04 Wish You Were Here

You're drinking a warm cup of almond flavored coffee as you gaze out your window to watch the morning rain fall. I found WYWH at my local Marshalls for 12.99 USD, and the notes of summer rain/ petrichor, toasted almonds, and fresh ground coffee listed on its box intrigued me enough to purchase the perfume. I was not disappointed. To me, it's more of a gourmand fragrance than an aquatic one. My nose can smell WYWH's coffee and almond note, and it's quite photorealistic of how actual cup of almond flavored coffee smells like. I do get the rain notes, but just barely. The scent of petrichor is very much in the background as a platform for the coffee and almond to stand out. But the scent of petrichor is not invisible, it's what gives WYWH its rainy day effect. I can't drink coffee for health reasons so WYWH has a special place in my heart for allowing me to experience the delights of coffee without having to drink coffee.

I took a chance on this fragrance when I saw it on Mercari for a good price (less than $20). The note of Petrichor really intrigued me, as I love the smell of rain, or the smell just before it rains. When it arrived, I wasn't sure what to make of it cause it smelled kinda odd from the atomizer but then I sprayed it and OMG....what a delicious experience. I can immediately detect the Petrichor or rain note, mixed in with some coffee. The almond gives it a sweetness that makes this a straight up female fragrance IMO. I don't find this to be unisex at all. Imagine sitting at an opened window, rain pouring outside, with an open book on your lap and a coffee in your hand. That's exactly what this fragrance invokes for me. I love it and could not believe I had found such a gem. I'm getting a backup bottle before I can't find it again. I believe it's on Fragrance net right now. So good!

my bf thinks it smells like chocolate. I love the coffee scent and it's balanced well by the aquatics. definitely makes me think of rain, but the rain notes are NOT straight petrichor or realistic to me. But its a beautiful suggestion of a coffee shop on a bright but cloudy rainy day- you know the kinds where the clouds are white instead of grey. Raindrops on windowpanes, reminds me of when my mom and i would get starbucks hot chocolate in 40 degree rainy weather and drive around town or go on a trip. Definitely my signature scent until I run out. feels melancholic yet optimistic.

When I first got this I did not like it. It was very warm and sweet, but none of the notes stood out to me. I certainly wasn't getting the coffee scent. Perhaps it needed to sit for a while, or perhaps I just needed to develop a better nose for picking out notes. Either way, I love it now. The coffee is present but not overpowering, and it balances well with the rain notes. The almond is very subtle. Reminds me of the store where my dad bought his coffee when I was a kid. Craving chocolate covered coffee beans.

it is interesting to see many people comment on the lack of coffee smell, because it was one of the first notes i noticed when i got this perfume! I do work in a coffee shop though, so i may just be able to recognize the subtle scent. personally, i really enjoyed this perfume. It has a warm yet clean smell that isn't too overbearing. I got a sample of this perfume with a bunch of others, and was definitely one of my favourites among them.

I love this! I tried it and bought a full bottle after a week of wearing the sample I had. It's so fresh and clean. It smells like rain with a little bit of earthiness and sweetness from the almonds, don't get a lot of the coffee beans. I actually reapply it once I get home from work so I can smell it throughout the evening. Unisex, not overwhelming, absolutely refreshing!

very melancholic, bittersweet scent. reminds me of looking outside on your birthday only to see that there's a thunderstorm and you have to cancel all of your plans. i don't get any coffee from this scent, but the bitter almond and petrichor is very prominent to me! probably one of my favorite fragrances :)

Purchased this as a blind buy and I am so happy I did. It's so perfectly unisex but without any of the awful 'i smell like metal, pain and crushed black ice' scents a lot of male-targeted things have. It's a little sweet but mostly salty, green coffee bean and a little melancholy.

This is mostly sweet smelling to me with well-blended notes. It does smell really good and I keep getting pleasant whiffs for several hours. this has grown on me a lot and is really nice on a mild day. Cozy

Bought this for my boyfriend and I LOVE it. It smells exactly like a coffee shop on a rainy day. Perfection! If you like Rochas Man, this has similar a masculine/coffee theme.

