Description
The collection of Memo Paris will be expanded this autumn with another fragrant journey through Egypt and the fantastic city of Luxor, a town on the River Nile, famous for temples and alleys of sphinxes that have been resisting time for thousands of years. Remains of prayer and memorial temples including the magnificent Karnak are a symbol of a powerful civilization that left its mark and to this day causes our admiration.
The new fragrance LUXOR OUD celebrates the strength and power of the ancient, indicating that the heat of the desert surrounding Luxor offers a picturesque view of the heat and harshness of the climate. Sunny notes provided by tangerine give light to robust patchouli accords. Rose flower in the center of the composition is sweetened with fruit zest and heated with labdanum absolute united with warm oud wood aromas. Perfumer of the new edition is Alienor Massenet. Luxor Oud was launched in 2012.
nikitosssss – :
A gorgeous Oriental gourmand, this lovely offering from MEMO is not about Oud. It is an evocation of Egypt and the smells along the fertile Nile valley with fruit and flower laden trees. The perfume begins with notes of Mandarin oranges and patchouli. It transitions to a heart consisting of desert rose and candied fruits. It finally settles into a woody base that reveals the Oud and labdanum. The perfume is beautifully blended with very strong sillage and very good longevity. It can be easily classified as a unisex perfume. This is not a perfume for Oud purists, but for lovers of gourmands and Orientals. Those of you like me who have traveled to Egypt and been to the Nile valley will be transported back to that beautiful land immediately. Haunting and beautiful!
yury1996 – :
The opening is orgasmic. I found myself having uncontrollable “physical reactions”.
After leaving the ER I returned to my wrist and got whiffs of Tabac Tabou which I love dearly. AMAZING fragrance! I can’t even put it in words. I’ve sampled 8 fragrances from this house and bought two full bottles. I’m really starting to feel you can’t go wrong no matter what you blind buy from Memo. I hate to say this but even though they are super expensive it’s worth the price. This is a fragrance without sin. Pure quality.
osherov igor – :
When it comes to perfumes, I would say that my demands are those of a purist regarding the union of concept and execution. A perfume for me has to be an entity where mainly name, aroma and concept fit together and form a cohesive and coherent entity. And it’s something that bothers me in many niche brands, with Memo being one of them. The value proposition of the brand is to sell perfumes that reflect the richness of the travels of its founders, but in practice this is just a template to fit the market trends and ideas that are guarantee of sales. See Luxor Oud, for example. What does the trendy combination of rose and agarwood has to do with Luxor, a place that holds in itself a great symbolism of Egyptian civilization? Admittedly, the noble and spiritual aspect of agarwood might have been worked in that direction, but as I said, the idea is merely a pretext to fill the oud perfume gap that every brand should have at the moment.
Yet, as much as I am a purist between concept and execution there are times when it is possible to recognize both criticism and merit. And I see interesting things in the aroma of Luxor Oud no matter how much its concept is treated lightly. Although this is an Oud scent made to fill the gap of market demand, it is executed with excellence, bringing harmony and distinction that sounds refined to me to the point of ignoring its Egyptian references.
The template chosen for this Oud perfume is one that explores the more amber and sweetened connotations of the accord in combination with a rose that emphasizes its nuances of honey, fruit and tobacco and which in turn is complemented by a red fruit opening. There is a fluidity in the idea that makes the perfume stand out, since many Oud perfumes in this category scream the 3 parts in sequence (Fruits! Rose! Oud!). Here, fruits sound more natural, referring to a kind of berries tea. The rose is not so sweet and it is interesting that it is a type of rose difficult to be worked on perfumes, one that highlights more the cloves nuances and that usually sounds medicinal and bitter. Here, this nuance is put in favor of the sweetness of the composition and creates a certain mysterious air, an enigma: would it really be a perfume of oud and roses or an oud and carnation?
While this question hangs in the air, the perfume evolves into its last phase and again there is a care in making an oud perfume with a more classic base in the sense that nothing predominates and the notes are used to form a cohesive whole. Thus, there is no excess of the medicinal aroma or even the sweet amber aroma of the oud, these nuances are well combined with the patchouli and the labdanum creating an aura of incense and resins. It is a perfume that makes sense and is distinctive when analyzing the perfume itself. It would be perfect if they did not try to force the bar on the concept, but as a consumer do not buy concepts after all, that’s the least thing to be considered here.
