Memo Paris
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
The aldehydes arrive first with a peppery snap, cutting through like ozone before the cinnamon leaf emerges—not the sweet bakery spice you might expect, but something greener, slightly woody. It's a bracing introduction that immediately catches attention, almost prickling on the skin.
Within minutes, the whisky develops into something almost savoury-sweet, warming the cool florals of French narcissus. The powdery accord blooms here, and the fragrance becomes decidedly creamy and intimate—less cologne, more confidante. This is when Siwa reveals its most charming phase, when all the contradictory elements achieve temporary harmony.
The popcorn note becomes more prominent as the composition settles, adding an almost comical sweetness alongside vanilla and musk. The fragrance becomes considerably quieter and closer to skin, fading into a powdery, gourmand skin scent that whispers rather than announces.
Siwa is a fragrance of deliberate contradictions—one that courts elegance whilst simultaneously indulging in the sweet, slightly illicit pleasure of a late-night treat. Aliénor Massenet has constructed something genuinely unusual here: a scent that opens with the sharp, almost medicinal bite of cinnamon leaf and aldehydes, yet pivots immediately toward something far more intimate and sensual.
What makes Siwa compelling is the whisky-French narcissus pairing in its heart. Rather than creating a boozy floral cliché, these notes interact with surprising subtlety—the whisky doesn't announce itself as a spirit, but rather as a warm, slightly resinous undertone that softens the narcissus's creamy, almost soapy character. There's a powdery quality here that suggests old-fashioned elegance, yet the fragrance never feels particularly refined. Instead, it's rather charmingly dishevelled, as though someone's worn their best perfume to a jazz club.
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