Honestly, “wish you were here” are my thoughts on the alleged coffee note in this perfume - I don’t get any coffee at all, which is a real bummer. The idea behind this blend is beautiful and I was expecting a beautiful atmospheric scent, but it definitely falls short of my expectations in that regard. That’s my fault for having such lofty expectations! Ignoring that, this has actually grown on me the longer I wear it. The drydown is cozy and sweet, overwhelmingly almond without being too foody. The rain bit is not at all an accurate petrichor, or even anything that reads as rain to my nose to be honest, it’s more of a soft clean laundry/linen smell that occasionally veers into hairspray territory, especially when it’s wet, but it’s worth sitting through that to get to the final drydown. I’m not sure how else to describe it. This one is weird. It’s not at all drinking coffee in a cafe next to a rainy window for me, which is what I was hoping for, but the almond note is the clear star of the show for me and it’s surprisingly addictive and comforting. Just adding my contradictory review to the pile! Everyone really does smell something different with this one.

What a soft/unique yet familiar scent. I would have never thought to pair gourmand/warm notes with aquatic ones. I found this for a great deal at Marshall's here in the US. Saw the notes on the packaging and figured I'd blind buy this. I must say, the combination of the notes are surprisingly nice. Allows it to be a unique enough addition to the aquatic musk family. On my skin/to my nose it reminded me both Commodity Rain & Clean Reserve Rain just with a gourmand twist. I get the grinded coffee note more at the beginning, and then as time goes by it softens to a nice aquatic skin musk with an almost almond latte undertone to keep it lightly sweetened. Overall, an easy fragrance to wear during the day. I think possibly all year even.

very interesting mix of fresh and...not fresh. these are not notes/accords I would ever think to put together, but somehow they (barely) work here. the aquatic/rainy notes stand out most all the way through, and as the fragrance progresses the coffee and almond start to shine more. this being said, it is still pretty linear and there's not that much development in the scent. the coffee is black, and the almonds here are roasted; it's not that kind of gourmand, cherry-lotiony almond. somehow, this scent does impart the feeling of melancholy its name would imply. it's fleeting, though, and doesn't last forever, but I think that's a good thing here. this is definitely an underrated cheapie for those who want to smell unique.

When first spraying this smells like Nautica Blue, but a few seconds later you start to sense the true fragrance. To me this dries down as stale coffee, definitely a fresh almond croissant, and a smell almost like inside a parking garage. The funny thing is I'm kinda here for it lol. It's melancholy. I don't get rainy day vibes from it though (not really "wet"). I think like moonkin said, layering it with Demeter's Thunderstorm would really make it into a rainy afternoon outside a cafe. Taking it as it is, I think this is a good scent for a cloudy/rainy summer or autumn day.

My first impression was an immediate, strong petrichor + moss; but it was simultaneously gentle and beautiful. More of a summer rain than a storm. The coffee notes are very subtle but bring out the best of the rainy notes. It dries down very soft into a mossy almond scent. Not overly aquatic in the way that it is in no way salty or super fresh. Not strong in terms of longevity and sillage, but definitely something that you could wear for many occasions! I don't have a scent like this yet so I'm glad I have it as it's unique!

There are lots of scents that claim to be "blueberry muffin," but this is absolutely it. I don't get a ton of distinct coffee, but the bready-ness that comes through with the fruit notes gives the pastry effect. I also don't get a ton of uniquely aquatic notes, and yet somehow the scent feels like you're wearing wet, musty clothes. In a good way! Like you just got home from being surprised by the rain and there's a warm coziness waiting for you. It has pretty good lasting power, and the sillage is good.

