Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Amouage Memoir Man & Memoir Woman: new fragrances

The House of Amouage’s latest enigmatic Memoir fragrances for both man and woman explore the inseparable nature of beauty and depravity. In the words of the American writer Gore Vidal, “a memoir is how one remembers one’s own life” and in this fourth installment, the identity of Amouage Man first introduced in the series of narratives developed for the House’s Silver Jubilee, is revealed.
Inspired by the decadent mien and genius of the 19th Century French poet, Charles Baudelaire and the German philosophy of the doppelganger, Amouage Creative Director Christopher Chong, embarks on a deep and inquisitive voyage to unlock the unfathomable mysteries that reside within human nature. He expresses these influences by coalescing the provoking and potent ingredient of Absinth with other floral and wood accords to evoke a sombre mood. Incarnated from the introspective pages of Baudelaire’s volume of poetry Les Fleurs du Mal (Flowers of Evil), Chong’s Memoir Man seeks to uncover his identity by seeking the
underworld where he meets his other self and alter ego, the Black Swan. In this emporium of vice and damnation, the anguish, the unwanted, the dark, the haunting and the unmentionable are all beauty of the truth.Represented as the female gender in this story, the Black Swan is Memoir Woman; she is him and he is her. Hauntingly, they come together as one representing each other’s past, present and future in which they mimic each other’s sorrow and pain. They are separated and reunited by the memoir they share, which Chong constructs in these philosophical and mesmerizing fragrances by piecing together contradictory fragments of accords.

Memoir Man unmasks itself with a seductive green sensation of Mint pervading to an intoxicated journey of Absinth and Wormwood, which opens the door to the underworld of self discovery. The fragrance continues to express the complexity and philosophy of the Black Swan with the intricate richness of sophisticated Vetiver.
Memoir Woman manifests with a spicy fusion of Absinth to resonate the magical aura of the Black Swan. This transformation is enhanced by deconstructing the redolent Tuberose to its core and reassembling the note in a white floral accord with Lisylang and Orange Blossom. As Chong explains, “I wanted to create a haunting fragrance that is beyond the restriction of gender and one that is both hypnotic and bewitching. I articulate this aspect by increasing the dark
wood accord with cashmeran, sandalwood and patchouli supported by an animalic accord in the base to neutralise the gender difference.”
Resembling black fog rising from the wet cobbled streets of Europe, both bottles are made of black glass crystal graduating from a dark to a lighter shade with silver metal caps accentuated by a multi-faceted black Swarovski crystal. Memoir is presented in a silver-tone coffer with myriad shades of black to support the Black Swan feather motif and is available in 50ml and 100ml Eau de Parfum. The fragrances will officially launch on September 22nd.

NOTES FOR AMOUAGE MEMOIR
Memoir Woman
Category: Leather / Animalic Chypre
Top Notes: Mandarin, Cardamom, Absinth, Pink Pepper
Heart Notes: Pepper, Clove Bud, Opulent White Blossoms, Rose, Jasmine, Precious Dark Wood,Frankincense
Base Notes: Styrax, Oakmoss, Castoreum, Leather, Labdanum, Fenugreek, Musk
Memoir Man
Category: Leather / Woody Fougere
Top Notes: Absinth, Wormwood, Basil, Mint
Heart Notes: Rose, Frankincense, Lavender Absolute
Base Notes: Sandalwood, Vetiver, Guaiac wood, Amber, Vanilla, Musk, Oakmoss, Leather, Tobacco

info/notes via press release

15 comments:

  1. They sound very promising! :) I don't know if I want them to smell as wonderful as they sound or to be disappointments so that I don't have to lament the fact they are a bit out of my price range. ;)

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  2. I'm not a huge fan of mint in a fragrance, but I have to admi(n)t that both of these sound very interesting and I'm a sucker for Amouage generally. Thanks for the heads-up.

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  3. They could toss the godawful bottles someday...

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  4. Anonymous14:11

    AMouage will also release an Attar soon called Eiddy

    info@zahra.com
    http://perfume.zahras.com

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  5. Cortney Bennett19:27

    This set was beautifully broken down, from the creative concept to the notes in the frangrances themselves. I appreciated how you peeled back the layers of Chong's vision and analyzed how they were executed in the finished product.

    How do you feel about couples wearing matching fragrances? You mentioned that this set is designed so that the cologne and perfume foil each other in "haunting" ways. Do you think these scents together would be too grim? Or would they fit chillingly well?

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  6. Ines,

    there's always a bit of "what if" with Amouage. Look at me, falling for Jubilation 25 and Gold and how my bank account suffered.
    Maybe it's best if one doesn't like them, LOL!

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  7. Michael,

    there's never a simple "mint" in Amouage. I predict they will be ornate and baroque as usual. :-)
    Thanks for stopping by!

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  8. Liisa,

    the smaller ones (limited editions) are very nice. I suggest they bring them out in every scent!

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  9. Thanks for the info on the Amouage Eiddy attar! I am looking forward to trying it.

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  10. Courtney,

    thanks for commenting!

    Interesting question: I like the idea of corresponding fragrances for a couple. Like clothes with some common scheme they add to the "togetherness", plus it's nice if scents don't clash when you're ...you know...well..you get my drift.

    I think matching "his and hers" launches usually are thought of together; not always but most of the time. I am referring to those issued as a duo at the same time, like this one. Not when a feminine gets launched and then 2 years later they do a masculine to coat-tail on its success. ;-)

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  11. Anonymous21:18

    avoid buying from zahras posted above... they're selling fakes and watered down versions of amouage

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  12. your right its very poetoic and the absinthe inst inthe least distracting, im abudelaire nit and i love the cpmparison, because its doing this to me now i just had on memoir which was a nice girs sweetie pie fragrance the un;listty this makes me feel like painting wild back lac1uer stripes onmy wall, its sexyt not killian sexy but another sexy i got the ATAR today the one withthe most oud in it, but i dunno what its called, it just says amouage attar, its nice i went tfor the oud cos i figured i coukld trust that oud so much monsense about oud lately and i was really lookung for saffrin, at aede, this is a sexy perfume for loving yourself

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  13. Anonymous08:34

    The opening for Memoir Woman remind me of the Original Dior Poison.

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  14. Courtney,

    you must be referring to Homage Attar? That one is wonderful.
    I find the Kilian sexiness is a different beast than the Amouage sexiness, if that makes any sense :-)
    As to the oud, *sigh* apparently a girl (and a boy) can't have enough oud these days; or so the capitalistic system wants us to believe to churn out more and more! ;-)

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  15. Anon,

    what an interesting observation: I need to rejog my memory by smelling these two side by side.

    Thanks for mentioning it!

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