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'70s and '80s
This feels like a brother to so many retro masculines: a broad-shouldered chypre, sparking with citrus and aldehydes, prickly with Mediterranean herbs and vetiver, and warm with leather, moss, patchouli, and civet.
It's quite dry and reserved, but it has a beguiling depth that keeps it interesting.
I think this is a must-try for lovers of classic masculines from the '70s and '80s. It's not exactly treading new ground, but this ground hasn't been tread much in 30 years, so its nostalgia is much less played-out than it might feel otherwise.
27th March 2025
288417
It's quite dry and reserved, but it has a beguiling depth that keeps it interesting.
I think this is a must-try for lovers of classic masculines from the '70s and '80s. It's not exactly treading new ground, but this ground hasn't been tread much in 30 years, so its nostalgia is much less played-out than it might feel otherwise.
27th March 2025
288417
White Floral
When Sintra first launched in 2020, I believe I purchased a sizable decant. I didn't bother writing a review at that time; it was sometime in 2022. I'm totally re-evaluating my perfume loves/likes and changing things around a bit. Something compelled me to retry Sintra, so I did.
I cannot recall my original reaction to Memo Paris Sintra but this time 'round, I really love this stuff. In some ways, it reminds me of Liquides Imaginaires Blanche Bete. But Sintra has a much prettier floral blend than Blanche Bete (tuberose, jasmine). And on my skin, Sintra's dry down doesn't develop the lingering sour note I get in the dry down with Blanche Bete.
Sintra is a pretty, white floral (primarily orange blossom) fragrance with a creamy, slightly bitter, vanilla musk backdrop. I realize (especially after living with Blanche Bete) that I REALLY dislike tuberose notes in my fragrances. The neroli, jasmine and orange blossom give Sintra a lovely floral bouquet opening that is tempered with slight bitterness from the petitgrain and resins. I never really experience anything marshmallow, or caramel, etc in the drydown. The base notes are lovely florals, orange blossom, petit grain, vanilla and musk.
And I sprayed a bit on my skin about 5-6 hours back; the scent is just starting to fade.
I really love this fragrance! Full bottle worthy!
I cannot recall my original reaction to Memo Paris Sintra but this time 'round, I really love this stuff. In some ways, it reminds me of Liquides Imaginaires Blanche Bete. But Sintra has a much prettier floral blend than Blanche Bete (tuberose, jasmine). And on my skin, Sintra's dry down doesn't develop the lingering sour note I get in the dry down with Blanche Bete.
Sintra is a pretty, white floral (primarily orange blossom) fragrance with a creamy, slightly bitter, vanilla musk backdrop. I realize (especially after living with Blanche Bete) that I REALLY dislike tuberose notes in my fragrances. The neroli, jasmine and orange blossom give Sintra a lovely floral bouquet opening that is tempered with slight bitterness from the petitgrain and resins. I never really experience anything marshmallow, or caramel, etc in the drydown. The base notes are lovely florals, orange blossom, petit grain, vanilla and musk.
And I sprayed a bit on my skin about 5-6 hours back; the scent is just starting to fade.
I really love this fragrance! Full bottle worthy!
Faux Semblant
...imagine this, you are suited and booted, going to a night club in France, but you wear a black suit, black tie, black leather boots. You are sharp as a human being can be. Mysterious personality, but there is a playful side that can easily charm, and hypnotize a lady.
This is some very odd stuff, and it does smell excellent at the same time. Its like a middle eastern mystery unravelling in front of your nose. It hits you from a lot of angles. True niche stuff here in fact, this has a semi-animalic orange blossom and honey, and the incense hits you right away, next to the green angelica. This is dark, it requires a black suit and a black tie for sure, no doubt. Oud along with the amber gives you a dark, resinous base...man this just takes over you i swear. Its massive, almost gives me the feeling of when i first smelled Amouage's Interlude Man, or Chanel's Le Lion. If this was an image, imagine Tisci's rottweiler for Givenchy. Its dark, aggressive and uber-classy, yet complex...
