African Leather MEMO Paris: New Wind

by: Sergey Borisov

I was introduced to the new African Leather MEMO Paris some time ago but though I tried to sit and start a review, I didn't have any luck. African Leather seemed different from the rest of the MEMO fragrances; there was no spark in it for me to start and this seemed to me even stranger since I am an avid lover of leather fragrances.

I just couldn't write about the African safari leather without my own experience of the same nature. It would be weird, as if I tired to describe my African adventures after reading the Livingston diaries. Clara Molloy's memories which inspired her African Leather MEMO Paris were simply listed in a quite boring way: like a schoolboy opus about his summer vacation spent far from his beloved soccer field.

«Elephant trunk, cardamom, giraffe neck, bergamot, wild cat, sand, leopard spots, saffron, rhinoceros horn, cumin, lion mane, patchouli, gazelle hoof, geranium, nocturnal bushbabies, celestial sphere, bat-eared fox, grapefruit, snake skin, oud accord, eagle eye, vetiver, buffalo neck, musk, green monitor lizards, moss, blue wildebeest, winter sun, zebra stripes, leather accord, cheetah paws, cedar, antelopes racing, savannah, meerkat smiles, spices, crocodile tooth, heat». (Press release of Memo Paris)

But list is just a list, it could be anything. Very easy: Put on the paper all possible animals which could be associated with safari. The only thing to care about is to avoid mixing them with for example Australian or South American species... No sparkle in it. It was not very original and bright. I was trying to locate the entrance to its understanding. It was just like any other leather or woody-aromatic perfumes. I started comparing.

Sharp and translucent spices on a grapefruit glass - yes! I smell them. Then it is a copy of Terre d`Hermes? No.

Soft shifting to a warm polished woody-amber harmony of base notes? Yes, I can confirm it. So it might be inspired by Mouchoir de Monsieur Guerlain or some vintage ambery stuff. No.

Rough tart chocolate of patchouli under the icy lavender rain, fresh as camphor. Yes, I can feel chocolate after a gin-tonic in it. So it is something masculine from Mugler, like Ice*Men, Pure Shot A*Men or Summer Flash A*Men. No, it is not.

It was too familiar, and yet I couldn't find anything to trace its brother in spirit. What does this African Leather remind me of?

The thought flashed six months later. Once one of my friends reminded me of a beautiful and forgotten perfume, L'air du Desert Marocain Tauer Perfumes. My puzzle with African Leather was finally complete!

This strange dry and sweet wind came from a Max Frei book. Remember?

"Naughty and shaggy character, warm resinous and sweet-ambery by evenings and a sharp fitful by mornings. The magical wind, crackling from the heat and knows how to communicate without words, bumping swirl in protest and died down in the agreement. The wind possesses coquettish feminine heart. I do not remember the name of the wind, but remember at time when I was into Frei fantasies, and even called it to visit my home – and the wind came into my open window like a usual draught. And life was filled with magic and joy then..."

No, of course, I cannot say that L'air du Desert Marocain and African Leather are two twins. “The wind” was only the second fragrance of autodidact Andy Tauer, and “African Leather” was certainly in the next hundred of Alienor Massenet-won briefs; and a classical educated perfumer will be preferred to self-taught in 99 cases out of a hundred, etc... What I am telling you is that these two perfumes are similar by the sensation of flight.

Anticipation of flight.

They make you to be a witness of a miracle of flight itself. The same feeling should experience the people who saw the first flight. Before the planes, helicopters and missiles became the normal. There are heavy components like vetiver, moss, patchouli, cumin, birch tar and resinous cedar. They are usually added not for the flight, but for the smooth landing. And here, in African Leather and L`Air du Desert Marocain, they fill the air with a light resinous and sweet smell, they create a feeling of an air dome over one's head! They do fly and convey this feeling!

African Leather MEMO Paris:

Notes: Bergamot, Cardamom, Cumin, Patchouli, Leather, Vetiver, Moss, Cedar, Geranium absolute, Saffron, Oud, and Musk.

L'air du Desert Marocain Tauer Perfumes:

Notes: Petitgrain, Lavender, Coriander, Cumin, Cistus, Jasmine, Geranium, Birch tar, Ambergris, Vetiver, Patchouli, Oak moss and Cedarwood.