Glade957 – :
It’s quite nice, fruity, jammy, rosy… I don’t get much Oud tho. It reminds me a lot of the beautiful Majalis by Spirit of Dubai (which has probably 5 times as many notes and also costs 2 times or more than Luxor Oud).
Silca – :
in the MEMO site one can clearly track the ingredients of this marvelous perfume of MEMO ‘Luxor Oud’.
“KEY NOTES
Oil of mandarine, Rose absolute, Oud
INGREDIENTS
Oil of mandarin, red berries, rose, oil of cypriol heart, rockrose absolute, oil of patchouli, styrax resin, tonka bean, oud accord”
‘oud accord’ so this usually means either a little amount of the real stuff was used or it is synthetically imitated.
the Fragrantica team has erred with its ‘desert rose’.and omits to name the ‘rose absolute’ which so many reviewers do detect well. there is both ‘rose absolute’ and ‘rock rose’ in ‘Luxor Oud” and the latter, ‘Cistus’, provides the following characteristics according to the Fragrantica ‘notes index’:
“Labdanum
lat. Cistus ladanifer, Cistus creticus
Other names: ladanum, ladan, ambreine, European rock rose
Group: MUSK, AMBER, ANIMALIC SMELLS.
Odor profile: deep, powerful, leathery and ambery note derived from the rock rose and one of the default ingredients in chypre fragrances as well as the amber “accord” in oriental fragrances.”
the ‘desert rose’ is another plant alltogether. (adenium obesum)
this all to sort of elucidate erratic information about yet such fabulous perfume which is quite insistent in a demure way. the ‘oud accord’ is working here to enhance the lovely deep rose smell. the perfume overall has this oriental cachet and luckily the fruit accords do not dominate on me. (but they are also considerally less prevalent as the reviews and scent pyramid of Fragrantica suggest.) ‘red berries and mandarin’ we see in MEMO’s memo.
LUXOR OUD is another memorable voyage to places all over the world and may it contribute to a greater sense of cosmopolitanism enhancing intercultural appraisal….
Вова1964 – :
I am looking for the perfect oud to add to my budding collection. I was hoping this would be it (after trying dozens).
This fragrance isn’t one I would ormally spring for–it’s not woody or deep enough, too flowery. And yet I find it oddly compelling, and it’s now fourth on my wishlist. Most prominently, it smells to me of raspberries. And roses, but not powdery ones. I subtly smell the oud. I feel like they were stingy with it, almost like…. it cost too much to add in a more appreciable amount? Come on!
It’s a TAD too sparkling and fruity to be an ‘oud scent,’ and yet I could see myself wearing it on sparkly evening occasions (so, once every six years) nonetheless. I keep wanting to smell it, and its longevity on clothes is…. enormous. Which isn’t to say it is strong or its sillage is obnoxious. But the longevity is truly strartling, and a little went a long way on the cuff of a wool sweater–not nearly so much on my skin, but I err on the side of pouring half a bottle of anything on it, not smelling it within an hour, wanting more sillage, more longevity, more strong musky notes, etc. I am not light or airy. Still, many fragrances last bette and longer on clothes, eve if their evolution isn’t quite as exciting or multifaceted.
My single disappointment with this scent–other than there not being enough uud to begin with–is that what lingers most are the fruity and flowery notes (sophisticated and quality though they be–no drugstore spritzy flirty scent here, nor grand-dame powdery senior citizen, either) are the longest lasting. I had hoped that what little oud there was in in this would come to the fore or at least outlast and intermingle more with the other notes. It really is a background player: but, aif you are not looking explictly for an oud, it uses oud in perhaps the way oud has best been used before it become the trendy It-Fragrance that so many scents are solely centered arund these days: as a mysterious come-hither in the back, grouding the actual harmony of the fragrance.
Despite not really loving these specific things about it, I find myself returning to smell it out of my now 40+ sample collection of fragrances contaiing ouds.
It is not like one of the three scents that are now becoming my signatures (tom ford shanghai lilly; Miyako; and Ma Bete by, I think, Erin–I have yet to purchase large bottles of the latter, they are backordered at the niche perfumery I favor)–those are not only more than the sum of their parts, but addictive and obsessive like cigarette breaks used to be back in the smoking era: I go back to sniff the bottle and for that moment, everything stops as I inhale it agani and again, even if I’m late for the bus, or the shower is already running and losing heat, or I’m in the middle of something else. I’m transfixed by smelling them, by the simultaneous effort to capture and lock them into my mimd for a moment that lasts an eternity, and yet complicity with the very essence of what we love about perfumes: their constant reminder of ceaseless change, mortality, evaporation, decay, sometehing becoming nothing. [If it sounds philosophical, it is: getting into perfumes has reopened theoretical, philosophical musings I had not had since a college student].