This is some very odd stuff, and it does smell excellent at the same time. Its like a middle eastern mystery unravelling in front of your nose. It hits you from a lot of angles. True niche stuff here in fact, this has a semi-animalic orange blossom and honey, and the incense hits you right away, next to the green angelica. This is dark, it requires a black suit and a black tie for sure, no doubt. Oud along with the amber gives you a dark, resinous base...man this just takes over you i swear. Its massive, almost gives me the feeling of when i first smelled Amouage's Interlude Man, or Chanel's Le Lion. If this was an image, imagine Tisci's rottweiler for Givenchy. Its dark, aggressive and uber-classy, yet complex...
1 Comment
Vietnamese Coffee
Sebastian "The Perfume Guy" on YouTube raves about this fragrance. As of late, Annam Vietnamese Coffee is probably Sebastian's #1 favorite coffee-centered fragrance. I like Sebastian a lot. I share many of Sebastian's fragrance loves, as he outlines them on his channels. I decided to give Vietnamese Coffee a whirl.
LOVE the opening. The first 30-60 seconds seem promising by offering a unique fragrance twist on the current glutted market of niche coffee-centric fragrances. Perhaps the first burst of notes is coffee and lily-of-the-valley? The opening notes feel green and very raw, earthy to me but not resinous, or dirt-like, or heavy. Just pleasantly vegetal, almost floral.
After the immediate opening, I clearly detect a bit of chocolate over coffee. And this is "cafe-au-lait" kinda coffee. Not black coffee. Not coffee beans. Not espresso shots. This fragrance is milk 'n coffee.
There is definitely a very predominant, creamy, lactonic, milky nuance as the fragrance develops. Dries down as milky coffee with a wee-bit of chocolate and amber.
Nice enough but not outstanding.
LOVE the opening. The first 30-60 seconds seem promising by offering a unique fragrance twist on the current glutted market of niche coffee-centric fragrances. Perhaps the first burst of notes is coffee and lily-of-the-valley? The opening notes feel green and very raw, earthy to me but not resinous, or dirt-like, or heavy. Just pleasantly vegetal, almost floral.
After the immediate opening, I clearly detect a bit of chocolate over coffee. And this is "cafe-au-lait" kinda coffee. Not black coffee. Not coffee beans. Not espresso shots. This fragrance is milk 'n coffee.
There is definitely a very predominant, creamy, lactonic, milky nuance as the fragrance develops. Dries down as milky coffee with a wee-bit of chocolate and amber.
Nice enough but not outstanding.
Performance is commendable.
I quite like Crystal Incense, though those interested should be aware that this is very much in the style of the rest of this Acqua di Parma line. This is to say it's not shy about the use of synthetic elements, giving it a kind of "classic" but urban touch.
In this case, the synthetic touch actually helps differentiate this from stuff like Profumum Roma Olibanum (which shares some structural elements), and bring out some facets in olibanum that are typically less front-and-center.
The synth touch here is in the artificially extended grapefruit, which doesn't feel realistic, but nevertheless ends up serving as an appealing companion to this ginger-accented olibanum scent. Combined with the punchy pepper, it gives things a fresh, zesty, almost fizzy feeling that eludes other scents that lean on the olibanum-cedar-benzoin structure that serves as Crystal Incense's foundation.
Performance is commendable.
In this case, the synthetic touch actually helps differentiate this from stuff like Profumum Roma Olibanum (which shares some structural elements), and bring out some facets in olibanum that are typically less front-and-center.
The synth touch here is in the artificially extended grapefruit, which doesn't feel realistic, but nevertheless ends up serving as an appealing companion to this ginger-accented olibanum scent. Combined with the punchy pepper, it gives things a fresh, zesty, almost fizzy feeling that eludes other scents that lean on the olibanum-cedar-benzoin structure that serves as Crystal Incense's foundation.
Performance is commendable.
