Manoa

in the heart of the Inca country lies manoa,the city of gold.legend has it that el dorado , a young man entirely covered in gold, would carry the of springs of his people aboard a diamond studded boat once a year .he would navigate on an immaculate lake to unload these gifts on manoa,as island formed over time by the accumulation of treasures. manoa is the house of the sun, a living fruit that offers its opopnax nectar only to the most adventurous..this is what was written on the perfume pamphlet.. this smells like burnong incense from oman yemenand arabia..it smels so smokey rich and full of labednum resenis and woods ..a very pungent smokey mesmerising scent full of wonder and bliss an a million years of mystery and heritage..the perfume opens strong with all those deep mysterious notes so deep so real so full of tonka opoponax labednum and resenoids..deep rich lucious vannila gimger iris lemon and bergemont make it alive ..cypress absoult ..the whole perfume is smokey full deep rich and brown velvety true..almost like roasted coffee beans in this case roasted tonka beans there is a smell of roasting smokiness in a beautiful sweetish way not gourmand not overly dry just earthy full and divine..it sticks to your skin and develops in an imaginable ways..full of grace passion and strength under a vail of holy grail of accords that dance together under the Arabian deserts sunsets..although the perfume was inspired by the inca people yet to me it smells intensely from the 1001 nights.. its such a deep serene meditative perfume something that is still so natural and pure..i cant stop smelling my hands ..and the wonders of it keep growing more profound.. the perfume is sublime...is divine..it almost smells ambery ..it smells the thousand year old civilisations of the incas..and their mystery ..this perfume is almost heavenly it transcends you in to another realm of being...

I love this scent.loved it at first sniff actually! I totally get the "modern day Shalimar" vibe too. I'll be honest, I've never felt able to wear Shalimar. I can appreciate why people love it, it just isn't for me. It just feels too vintage, too old style for my tastes. Manoa however is perfect. It's everything I wanted to love about Shalimar brought right up to date. I love spicy oriental scents and this is everything I want in a winter oriental. It's spicy, a little sweet, deep and soothing. When I smell my wrist I find myself sighing "mmm" and smiling. I get mostly Tonka and vanilla harmonizing as the main notes and the sweetness is grounded by earthy rock rose/labdanum. It dries down a little powdery too which gives the spice a comforting, rounded quality. Manoa lasts a good 8 hours on me with quite impressive projection. People around me can smell it, yet it's subtle and you won't risk choking anyone. I ordered the sample set by Memo (which is a great buy, I was very impressed) and I have to say, Manoa is the standout. I almost can't wait for winter to wear this while cuddling up by the fire, drinking mulled wine and wearing a big fluffy jumper. I can't wait to buy a full bottle of this stuff - it's just beautiful and oozes class and quality. I love it!

Among all Memo creations, Manoa is the one which is more in my mood and therefore I like it best. The reasons can be summed up in 3 basic steps: the pleasure you feel while wearing it as luxury and simplicity goes hand in hand; the good combination together with the happy choice of the elements, the sure quality of the ingredients here employed: a glorious amber and a beautiful opoponax as the main characters of this charming pièce. An apparent simplicity that without screaming shows that a good perfume can be also made without many elements but providing only some, rightly assembled. Good longevity and lovely evolution with a zesty-lavander opening in the very beginning and after a while the massive presence of labdanum, resins and - for me - benzoin and amber. On my skin the result does not yell at the presence of vanilla, and I cannot even detect it on the paper also, being opoponax and labdanum especially rather overwhelming. Of course this would be a perfect choice during the cold season although being rather a warm day today it's still very beautiful all the same!

Manoa opens very labdanum and iris powdery and a is bit sweet. First thing to appear after the opening is lemony and citrus notes, giving a bit of freshness to the mix. The scent becomes a bit dryer from here, the resins start to develop. I still smell freshness from the citrus notes and the fir notes. The tonka and vanilla give the base a certain dry sweetness. The drydown is a sweet vanilla labdanum combined with harsh opoponax and a tiny hint of citrus on top. Sillage is soft to moderate, longevity moderate. A fresh labdanum, I didn't know it existed! Woo hoo! This is a very different take on labdanum, with the focus on the powdery resinous base with fresh citrus notes on top. Memo being Memo there's also sweet vanilla and tonka in the base which gets very strong in the drydown. I really wish the citrus would stay longer, that was so good! The iris doesn't really get out there, just the soft powderiness of it shows. An intriguing scent, I like it!

Because I spoiled by accident a half bottle :-(, I know how the fragrance smells and evolved/develops! In the beginning, the fragrance opens fresh citrus ginger, almost sharp. After a short while the fragrance is sweeter and deeper, my arm (and house..) smelled so fantastic; woody with sweet spices! In the final stage, the more woody scent and smell the labdanum with a sweet melancholy to the tonka bean and spices. It is not a liniar fragrance, not at all!! it is one of the golden MEMO treasures Its again a pitty that Memo don't answer their e-mail, otherwise it was all together perfect!