Luxor oud is not obsessively addictive. And yet when I get confused between samples about whether I love a certain one or not, or what smells or sweet or doesn’t, or what is too much to expect from a fragrance, or just need a break the way coffee beans are supposed to provide one, Luxor Oud is the one I go to.
I’m scared of wearing my above-named signatures too often, especially on bad or depressed days, lest their magic wear out on me or I come to associate them with a period in my life that ultimately isn’t one I want to harken back to [a pointless fear, I know: as I move on in life I will find new scents I adore, and move on to those. but that’s like signing a pre-nup: I’m not cynical enough to do that, nor to think that I will want to dump my signatures in disgust and resignation, ever].
Luxor oud brings no such fears. It is a scent I love now. I want it. If it is discontinued in the future, I will be able to live with that without missing a beat. If it gets ruined by being worn on the occasion of a terrible, traumatic day that it forever reminds me of, so be it. It is not THAT special–nor is the oud in it so prominent that were Luxor Oud ruined for me, all ouds would be ruined. it is, in that sense, unique. Yet it isn’t complex; while not one-note, it does feel a little two-note: the raspberry (to me)-rose treble, the tamped down oud bass. I can tell there is more to it than that, but that’s all it smells of, which makes it SLIGHTLY sephora-crowd-ish, but I think this might differ on one’s skin and how the fragrance reacted to it: it could go either more cheap/currently-pop-fruity, or more unique-complex.
It’s a perfect once-in-a-while addition, rather than key player, in my ideal library. I would’t use it as a combination fragrance unless I really knew what I was doing. I might layer it over a more pure oud, but beyond that, it stands well on its own. Try comparing it on clothing vs on skin: more than other fragrances, the longevity and sillage were very different between the two with this one.
If you’re looking for an oud pure, this isn’t it. If you want to dabble in oud but like fruity and floral, try it. No skin or musk elements. No rank elements. No alarmingly aimalic dry-down. An asexual yet HIGHLY ‘feminine’ [what does that really mean? isn’t it just a social construct?] rose oud.
I’m not sure this has been a helpful review of the fragrance itself at all. I apologize and will make future reviews more fragrance-, and less self-centered
gnom47 – :
I can smell the rose, fruits, slightly oud notes which makes this a very pleasant fragrance for a woman and all year round day.
xorek-1 – :
First, the oud is exquisite. It’s not fake or manufactured. It’s deep, rich, pure, and genuinely transcending almost like a song. I catch myself smelling my wrists because the oud reminds me of a very soft piñon wood. My granny used to go to Mexico and bring back piñon incense and although they are infinitely more pungent than this oud, there is still the harkening back to that time for me.
I don’t love that at times I catch a whiff of what could only be bug spray. I am not sure if it is the mandarin or the other syrupy fruits but mixed with the oud and the rose it comes off buggy at times. I am not a fan of rose as I feel it garners an “old” lady vibe so maybe I am jaded with the rose notes.
I would give this a 6-7 on a scale of 1-10. At times it soars but when you smell Off there is no mistaking it.
Dashulya – :
Tested from a 5ml sample.
What I like about this : the first blast is a rich, deep, dense, leathery, smoky-woody, perfumed cloud, luxurient and full of eastern promise. Then coming through there’s a sort of sharp, not-unpleasant, camphory smell, accompanied by a warm, sexy rose. The wood is deep, sharp and rich. In fact it’s the mixture of the rich wood and the rose that’s my favourite part; it’s oriental, grown up and seductive.
What I don’t like about this: it’s a bit too fruity for me. I don’t mind fruit in fragrance as long as it’s just one single note and I can clearly discern it. The fruitiness here coming through after the initial sultry start reminds me a bit of a bag of multi-coloured jelly beans, and I couldn’t get this out of my head. Not to say the scent isn’t pleasant, just an odd association for me. The scent also fades quickly, after an hour, (for me too quickly) to a pleasant skin scent.
I decided this isn’t for me, but I would say it’s a perfectly wearable scent, any time of day really, because it’s not strong enough to offend, and I’m sure there are others who would like it.