I got this as a sample and it is my first Memoire Archives scent. It was a very surprising that I liked it with only three notes, and one of them being rain. It reminds me of my mother's house (she uses wax melts in almost every room of the house, and it reminds me of a brown sugar, really rich one of those). This fragrance does exactly what it is supposed to do: make you feel like you are studying in a cafe on a rainy day. The almond note is also very nice on the dry down; makes for a sweet finish.

This is an interesting smell to me. I think it smells like someone's cool girlfriend who goes rock-climbing and buys local, whole bean, coffee. She's vegan. She volunteers at the animal shelter. It is a very strong scent initially, though I think it settles. I think it reads more feminine, but leaning toward androgyny. Suitable for chapstick lesbians or fem-leaning enbies, or maybe a man who wears cardigans and doesn't raise his voice.

An odd first hit of melon. Not a syrupy honeydew but more of a refreshing fresh cut scent. For me, the coffee notes do not come through very strong but the rain is very prominent which makes sense for its pyramid. I wear this when its a foggy night and I have to work. Makes me feel as if I am in Silent Hill.

Odd but I liked it! The coffee is fairly understated, which is what makes this fragrance work. The coffee is actually quite reminiscent of wet dirt, which gives this fragrance a "sipping a hot drink in an open doorway while watching rain pour down outside" vibe. The more I smell it, the more it grows on me.

Apparently this scent is a wild card that varies a lot with the skin. For me the opening is an earthy scent, rounded and warm. Then a clean, aquatic bite. Maybe a bit of the almonds in the dry down, but I can't detect coffee at all. A bit musky. It smells like stepping out after a hard rain in summer.

this scent is good but it’s not what i was looking for. you get the coffee and almond notes at first — but it very quickly turns into a clean and fresh plant scent. not the cozy, warm coffee rain smell i was looking for, will probably gift it to a friend.

Nutty, coffee smell with a hint of petrichor. Very intimate, but sweet and smells almost like marzipan and a warm cup of coffee. Not smelling many aquatic notes in this, but definitely more sweet and gourmand with an open window to listen to the rain.

At first, all I could smell was cucumber & green banana peel! It dries down nicely, very soft & clean. Doesn't last at all. If I smell the sprayer, I get a hint of vanilla but not much gourmand...no coffee or almond really.

This is a hidden gem! Nothing like it in my 600 bottle collection. Love it! Hard to describe but intoxicating. Almond coffee heaven! Comforting and cozying scent. Just overspray as performance is lacking.

This smells very aquatic. It doesn't really smell like coffee or almonds at all. It smells like rain and like "clean." Like fancy soap. It kind of just smells like the idea of perfume (but my nose isn't very mature yet tbh). The petrichor is pretty solid. Definitely a day-time summer/spring scent. Medium to low sillage. I haven't been wearing it for very long but I'm assuming it's a medium to low longevity. It's not very overpowering and doesn't give me a headache. People are saying that it smells melancholy but I'm not sure if I'm really getting that. Maybe if I was in a more melancholy mood I would get it.

I think it definitely is what it says it is. I get a lot of the rain with coffee very much in the background. I was personally disappointed because I expected more warmth from coffee and almond. It feels very cold and distant to me. More like standing outside in the rain watching your ex and his new girlfriend on a coffee date than sitting inside yourself, sipping coffee and reading a good book while it rains outside.

coffee and rain notes dont really go well on the skin together but arent bad either?? it smells a lot better from the bottle. i think that this perfume needs some sweetness! i wear this to bed and layer it with the “vanilla cafe” body spray from bath and body works, which really helps it by making it sweeter. this perfume isnt bad, its just missing something. it might just be my skin though

Very conflicted about this one. I don't normally go for anything aquatic but I was lured by the supposed coffee notes. I don't get any coffee from this, maybe some almond or cashmere but sadly no coffee. The dry down left me with a very ozone or petrichor scent that I'm not sure I can pull off. It also has no real reach, becoming a skin scent very quickly on me.

