Moon Fever

I know that perfumery is a subjective thing and everybody has their tastes, but honestly the passion with which some reviewers trash fragrances is unbelievable, especially when they seem oblivious to the fact they may need to consider whether their skin's pH is actually the problem. I've smelled many great fragrances on friends and colleagues and tried the same ones over and over at the perfumeries only to be disappointed at the way they smelled on me. To confirm it wasn't my nose causing the issue, I'd ask friends if they'd recommend I buy a bottle of whatever I had tried, and they too would agree that I shouldn't. Anyway...I was given a sample of this and I'd not even heard of the brand, but I tried it and loved it. While it may not be the most complex fragrance described on Fragrantica, I encourage you to try it. I've worn a couple of spritzes from the sample four times already and I've been complimented by men AND women who wanted to know where they could buy it. So I love it, and apparently many others do too. Remember, if a perfume doesn't WOW you the way it did when you smelled it on someone else, the problem may be you, or the person lied to you so they could keep their fragrance a secret (not that I'd do such a thing). :)

I’m only stopping by out of sheer necessity to correct the blatant falsehood regarding the performance described in the second-to-last review: Memo’s Moon Fever does not perform for 15 minutes and then vanish after 3 hours... please let’s not twist such an important aspect for visitors to the website. While it’s true that we are currently living in dark times when it comes to poor performance—which seems to have become a trend across many brands and segments—here we have a citrus fragrance, slightly sweet thanks to its high-quality tonka, that delivers more than decent performance for what it is. No one should expect 18 hours of longevity with 8 hours of projection, but let’s also not put out false ideas worthy of someone who either didn’t actually test the fragrance and just wants to throw hate around, or has the skin of a mummy from the 4th millennium BC.

Bursting with all the citruses, this perfume starts out so energetically, bringing with it a rush of happy vibes. It’s a truly juicy citrus explosion of sweetness and freshness and the feel of sunny days and blue skies. This beautiful beginning stage then segues into an equally nice gentle florals bit supported by the sweetest, friendliest vetiver ever. The florals include orange blossom and primrose, and they just add a layer of gauzy florality to the sweet vetiver, they don’t really announce themselves as Floral with a capital F. These notes are at the perfume’s heart, and the dry down continues this heart but adds some creamy tonka and a gentle leather. This lasts at least 8 hours on the skin and is a fragrance I would call a crowd pleaser- I really can’t imagine anyone taking against it. It’s very universally likeable. It brings no drama, and would be a reliable reach for all those days you need to wear something for yourself and everyone else too.

Amazing for the 15 minutes you can smell it. Moon Fever is a great citrus-white florals scent, and I love the small hint of tonka bean sweetness supporting it, I had no idea tonka could work so well in a scent profile like this. Memo sample cards include a listing with all the notes in the fragrance and they always put the most prominent ones in bold, the leather accord and vetiver being among them for Moon Fever, but to be honest I don't really get any of them here, the lemon, verbena and neroli are far more prominent. Performance is really disappointing and it lets down what's otherwise a great fragrance. Projection and sillage start off moderate at best but mellow out to near nonexistent after about 15-20 minutes. After that this becomes a skin scent until it fades almost entirely 3 hours later.

After a juicy citrus opening, Moon Fever smells of lemon verbena and tonka, with a slight "generic men’s cologne" accord layered underneath. I'm not sure which note creates that effect here. The tonka is sweet but sheer, rather than a dense, chewy gourmand. I really enjoy the verbena here - it makes me want to search for more scents that revolve around that note. Moon Fever is definitely a compliment getter. It's somewhat simple and uncomplicated but it's a good "smell good" scent for the days when weird niche scents can be a bit too much. Unisex. Good projection and longevity. Like.