never going to be room-filling powerhouses, and that is part of their charm. Applying to well-moisturised skin and to fabric will stretch the wear time further.
The verdict
If you love the tart blackberry and green-leaf character of Jo Malone Blackberry & Bay but do not love spending £130 on a bottle you will wear most days, Blackberry Woods is a very reasonable place to start. It captures the same fresh, hedgerow mood, comes in a longer-lasting extrait concentration, and lets you try the style from £19.99 without a big commitment. It will not fool a devotee of the original side by side, and it is not meant to — but as an everyday alternative it earns its place on the shelf.
Shop Blackberry Woods — Insp by Jo Malone Blackberry & Bay
Jo Malone London and Blackberry & Bay are registered trademarks of Jo Malone London (The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.). D&E Fragrances is an independent UK fragrance brand and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Jo Malone London. "Blackberry Woods" is our own original composition, inspired by the popular fragrance family that Blackberry & Bay helped define. Prices for the original quoted from UK retailers at the time of writing and may change.