Italian Leather

Memo. A whopper of a perfume company. I hope they chose the name "Memo" due to it being the first half of the word "memory", because they weave some ridiculously good stories with their scents. This particular scent kicked my bank balance square in it's knackers, and I felt them throb for a long while after. But, it was thankfully worth it! Any scent based on something Italian can't exist without tomatoes being involved somewhere. They literally invented pomodoro for fucks sake! Memo demonstrate how to use the scent of tomato in a very clever way within Italian Leather. It sits right on the top, like proud cock, with tones of soil in the middle, whilst a sensual base of vanilla adds a touch of class and luxury to the proceedings. They are the three main notes in the scent, but I also get little whispers of labdanum, galbanum, sage, basil, and a plethora of precious woody notes. It is such a beautifully organised scent, with all scent notes interacting with each other in a harmonious and mesmerising way. It is superb, quite frankly. Healthy Italian sunshine in a bottle. It is suitable for all seasons, and it is most definitely unisex. Literally any old twat can wear this perfume, even the really mucky ones, and they'll smell absolutely beautiful. Sillage is excellent; easily infiltrates the nose of anyone nearby. Longevity-wise, it comes up a winner again; the labdanum does an excellent job of making the perfume cling to your skin for dear life. It is scents like Italian Leather that fuel my intense, obsessive love for perfumery. Thank you Memo for creating such a sumptuous delight. It has one problem however; the price. It will cost you a small fortune to buy a brand new full size bottle. So my peepers are waiting on Vinted, with bated breath, to snap up a second-hand bottle from some rich tosser.

I've tried most fragrances from the Cuirs Nomades line, except for Indian and Oriental Leather, and this is the one that surprised me the most. Based on the notes I couldn't really picture what this would smell like but I was worried the tomato leaf note would be weird or unpalatable, but it wasn't in the slightest, not to mention it contrasts really well with the vanilla. Italian Leather opens with an interesting but excellent contrast of the aforementioned tomato leaf and vanilla notes, with a subtle leather note and a touch of lavender. The sillage is mostly vanilla with an edge of tomato leaf's bright green quality, this note being more noticeable closer to the skin. The "greenness" of the scent is reminiscent of Irish Leather, but in a "squint and tilt your head to see it" kind of way admittedly. After a few hours the dried down skin scent is a powdery vanilla with the same leather note from earlier being more noticeable. Great scent in the opening and a great scent in the dry down.

A really great leather fragrance from Memo. MEMO is the best when it comes to leather scents. Italian leather takes a unique take on the opening of a leather scent with that tomato leaf scent. This provides a herbal opening to the scent making it more wearable and less harsh in my opinion. The leather note is quite strong, and honestly would majority of leather fragrances they smell similiar on the dry down. This is no different, other than the unique opening it’s just a solid leather scent for the rest of the time. It projects a decent amount, not as much as the African leather scent. It has insane longevity, literally lasts forever. I do think that this is a bit too costly, as there are other great leather scent alternatives at significantly lower prices such as Ombré leather from Tom Ford or the leather scents from Van Cleef and Arpel. Italian leather is a great formal wear scent, great for the winter and fall seasons.

One of the best purchases I’ve ever made. Vegetal and green tomato leaves meets soft powdery vanilla. But the real MVP is the leather that starts to creep out about 90 minutes in. It helps it develop into the stuff dreams are made out of. A noticeable leather accord with a vanilla-iris thing going on in the background. But still maintaining the green opening, minus the sharpness. This would be my favorite fragrance of all time if the 2014 Valentino Uomo didn’t exist. This scent isn’t for everyone, the green note is sharp. And leather can become a little intense on the tail end of this fragrance (noticeably strong for projection, 7-9 hours) but for me, it combines everything I love about fragrance into 1 bottle. Something I can pay $200 for and not regret it 1 bit 3 years later

This might be my favorite fragrance. Tomato leaf, a bit of leather, a bit of vanilla. It sounds horrible but is absolutely perfect. Different than anything else, beautiful and subtle. To me it’s unisex, and as a man I may make this my main signature. The tomato leaf is green in an unexpected, juicy, not at all earthy way. It’s not overpowering, and could be worn anywhere outside maybe a nightclub, although I detest most fragrances that would work in a nightclub. I feel like on a man it’s over 30, smart, contemplative, not flashy, not mainstream. Something for an artist to wear. I bought the clone, Roman Leather, which is definitely close but also misses the magic of the perfect blending here. Will definitely go for a full bottle of the original.