Memoire de Daisen-in Ella K Parfums 2019

I’ve been nursing this fragrance for a while, mostly because my sample bottle was defective, making it tricky to test properly. Packaging issues aside, the scent itself is a pretty and elegant floral.

The opening is bright and tangy, thanks to the kumquat’s acidic kick. However, the florals soon take center stage, and to my disappointment, I detect roses rather than peonies. As someone who isn’t fond of rose, I have to admit this fragrance doesn’t align with my personal taste. While beautifully crafted, it’s simply not for me.

When creating a fragrance inspired by the sacred Daisen-in temple, one might typically rely on woody notes. However, the intentional choice of Rose reveals the true soul of this work.

I believe the vibrant florals, such as rose and peony, symbolize the "inner bliss" one feels while standing in a sanctuary, realizing that their own "thread of life" is being woven into eternity.

The scent opens with a gentle citrus of kumquat and bergamot. Then, light rose and peony, layered with tea accords, spread with a soothing freshness—moistening a parched heart and awakening the happiness within.

Gradually, a blend of Ambroxan, ISO E SUPER, musk, and nutmeg envelops the scent in a delicate, grounded calm. The harmony of nutmeg's subtle spice eventually pulls the consciousness back from personal joy to the reality: "Ah, I am in a sacred place." This transition, returning the soul to divine silence, is the essence of this perfume. It embodies "Okuyukashi"—a hidden passion held beneath a serene, composed exterior.

This is a clean, non-fruity peony, which is new to me and kind of rare in the perfume world. When I think of peony, scents like Chloé EDP or PDM Delina come to my mind. Memoire de Daisen-In is different.

It has a clean vibe, not completely unlike Chloé, but with almost no sweetness. This peony is so fresh that it's bordering on sour and sparkling. Bergamot only emphasizes that effect. As so often, peony is paired with rose here, and I find it difficult to identify where one begins and the other ends. The nutmeg note, which lends a bit of dry, warm spiciness to the opening, is the most surprising note here.
The base on the other hand is a predictable white musk with the fuzzy woodsiness of ambroxan blended in.

There are some Ella K perfumes I love, namely Baiser de Florence, Lettre de Pushkar and Rose de Pushkar. I also liked Pluie sur Ha Long a lot. This one is a bit plain in comparison, to me personally it's not worth the price. But I think it will find its niche with people who really love straightforward, unsweetened florals.

I am glad that I always sniff fragrances without any preconceived notions. If I were to look at the notes or even the reviews before the first test, I wouldn't be able to be objective anymore. Do you feel the same way? Everyone has certain components of a scent that they particularly like and others that they don't. And when you see what to expect, you become biased. That would definitely be the case for me. Therefore, I let a fragrance first affect me. I listen to what I smell, and only later do I start to 'pick apart' it.

If I had taken a look at this beautiful rose fragrance from Ella K. beforehand, it would have scared me at first. Why? I just say Ambrofix. That sounds bad to me. If you spend some time with this treasure, it quickly becomes clear that there is nothing bad about it at all. What reads a bit like another fully synthetic rose, like Delina from PdM is, is actually something quite different.

My first thought was Stella by Stella McCartney. I was 26 years old when I first encountered this fragrance and fell hard for it. The fact that I actually don't like roses was completely irrelevant to me back then. But I never owned Stella. Because during a trade fair visit with my then-employer in Hanover, I encountered this cheeky, fresh, slightly green, yet also somewhat sexy and sensual rose at almost every stand. Checked off. Done. I have never forgotten this beautiful fragrance direction, though.

What Frau K.'s little rose also reminds me of are the first fragrances from Knarren-Julia: Miss Charming and Lady Vengeance. Memoire de Daisen-In moves for my nose between the two JHAG classics by Kurkdjian. It is as sweet and lovable as Miss Charming and at the same time a bit wicked and sexy like Lady Vengeance. So if you can't decide between these two, Ella K. makes it very easy for you now.

Of course, none of this is new or particularly innovative that the brand is presenting here. But we have a very beautiful rose fragrance that manages to convince despite its synthetic nature. I can't quite sniff the listed notes as they are - I only smell rose, peony, musk, and maybe a bit of amber - but this is a perfume that, provided you like roses, you can't really go wrong with. Whether it is worth the price is something everyone has to decide for themselves. This is certainly not a brand with bargain offers. By the way, the bottle design fits well with Memoire de Daisen-In, as we have a pinkish fragrance here in contrast to Baiser de Florence from the same house, which I own. So don't be surprised why I rated this bottle better than that of my fragrance.

Many thanks to Violett for the testing opportunity. A fragrance that I can recommend.

Evidently, the scents from Ella K are meant to evoke a sense of wanderlust. This is particularly cruel in Corona times, as who wouldn’t want to be sitting in Ha Long Bay with an aperitif or listening to the cry of the Kalahari, whatever that is. I’ve actually been there, at least in the “miserable half,” meaning the dry part. There was no crying at all, just a few whiners in the travel group asking for water. And in terms of scent, I would guess dust with sand. No idea what Ella K, aka Sonia Constant, smelled there. Probably nothing at all, as her advertising people must have come up with this pretentious stuff in front of their screens. But this is about the memory of Daisen-In, a wonderfully poetic temple near Kyoto. It’s supposed to smell like delicate roses, or so the idea goes. If you bought ten bottles of this, you’d at least have the equivalent of a ticket to Kyoto, which would be significantly more exciting than Ella’s expensive rose water. The bottle looks like it came from a drugstore; the heavy cap doesn’t help at all. Perfume caps that remind one of Merovingian coffin lids (Heeley, Different Company, etc.) are gradually becoming out of style...
And what’s inside? The scent is a delicate rose, wearable everywhere, quite fresh, even slightly bitter, which appeals to me about the fragrance. It floats pleasantly in the room, is charming and light-footed. Just shy of face water. Suitable for summer dresses and suits alike, definitely not for jogging suits. But Daisen In has nothing that distinguishes it from 100 other light rose scents. Of course, it lasts long, doesn’t turn rancid-floral, nor does it sink into the skin of its wearer. No, the rose remains a rose remains a rose. That comes at a price for a fresh, elegant rose water without a unique selling point. Nevertheless: you can’t go wrong with it, neither in a restaurant nor at an evening gathering, nor at grandma’s 80th birthday, nor at your own or someone else’s wedding. You can wear the scent at 18 and at 80 - and you can douse yourself in it as much as you want, it always remains equally delicate. Perhaps that’s its secret: a built-in oomph reducer. This recipe could be shared by Ella/Sonia. It would be a gift to tortured noses that are suffering from Angel, Samsara, Alien, or Amarige.