Memo Paris Marfa and French Leather Rose

by: Sandra Raicevic Petrovic

MEMO PARIS is a French niche house inspired by the journeys of the owner Clara Molloy. With each creation she reflects on her inspiration and impressions and translates her sensations of the places she visited into fragrances. The house offers several subcollections: Cuir Nomades (leather collection) Graines Vagabondes, Les Echamppees, Art Land, Escales Extraordinaires. During last year Clara Molloy included two editions Ilha do Mel (a honeyed and a bit exotic white flower fragrance) and African Leather to her fragrant journey collection followed with the two new editions MARFA (Art Land Collection) and FRENCH LEATHER ROSE (Escales Extraordinaires).

Inspired by a trip to Texas, Clara presents a new fragrance Marfa named after the town recognizable as a cultural center of artists and contemporary art. Marfa is a city in the high desert of far West Texas recognizable as a tourist destination and a major centre of Minimalist art. Some of the attractions of Marfa include the contemporary art museum Chinati Foundation, historical architecture and many artisan galleries and shops. 

Clara Molloy Instagram profile - claramemoparis,
Photo by Clara Molloy

 

 

 

 

Marfa takes us on a new  journey in which "your eyes riveted on the sky, the desert is forgotten. Tuberose is your star and your shepherd. There will be mystery, the infinite hidden behind the decor, silence beneath the cacti. As the Milky Way blazes an azure trail, you fly by so quickly; the road, half-cedar, half-sandalwood, rises before you. Notes of orange blossom absolute, tuberose absolute and white musk are the heady and addictive notes to create your storybook. Marfa: your theatre, your poem, your creation, your invention."

 

Perfumer Aleonor Massenetchose the notes of orange blossom, tuberose, iris, sandalwood, cedar and white musk to create a special athmosphere and relfect the artistic spirit of Marfa, Texas. 

 

Memo Paris Marfa is available in bottles of 75 ml Eau de Parfum at the price of 175 pounds.

 

 

 

Another novelty for the house is FRENCH LEATHER ROSE announced as "deceptively casual, but not quite nonchalant – like leather that rises up beneath the rose. A sparkling accord, it captures the heart and soul of an intoxicating Paris – a sparkle in the eye. Stylish, even offhand. Having a table of choice in a favourite café. The smell of suede. Talent. Just one cigarette. Lime. Knowing how to combine opposites. The glimpse of a shoulder. Kissing."

 

The composition gathers fresh and sparkling lime juice, rose absolute, rose water, pink pepper, cosy and sensual musk, and soft suede accords. 

French Leather Rose is available as a 75ml Eau de Parfum at the price of 500 pounds in Harvey Nichols.

African Leather from MEMO Paris

by: Jodi Battershell

From the European destinations explored in Irish Leather, Italian Leather and French Leather, the latest fragrance from MEMO Paris, and the newest in the Cuirs Nomades collection, takes us on safari to the savannahs of Africa, finding inspiration in one of the world's great noses:  that of the mighty elephant!

Among all the mammals of the world, the elephant has the most developed sense of smell, with more than 2,000 genes related to the perception of odors. Perfect for finding other elephants, detecting predators and locating food.  Traversing between glass bottles of MEMO Paris fragrances would likely be a dangerous exercise for the elephant (not to mention the bottles) but one wonders if he would recognize his homeland in African Leather? 

The wild flora and fauna of the African savannah, from the grassy expanses of its plains to the sandy dunes of its deserts, the thick shrubbery of its forests and the luxuriant waters of its rivers and lakes, the scorching heat of its sunsets and the abundance of its rainy seasons are all captured in African Leather.

