Combining rose and leather?
Why not! It is a fantastic pairing, especially when Memo Paris does it.
French leather opens with an elegant bloom of rose petals.
A morning pink-colored rose. What makes it even more thrilling is the aldehydic and spicy notes reminiscent of pink pepper, which somehow gives a cloud of metallic dust on the surface. A glimpse of citrus gives an effervescent effect on the rose facet, highlighting its petals and make the rose more vivid. I literally can’t stop smelling it on my hands and indulge in it.
There is a cute spike of orange blossom notes that come along, lingering together with the rose, giving a tad fruitiness in the fragrance’s heart. It dances beautifully around the citruses, blending and elevating the fresh and crisp green notes reminiscent of yellow and green citruses, such as mandarin and lime. The perfume’s development at this stage is very much enjoyable, as the rose accord becomes vibrant and youthful.
French Leather imparts a smooth leather, suede.
As the scent goes deeper into the leather territory, the perfume starts revealing the rose’s deep, honeyed signature, which gives some degree of sweetness to the fragrance. An intoxicating green note that reminds me of galbanum’s greenness renders naturality to the perfume, elevates the leather accord, and binding it with the rose. It balances the honey facet, successfully bridging the flowers and the leather materials to become one harmonious figure.
The suede leather has a soft texture, pleasant to touch, classy and elegant. A blow of smoky cedar amplified the natural leather feeling, polished and refined. The musks soften the rough edges, round and persistent.
I once attended an event with the founder, John Molloy. Each Memo Paris fragrance is inspired by places that he and his family have traveled. John’s wife and the founder of Memo Paris, Clara Ferré Molloy, wrote her memories of those places and gave her writings to the perfumers to be transcribed into perfumes. And this is her vision of French Leather:
“Memory.
What is being French? Being falsely casual. Not entirely nonchalant. Leather that points under the rose. The eye that curls. Style even in negligee. Having your table at your favorite coffee shop. The scent of suede inside a handbag. A certain idea of chic. Talent. Just a cigarette. The lime. Follow your star. Taking the trivial seriously. Knowing how to marry opposites. To know the name of every bridge in Paris. Cedar. Learn to hide its thorns. An entraperceived shoulder. Charm. Never being totally lost. Inventing ancestors. The well-placed moles. Pink pepper. Improvise. Being right. Knowing when to undress. Musk. Kissing.”
https://www.memoparis.com/collections/parfums/products/french-leather-eau-de-parfum
Beautiful.
What excites me the most about French Leather.
It is citrus. I think it is the magic! I love how the perfumer, Alienor Massenet, plays with the fresh citruses to spark the whole composition. Rose and leather are both relatively heavy materials; thus, incorporating intense, significant, and powerful citrus such as lime to increase the bloom and lift-up the notes is brilliant.
I also love the smell of pink pepper in the opening. Well, pink pepper is my weakness. It is the hook on the top, it goes very well with the rose and lime, and it smells incredible.
Last but not least, notes that I find interesting is the cedar and the musk. They accentuate the leather correctly. The cedar gives a smokey and dusty facet, while the musk smells animalic and almost dirty. Charming.
French Leather’s sillage is essentially rose, an exquisite rose.
I think french Leather is safe to be worn by someone who is not a massive fan of leather perfumes. Although the leather scent here is prominent, it is like a silhouette under the rose. Wearing French Leather gives me a quite extraordinary feeling, like being a woman with grace and security. I can imagine wearing French Leather on occasions where I want to be remembered: an important meeting with potential clients or a romantic date!
Tell me your favorite perfume from the Memo Paris leather collection! If you haven’t smelled them yet, Memo Paris has an interesting discovery kit you can buy on their website (international) or C&F Perfumery (Indonesia). By the way, they also have the hair perfume version for French Leather. I can’t wait to try it!
Cheers,
Gia.
