It’s a tricky time of the year for finding a fragrance – days can be hot and muggy or crisp and cool, sometimes it swings both ways in the span of just a few hours. To be safe, I usually turn to the office frags – Creed’s ‘Aventus’ or Tom Ford’s ‘Oud Wood’ or Frederic Malle’s ‘Bois d’Orage’ – all are relatively dry and not heavy on the musk, so when the heat rises and humidity is on the move, these remain relatively calm and cool.
To this section of the year, I’m adding a blind-buy by Gucci – Memoire D’une Odeur – which was exuberantly billed as “a fragrance that transcends gender and explores the power of memory” – among other things. It’s also rumored to be one of the preferred scents of Harry Styles (who fronted the ad campaign and wore mostly Gucci on his recent world tour), and I take his style and accessories as supreme inspiration.
Opening with Roman chamomile, lending it a green freshness, it winds its way through a jasmine trail before drying down into vanilla, sandalwood and cedarwood. In my experience, it reads better on paper (or phone screen) than it actually performs, but that’s the risk one runs with a blind-buy. Not to say that it’s awful – it simply has a powdery, floral musk element that I personally don’t love, which almost sets it at odds with itself. The longevity is also abysmal, losing its fresh green element almost instantly, and fading into a close skin scent after only twenty minutes – not necessarily an awful thing when the days veer hot and muggy, which makes this an ideal time of the year for it.
First impressions were the worst impressions, and I kept giving this a shot, especially on my days working from home. At those times a skin scent is all that’s required, and Andy certainly appreciates the lack of bombast. It grew on me, and the period where it is more pronounced in its floral and musk aspects is relatively short (that’s the period I like least).
A bit of a tricky scent for a tricky time – and I have come to appreciate such tricks.