MEMO Paris African Leather   Three main accords: geranium, cardamom and leather. Notes: bergamot oil, saffron oil, cumin oil, geranium absolute, patchouli oil, oud accord, leather accord, essence of vetiver, musk. Full list: elephant's trunk, cardamom, giraffe's neck,bergamot, wild cat, sand, leopard spots,saffron, rhino horn, cumin, lion's mane,patchouli, gazelle hoof, geranium, the celestial sphere, bat-eared fox, grapefruit, snakeskin,oud, eagle eye, vetiver, buffalo neck, musk,green lizards, moss, blue wildebeest, winter sun, zebra stripes, leather accord, monkey's paw, cedar, antelopes running, savannah,smiles of meerkats, spices, crocodile teeth,heat. African meerkats

African Leather was composed by MEMO Paris house perfumer Alienor Massenet, who called upon her own memories of a previous visit to an elephant preserve in creating the fragrance. Massenet used notes that suggest the flora and fauna of Africa to offset the Cuir Nomade's signature note of leather in this fragrance. 

African Leather will be available from select retailers as 75 ml EDP.

Source and all images: MEMO Paris

New from Memo Paris: Ilha do Mel

by: Jodi Battershell

Memo, the Parisian fragrance house founded by John and Clara Molloy in 2007, offers world travel by scent with its three fragrance collections: Les Echappées ("The Escapes"), Cuirs Nomades ("Nomadic Leathers") and Graines Vagabondes ("Vagabond Seeds"). Memo's signature line encapsulates the theme of the house: "The journey is the destination."

The brand launched two scents in 2014, Cuirs Nomades' French Leather and Kedu, the first scent in the Graines Vagabondes collection. Graines Vagabondes takes its inspriation in the humble seed, which holds in its tiny package the power of life and which shares Memo's passion for tribulation and movement. Memo has announced its newest scent, which will be the next edition in the Graines Vagabondes collection: Ilha do Mel.

"Let us sow the seeds of felicity on Ilha do Mel, that island in the shape of a sugary whale. For just the two of us, here is the honey, the mandarin, nothing can separate us: a moon of juniper and vanilla intertwined. Then come the waves of broom, drifting on the surf of my pillow, I have the whole beach to unravel you. Sheltered beneath the rose and hyacinth cover of the Encantadas caves, reason lost in the labyrinth of Camoes. Rays of honey soften the jasmine of my awakening. This sweet, syrupy liquid gives me a musky fever, as the palm trees gently rock your devilish smile. King Vetiver, I'm off to swim in the bubbling waters of joy, come swirl me in your eddy, orange blossom. Alone without iris, I long for your tropics."—Memo press release

Inspired by the beautiful, little-known island just off the coast of Brazil, Ilha do Mel (Portuguese for "Island Honey") features key notes of juniper, broom (genet) and vanilla, supported by mandarin, hyacinth, iris concrete, jasmine absolute, orange blossom absolute, vetiver and musk.

The "seed" motif of the collection is embodied by juniper in Ilha do Mel, which adds mystery and contrasts with the honey-floral bouquet of the scent. Juniper and broom are not plants or aromas traditionally associated with Brazil, but Memo's house perfumer Aliénor Massenet describes their use in Ilha do Mel as part of the fantasy quality of the fragrance.

"Ilha do Mel is a fantasy, a kind of fantasy island like the one in that television series from my childhood, where all dreams could be fulfilled, or like Peter Pan's Neverland," notes Aliénor. "I went in search of flowers that would best correspond to this imaginary landscape; it wasn't a matter of producing a realistic painting."

The fragrance is an Eau de Parfum available in a 75 ml spray atomizer with a woven rattan-like pattern in Memo's signature gold-and-black colors, packaged in a white and gold box. Ilha do Mel will launch in May 2015 online and at select shops and boutiques around the world including Memo's newest distribution partner, Bergdorf Goodman, in the United States.

ABOUT MEMO

Memo was founded by Clara (left) and John Malloy, who met on a chair lift in 2005. Passionate and experienced travelers, the two set off on a long-distance journey together which would eventually lead them on a creative journey and the birth of Memo Paris. Clara, a publisher and fragrance writer, today serves as Creative Director of the house, having met house perfumer Aliénor Massenet while interviewing perfumers for a book.

Memo offers personal fragrances, home fragrances, bath products and bespoke perfume services. It has also published three fragrance-related volumes to date. From the small boutique in which it launched in 2007,Memo has since grown into a world-class luxury brand sold in the finest department stores and boutiques of 22 countries around the world.

Please visit the official website of Memo Paris to learn more, purchase or find a local retailer near you.