The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Myrrh & Tonka arrived as part of Jo Malone London's Cologne Intense line. Mathilde Bijaoui is the perfumer credited on the bottle, and she built the composition around Namibian myrrh, a sourcing choice that gives the resin its particular character. The lavender up top isn't decorative. It's there to cool the incense before it has a chance to overwhelm, a small architectural choice that keeps the whole thing wearable rather than devotional. The result is a structure where the materials are placed deliberately, each one earning its presence in the formula. Bijaoui's approach here is straightforward and composed, nothing wasted, nothing ornamental.
What makes this composition worth pausing on is the myrrh-to-tonka pairing itself. Myrrh is bitter, medicinal, almost astringent, the kind of material that can curdle a formula if treated carelessly. Tonka is the opposite: soft, coumarinic, sweet without being sugary. Putting them together creates a push-pull between two materials that occupy very different emotional territory, and the trick is making that tension feel resolved rather than fractured.
The evolution
The first fifteen minutes belong to lavender, but not the breezy, herbal lavender of a fougère or an aftershave. This is cooler, almost mentholated, like rubbing a sprig between cold fingers. It smells clean in a way that feels architectural rather than washed. Then the myrrh starts to rise, and the lavender doesn't disappear, it just gets pushed into the walls. The resin takes its time arriving, and when it does, it brings a smoky sweetness that reads more like heated wood than church incense. The two materials coexist for a while, neither dominating, each lending the other a kind of mutual restraint. Eventually the tonka bean and almond begin their slow takeover. The sharpness of the myrrh rounds out into something that smells almost edible, marzipan-adjacent, though never quite there.
Cultural impact
Myrrh & Tonka occupies a particular place within Jo Malone London's Cologne Intense lineup. The composition leans toward warmth and depth rather than the brighter, more buoyant signatures the brand is often associated with. Its appeal tends to draw people who want something richer from the house without straying into outright niche territory. The fragrance has developed a following among wearers who appreciate its quieter, more contemplative character. It's the kind of bottle that rewards patience, revealing more of itself the longer it sits on skin.
