Inlé

Shimmering, beautiful, very upmarket, and good enough to win over even a floral sceptic like myself. It is fundamentally all about osmanthus (stunningly natural and organic-seeming osmanthus), so steer clear if you know that's iffy for you. But the inflection around the edges, with crystal-clear, refreshing, sparkling bergamot is a tremendous partnership, deepening the sense of calm and reflection, with the odd ripple of real nature running through the reverie. Best of all is the initial green tea note, which is honestly breathtakingly good and true to life ... even if it's more evanescent than I would like in an ideal world, and is the first chord in the opening to die away to nothing. My quest for the perfect tea scent continues, but this gets a long way closer to it than almost anything else I've ever tried - "a cloud of tea" is just the right image for what happens during the first 10minutes or so - a real billowing, unfurling burst of genuine green-tea aromatics. The jasmine kicks in later, and is a greenish, waxy, un-sickly, sophisticated sort which also shades in beautifully. Longevity isn't spectacular - skin scent only by about 4h - although projection is confident. Skews feminine but any guy who loves osmanthus could wear it too. Maybe not the most startlingly original treatment of osmanthus/white flower scent you will ever smell in your life - I can think of a few things which are 'sort of like it, but not as good' - yet this is definitely a hugely classy and confident treatment of the theme. I really, deeply loathe fake-floweriness and cloyingly sweet scents but I honestly love this. It's by far the most feminine, bridal-y, springlike floral I've ever really fallen for enough to consider an FB buy of. So it's kind of a debate champion of scent, capable of winning over the opposition as well as being just generally pleasing and kind and alive. Truly a feast for the senses.

The opening is a burst of juicy, watery apricot and peach — like freshly poured apricot juice, with that sweet, pulpy fruit-flesh vibe and a slight tangy freshness. It feels incredibly lively. Very quickly, the fruity top transitions into a floral core built around osmanthus and jasmine. The honeyed sweetness of osmanthus and the soft, creamy whiteness of jasmine unfold together, making the scent instantly fuller and smoother. The best part here is the mate tea’s green, slightly bitter edge: it balances out the potential cloying sweetness of the osmanthus and jasmine, keeping the florals dense and present while making the whole composition feel cleaner and more layered. Jasmine also acts like a base, rounding out the slightly thin profile of the osmanthus absolute and giving it more volume and richness — almost like standing beneath a fully blooming osmanthus tree. As it develops further, the leathery facet that naturally comes with osmanthus absolute starts to emerge, becoming more and more obvious, and eventually settling into a floral scent with a distinct leather texture — like a leather jacket sprayed with perfume. That said, it’s worth mentioning that this leatheriness is almost a “built-in feature” of osmanthus absolute due to the way it’s extracted. So you get less of the real, fresh osmanthus nuance where bitterness and sweetness intertwine, and more of a thick, honeyed osmanthus with a leathery undertone. If what you want is a beautiful, rich, textured fruity-osmanthus floral — rather than a 100% true-to-life fresh osmanthus recreation — or if you’re simply here for that apricot-juice opening, this one is absolutely worth trying.

Inlé does not enter the room; it glides on a silk cloud, weightless, with the hush of lotus petals drifting across an untouched lake. It is not a fragrance, not really. It’s a mirage refracted through dew, the hush between a bird’s flight and its shadow. The opening is a ghost of bergamot, sunlight caught in crystal then diffused through cool mint that doesn’t bite but shimmers like green lace over water. Not the peppermint of candy, not the menthol of medicine, this is mint as if dreamed of by a tea leaf, brushed with silver and memory. And oh, the tea. Green, but not young; not bitter, but air-dried on bamboo trays by the river in some imagined valley of cloud. You can almost hear it crackle. Its aroma? Whisper-thin. Like ink bleeding on wet parchment, subtle, sacred, fleeting. As if the soul of the leaf had taken to the wind, swept up by a pure, crystalline jasmine. Honeyed and warm and quiet. And it floats. It floats. And somewhere, as if from another lifetime entirely, the osmanthus arrives not boldly, but like a glance held too long. Apricot-steeped, suede-soft, just sweet enough to melt into the floral haze without tipping it into decadence. The whole thing just... LEVITATES off your skin, never settling, never pressing. As if gravity has been suspended and you are left suspended too, caught in a tapestry of sun-drunk leaves, unfurling florals, and sky. Wearing Inlé feels like waking from a beautiful dream you weren’t ready to leave. So you chase it all day, you do, just to feel it again. A skin-hugging wisp of warmth remembered not because it wants to be, but because it must. Memo, you sorcerers. This one is magic.

comes on with mint, osmanthus and iris in a strong wave of fresh summer scent launched by bergamot.after the top notes settle the heart and base work their way up so you have more iris/cedar and florals in tight balance w/ the opening. really lovely. i'd say that the citrus has a second wind in the middle moment. quite "wow". working well with humidity which is a plus and not something i've found in other tea dominant scents. the tea element is well balanced by the artemisia and iris. on me not a sweet scent -- i tend to turn other perfumes to cumin or sugar rather fast and have come to appreciate a complex blend of tart and leather notes. my preference is for iris -- neither powder nor carrot and my favorite is Mythique by del rae. i really hate white musk aka laundry detergent and have not had a wiff of that which puts this memo production way ahead of all the tom fords and several of the PG's that in fact i love and wear. i mention tom ford because santal blush was made by the same perfumer who did mythique (my favorite iris). to sum up: neither too sweet nor too tea, a fresh and compelling summer scent that lasts and lasts. i've been wearing Granada and Marfa and thought that between them i'd identified a "guerlainade" of memo w/ an orange creamsicle signature (i prefer granada to marfa, more complex w/ the jasmine). But! Inle has an extraordinary control over the so-called 'white florals' and the herbacious/iris. it is really interesting and just as wearable as Granada and Marfa for hot weather.

Classic - this is a white floral with bergamot, green tea, osmanthus, artemesia, jasmine, Star anise, iris, green leaves, mint, and a soft watery white musk. While it can be worn year round, I find it works best in spring and summer as it's a "happy and fresh" scent. Warm, but not unbearably hot temperatures suit it best. Warm nights will work, too. Where it's unique is the light hint of spice and mint. All the notes work to accent the osmanthus, including the jasmine. Imagine a cup of osmanthus tea, warm or iced, on a sunny spring afternoon, or duing a light rain shower in late May. For me, the sillage is soft to moderate. It won't knock down those in the same room, yet it lasts around 5 to 6 hours to those standing close. I don't need more than one or two sprays. The price is moderate if found outside of the Memo store. While some similar scents exist, they all miss one or two of the main notes, usually the anise or the artemesia, and the classier dry down. Many modern citrus tea scents have an artificial Febreze-like citrus, but not this. Inlé floats but never dominates. Since it has been around since 2007, you may find it at some fine fragrance discounters. The musk is softer in Inlé. I find this sophisticated enough for weddings and afternoon tea, but not stuffy at all as it will work for a brunch or a birthday!