Manly. The rain note is the only thing I smell, and it smells just like a man's cologne- when I can even smell it. The scent is gone within an hour. It seems that all Memoire fragrances have extremely poor longevity though, as nearly each one I've tried has faded to nothing.

Starts with the most beautiful rain notes but then turns into kinda of woody and calming scent. Unique. I do smell coffee a lot in the drydown . I enjoy this Edit: can be nauseating with heat or long wear. Hate the lingering coffee note.. it gets annoying and sharp

One of their weakest scents, it disappears on me rather quickly. I tend to use it fresh out of the shower as a result. It's more of a temporary refreshment as opposed to being a fragrance.

Smells like a mix of a rain scented candle and a vanilla latte scented candle, which oddly works for me, but then it gets very animalic which I'm not a fan of

I got this in a gift box set at Walmart with the lotion. The perfume itself i was excited for since it has notes I usually like! Aquatics, coffee and almond.. it sounded interesting. Although together in this fragrance.. its not really that pleasant, although definitely a unique one. I was expecting the scent of someone drinking coffee by the windowsill, where the window is open and there is an ocean breeze outside. However, what I got on me was an opening of very bitter, sharp coffee, and it was.. pretty bad. I dont really know what petrichor smells like but I dont think i like it, at least in this fragrance. It settled down after 15 minutes and was a lot less bitter, but the scent itself is not likeable. Also i dont know if im just noseblind by now but I can barely smell it on my arm anymore. Anyway right now, ( still 15 minutes after ) is actually not that bad but i think its because i can barely smell it LOL. im 90 percent not gonna keep this one as i have other things in my collection i would much rather wear. its a shame, i really wanted to like this one!!!

i really wanted to love this, and on paper i would. i love coffee scents, and i love clean reserve rain, which has been noted as similarly rainy and ozonic. i think the rain opening in this is nice (fairly similar to clean reserve, a bit sweeter and more feminine), but everything after that is disappointing for me. it’s likely my nose and my skin chemistry, but this smells overpoweringly like almond amaretto to me, to a point where it’s nauseating. i don’t particularly like this on paper or my skin. the coffee note is barely there to me, but when it does show up it’s not pleasant. i did end up returning this. the one thing that did make me hesitate was that i really loved the packaging for this. it’s aesthetically gorgeous, but that’s not enough for me to keep something in my collection that i won’t use. :( i would not consider this to be safe for a blind buy, and to get a sample if possible to test out how it wears on you! (unfortunately this was not an option for me)

never been more disappointed about a scent. i was so drawn by the scent notes on the back: toasted almonds, petrichor, ground coffee.... i find myself only smelling that harsh, alcoholic perfume topnote (yes, even after drydown and time to fade) masquerading as a "petrichor/summer rain". some call it aquatic here, and maybe it is. but i just can't get over how much it makes me smell like that horrific overbearing smell you have when you pass by a fragrance store. it's honestly unpleasant to keep on. the toasted almonds/coffee is nonexistant. there's this idea of maybe a sweet gourmand scent in the background, but it really is just not there, and you'd have to be REALLY sniffin' for it to know it would be there. unless you have people willing to get that close despite the 'old woman perfume' smell, it's just going to smell like any discount perfume you could probably get.

This perfume is one of the weirder ones I have smelled in recent memory. It does smell of almond and roast coffee but the petrichor note is the one that throws you. It’s not the fresh rain on hot rock type of gorgeous petrichor. It’s more like the moist mud from the earth soaked by intense summer rains. On me this is the note that’s most prominent and it almost becomes a sour note. On my friend, she got more of the almond and coffee and it was sweet. Definitely a strange scent. Try it if you are into weird and different category of perfumes. Not very long-lasting.

I like this scent. However, I had a terrible experience with it. Something about it triggered a migraine, and I've never had that happen before. I even tried washing it off and going to bed, and it was still on me when I woke up in the morning. Nonetheless, I will try it another day before I gift it to a friend to see if it was just a one-time thing, but I'm reluctant to do so.

