Earlier this month, I dove into the brand new perfume line Hermetica. This week I took a step again to revisit Memo, Hermetica’s older “sibling” model, and I sampled two fragrances that I hadn’t tried earlier than — one new, one outdated, each developed for Memo by perfumer Aliénor Massenet.
The brand new launch is Winter Palace, summarized as “Tea and Fireplace.” Its composition contains notes of grapefruit, dry amber wooden, bergamot, benzoin, cistus labdanum, orange, styrax, tolu, vanilla, crimson tea, musk, tonka bean, lemon, maté and Gurjum balsam. Winter Palace has joined Memo’s “Artland” assortment, a set of olfactory homages to “territories readopted and reworked by the impressed hand of humankind.”
I am not truly sure the place or what the Winter Palace could also be, however the description for this perfume contains references to the Nice Wall of China and to “the awakening of the dragon, imperial.” The China back-story positively comes via within the opening, with its very lifelike tea accord accented by a pointy citrus observe. The citrus shifts from bergamot and lemon to a softer orange observe, and the dry, candy resin notes come via. Along with those listed, I detect one thing that reminds of opoponax.
In its dry down, Winter Palace jogs my memory a bit of of Maison Francis Kurkdjian APOM Pour Femme, with its mixture of orange blossom, incense, and tonka. It skews barely in direction of the female finish of the spectrum, though males who like citrusy orientals ought to give it a attempt. I truly wish to ship the remainder of my pattern vial to Kevin to see what he’ll consider this Memo newcomer; I bear in mind him liking Quartier Latin and Manoa some time again.
Siwa, in the meantime, is a longtime member of the Memo household, courting again to the “Les Echappées” assortment of 2007. Its tagline is “Vanilla and Cereal Volutes,” which reads surprisingly, however this description presents some helpful particulars about its Egyptian oasis inspiration: “Slender ochre and yellow-hued streets, clay lace vestiges, homes with brightly colored doorways. . . The radiant greens of olive bushes and palm leaves, the browns and violets of sun-dried dates.”
This scent is a powdery gourmand with notes of cinnamon leaf, ginger, freesia, heliotrope, narcissus, orris, incense, sandalwood and vanilla. For a desert-themed perfume, it would not really feel notably “heat,” nevertheless it is not “cool,” both — it walks an attention-grabbing line between temperatures and textures. It begins off wheat-y and flour-y — the “cereal” notes! It turns a bit of richer and nuttier because it evolves, and there is a candy punch of heliotrope. The bottom is vanillic and barely almondy, with hints of rose and musk. If L’Artisan Parfumeur Bois Farine had a youthful cousin who wore extra make-up, she’d be Siwa…and if Memo supplied smaller bottles, I might be tempted so as to add Siwa to my assortment.
Siwa feels extra female than Winter Palace; it is comforting but refined. Each fragrances have above-average endurance on my pores and skin, leaving traces on my wrists even after an extended, sizzling workday. Memo is an in depth vary (to not point out a really costly one), and I virtually averted it for some time as a result of I used to be overwhelmed by all of the choices. Now that I am discovering my means into its choices, each outdated and new, I am impressed regardless of myself.
Memo Winter Palace ($295) and Siwa ($300) can be found as 75 ml Eau de Parfum. For buying info, see the itemizing for Memo beneath Fragrance Homes.