February 2016
viziter0 – :
My nose smells a very well done oud fragrance. Different than most others and it does have a fruity accord but the oud dominates. Stuff lasts for more than 6 hours and it’s more than a skin scent for the whole time. This is different and very well done and not all all harsh. Yes, a bit pricey but certainly no more pretentious than others charging significantly more for about the same return. Good stuff.
romik1981 – :
(time stands still at the gateway of luxor humanity’s oldest prayer site.on the banks of the Nile,the stifling heat makes me feel indolent.crocodiles slide silently over the sand under the penetrating gaze of the sphinx.i walk towards the age-old shade of “the giaant ramesses2nd”. the temple stones seem to vibrate in splendor and the roses sigh in the torpor/heat.Luxor OUD:an oasis of roses and fruit overflowing with freshness and sensuality in the country of greatness and majesty.the marriage of wood and rose under Pharaoh’s whip and sceptre…)..the above paragraph was written on the perfume description by memeo…
luxour oud is a tame oud rose accord..its balsamic resinous fruty with hints of clean lighter patchouli and styrax with top notes of mandarin orange and heart notes of rose absolute and desert rose and and styrax resin with oil of cypriol heart…the entire composition sings with majesty with opulancy and dignity..
when you first apply it you are transported to a faraway 1001 nights scene..to a temples sand and setting blazing sun filled with mysterious resins..its not so heavy not so strong not so overwhelming all the notes are blended together in a manner that makes them hide each other hold each other give way to one another in discrete ways in subtle ways in harmonious ways..in sensual ways not so repulsive or on your face types of oud its not even frank oud its an oud accord for i believe that pharos didnt use oud they were more in to the ambers reins and jasmines so the oud here plays a faint role just to acinuate the reins and the rose..that s if you want to conotate the name of luxor oud to it which comes from north the continent of Africa Egypt in particular..honestly i don’t see the resemblance only if its to be found in the perfumers heart or olfactory memory or some emotional connotation..
luxor oud reminds me of hard core oriental oud rose connotations that are smelled in the Arabian peninsula in ceremonies of happiness and prayer it reminds me of juliet has a gun the golden one and thierry mugler vouluptous and estee lauder mystique woods and clinique beyound rose and even aramis calligraphy the golden black one the first one that came out befor the rose and safron versions if you mix the 3 you will get luxor oud
the perfume is a warm deep floriental oudy resniousy patchouli balsamic mellow soft sensuale almost sweet very beautiful soothing almost incensy almost translucent not as velvety deep as the other ones mentioned yet memerising and very bright and clean in its own way..a true orientalist dream with a twist of modernity..a sophisticated more linear approach to the opulancy and heaviness of oud rose accords its almost translucent,more like the byredo immortal oud
what can i say i do like the memeo line they make some heart throbbing perfumes that literally transport you to different parts of the world with emotions and dreams and hidden stories and myth and magic..
the last paragraph is also by memo
“les Echappees” is a collection of fragrances for men and women ,forming a map of the world that both delights and stirs the imagination. each fragrance is like a treasure hunt-an olfactory trail that leads to a modern world of perfumery,using the rarest essences.the memo fragrances share three values:the talent for partying,which gives them spontaneous cheerfulness,an undeniable thirst for travelling,which is a sing of interior adventure,and an ability for dreaming,like an extension of childhood.
accords
oil of mandarin
red berries
rose
oil of cypriol heart
rose absolute
oil of patchulie
styrax resin
tonka bean
oud accord
peugeot29 – :
cinnamon is very dark ,not good.When ı wear my friends say usually”you smells masculine and like father
‘s scent.I am not happy to use thıs
gena2606 – :
What a remarkably beautiful rose ! For an oriental scent LO is rather quiet. This great concoction includes a smokey aroma which accompanies the rose and the oud (I do not care if it is the “real” stuff or synthetically made) remains very much in the background. No medicinical start, no terpentine, no cow dung whatsoever. There is a juicy mandarine/tangerine playing back and forth but only medium sweet. The same fruity note that greatly annoyed me in Emir (paired with sickly sweet sugar) is very balanced here. Nothing is too much, nothing is out of the frame given for a round composition, no off notes.
This is probably the most beautiful fruity floral perfume I have come across in a long time. I am usually into very heavy and heady scents, choking and cloying, narcotic and obnoxious 🙂 This one is so different but still an oriental. Do not forget the hint of smoke floating through the roses and the fruits. Delicious !
I am going to get myself a full bottle today, luckily I know a store that sells Memo.
As this brand was totally new to me so far I must say : big surprise (in a really good way) and a recommendable perfume for oud starters not willing to jump into icecold water.