MEM
Bogue Profumo (2017)

Before sampling the works of Antonio Gardoni, I feared that it would fall into the realm of indie perfume that reminds me of a quote from Chandler Burr's The Perfect Scent where he speaks of Veronique Gaultier:

"She understood, as some did not, that one could stuff a perfume like a sausage with the most expensive ingredients in the world and wind up with carefully macerated shit that cost a fortune. What mattered was the way the thing was built."

I've experienced my share of the above, from upstarts who have little insight or regard to the mathematics involved in blending materials, putting artistry ahead of true skill. I can appreciate "outsider artists" in other media, but in perfume, it's a tough call, since there is something so exact about its science.

However, Gardoni is one of the few indies that both pushes the experimental envelope and has grasped the necessary ropes for a cohesive composition. The results are compelling works that visit new frontiers but still have their foundations rooted in classical perfumery. In Mem, there are textures and oblique images that defy the expectations of the materials used. The lavenders betray their usual politeness as they arrest me in its opening, and the unctuous of ylang-ylang and malted Whopper tropical florals counteract with accents of cineoles, camphors, and menthols. I am satiated by the medicinal, the narcotic, and the animalic in all acts of Mem.

Sarsaparilla and wintergreen washed over salty skin, honeyed farm animal hindquarters and hay bales and phragmites, weeds and reeds and ripe, sweaty, heaving blooms. Smoky, fur-lined gardenia and decaying roses on a nightstand by a bed with dirty, sex-soaked sheets. Mem is an adventure and a thrill to wear.

MEM was disappointing to me though there is not really anything wrong with it. All I got was fruity opening of peach followed by some white florals and a generic powder/musk drydown with some of the peach/florals poking through. Not much to write home about here.

My very first love from Bogue. MEM, the post-modern, surreal fougere. It was the first perfume I tried from the house, and I immediately fell for it. For someone who dislikes lavender with a passion, that says a LOT. I still struggle with lavender in perfumes and with fougeres. However, the way Antonio painted MEM speaks to my heart. I love the juicy opening, the effervescent, rootberish quality, the smoky castoreum, the growling civet, and the glowing resins in the base. It also behaves differently, so slightly, from wear to wear. Sometimes feels more fruity and succulent, other times, the smoky castoreum pushes louder, occasionally, the civet gets quite urinous in the base, and at times, I'll get almost no animalics but benzoin. Overall, however, this is a lavender bomb, dissecting the aromatic from head to toe, exploiting everything to be said about it. It somehow works for me, as opposed to most others. It has fallen in my BOGUE rankings with time as I discovered others, but I still hold it dear for the novelty it was when we first met.

IG:@memory.of.scents

Brain is flipping right on out.

Can scent be narcotic? This is the very most hypnotizing my nose has been to date. I’m still learning but this is far beyond my ability to describe. It’s attention grabbing, mysterious, alluring, and bewildering.

Strong recommend for all to at least sample.

The notes say heavy top notes of lavender but I find that baffling. I get whomped by something dark, warm, and sweet like a molasses or anise. That must be the ethyl maltol.

Mid notes of jasmine and ylang are gently coming through at four wear hours. I’m weak though, I was so intoxicated by the top notes I reapplied!

I cannot wait to test this again tomorrow!

The opening wave encloses me with its floral onslaught - think lots of ylang-ylang with an undertone of a slightly waxy tuberose. There is, however, a brief breakthrough of citrus - ripe oranges and mandarin - but soon a nice mint aroma starts permeating the floral fest, the latter being enforced by a strong and only minimally powdery jasmine. Other florals that unfold with time are a Damascene rose and some champace. Interestingly, the mint is not just transient freshening up the florals, but it linger for quite a while as a significant contributor as a whole.

The next phase adds a benzoin from Thailand, which is smooth but also quite distinct, and develops a camphoric undertone that is as unexpected as it is fitting in well with the rest. A boozy note - a bit like a Kentucky Bourbon - with herbal hints - thyme and laurel - are in the background, with the boozy note the stronger one of the two on me.

The rest is a mix of woods and some restrained animalic components, although the benzoin lingers on quite prominently for a long time. I get a nice rose wood with lots of cedar, and touches of sandalwood way back in the background; the sandal is the weakest of the woodsy triad on me. The animalic offering consists of a gently crisp civet, which is associated with a bit of castoreum as well as a salty aroma of an ambergris. Towards the end, an ambery dark-ish musky component is evident, but a stronger labdanum in particular develops into a late addition that gives the final stages another twist altogether.

I get moderate sillage, excellent projection, and eight hours of longevity on my skin.

This spring scent is an olfactory tour de force, with its citrus, floral, woodsy and more animalic phases, which are not clearly demarcated and show lots of overlaps. Such a vast array of components would usually lead to many of them not being able to develop fully, but here nearly each of them has its moment of prominence in the olfactory limelight, its "minutes of fame", some longer and some shorter, which, although not always sustained, is quite a remarkable feat; some ingredients are more vivid than others though. The quality of the ingredients is excellent, and the blending outstanding. 4.25/5

Superior blending. Perhaps the best from the house at least so far in my humble opinion. Such a Cornucopia of notes which makes ones head spin but it all seems to work like a Grande Symphony.
Magnificent production. Thank you Mr Gardoni!