Wish you were here? Wish you would go away! This smelled like straight up urine on my skin. Not the ammonia scent but that sticky sort of sweet smell of old urine. Bleck! No thanks. Quickly washed it off and will give away.

I was intrigued by the coffee notes but all I get is campfire smoke on my skin. The dry down is better but I can't get past the opening notes

The brand's story behind this fragrance intrigued me. Per their website: "The coffee is running through a grinder, warm biscotti are placed on the cafe’s counter, a low melody plays on the patio speakers, while warm rain trickles down the striped umbrella you sit under looking out onto the cobblestone streets." Unfortunately, the actual fragrance doesn't measure up. It is a blast of headache-inducing watery notes, with some small signs of coffee in the background. I don't want to deter others from testing this, though, because it could be an interesting and unique scent to some, plus you can find it for a great price. For me, though, the fantasy outweighed the actual scent.

I got this on clearance at TJ Maxx in a set from Memoire. This was my least favorite of the four. I am not a coffee fan, and this definitely has coffee. (I am weirdly sensitive to coffee smells, so that may have something to do with it.) It was honestly so bad. I get what they were going for here, but it was unsuccessful. I ended up trading this with a friend, so I'm hoping they enjoy it. I will say it isn't the worst scent ever, and it isn't even the worst coffee fragrance ever, but I don't recommend it for a blind buy.

I'm hoping I received a bad bottle because this is simply unbearable. Opens with the same waft of smell you get when someone who recently finished a cigarette walks by you and dries down into a dusty mess. Gave me an instant headache and went directly to the trash. Shame since I really liked both 01 and 03 by this house.

Horrible! Nauseating smell, makes bile rise in my throat. I think the rain notes are fighting with the almond and the coffee is not warm lovely coffee. It’s strong black old man coffee left in a cup for a day. This is a sad day in a bottle. Better name is “Wish I Weren’t Here”.

super sweet coffee and cloying shampoo. the rain note has no transparency, the coffee smells like one of those starbucks frappuccinos in the glass bottle, so no depth or warmth either. just disappointing for me, personally.

I don't know if I just have a bad batch, but I am not getting any of the sweet nutty notes or even just coffee notes. This just smells burnt and bitter. Getting rid of this bottle.

Gave me a headache and feel nauseous. It sounded perfect by the notes, but just wasn't that. It smelled just like the almond overly sweet smell. I didn't get the other notes.

WOW. Instant headache. The weird coffee and aquatic combo punched me in the nostrils. Super masculine leaning slightly soapy nauseating scent. I won't be wearing this again.

Strong coffee or chocolate I hate this one

Consider me impressed. But not sold. Let me explain.... I love the idea of petrichor, and have smelled 'the real deal' from India. It smells of dirt and air and timelessness. This, however, is the aroma chemical 'calone', used for marine and aquatic notes. It is fantastic on many and does a fine job of strengthening and lengthening scent on skin. That said, it hates my skin. So perhaps this is why (for me) longevity was excellent! As for the scent itself, 'Wish You Were Here' evokes an old-world European city and has appealing packaging. I was drawn in and captivated immediately by the likeable 'cafe' quality and soft sweetness. So lovely - and (to me) smelling like a simpler, thinner, less-sweet cousin of Dussita's marvelous 'La Rhapsodie Noire'. Unbelievable! As that scent is said to conjure up images of Paris, how truly apropos indeed. However, after these glorious notes announce themselves, the 'calone' begins to clamor for attention. It is now a rather manly scent if still potentially unisex, and most of the amazing top notes greatly subdued. Still, I would almost call this and Dussita's scent a his and hers kind of pairing, with me wishing the he in the room would Please Go Away! Would I buy this for a calone-lover? Absolutely - it's tremendous at this price point in terms of an olfactive journey, and bound to smell good on anyone who enjoys aquatics. Walmart is currently carrying a true Memoire bargain - body sprays and gifts sets alike. Recommended.