Marfa by Memo Paris

It’s a floral scent loaded with neroli and ylang-ylang, quite dense, and smells great… but it feels too feminine for me.

It’s a neroli floral with a slightly tropical vibe, mixed with that yellow facet of ylang-ylang in the top and heart, over a softer, heavily vanilla-based floral base. It’s a feminine scent; at first, it’s dense and opulent, so I’d wear it more in spring or summer evenings (not for intense heat). Lasts over 8 hours on skin with moderate projection and sillage. I liked it quite a bit, though it’s not my favorite neroli.

I tried Memo Paris Marfa and upon application a green and vanilla note hit me; it felt exquisite elegant and feminine—something I’d never smelled before. Over time the scent became familiar so I went to Fragrantica to confirm the notes and indeed they match. I checked the ‘reminds me of’ section to identify that known scent and although I don’t know how the voted examples smell I deduced that the dry-down smells like Olympea by Paco Rabanne. Fragrantica confirmed that others felt the same. They’re not the same but I feel Marfa belongs to the same infinite line as Olympea; they seem to share a very similar DNA. I recommend it highly—it’s exquisite—but I would have preferred it not to resemble Olympea so much at the end because its opening is too original to end up in something as commercial as Paco Rabanne fragrances and given the price I expected something more distinct.

I have a discovery set of Memo with 8 fragrances from the house. Marfa was one of my favorites. It has very potent and present neroli throughout the entire development. Creamy sweet neroli with a citrus touch in the opening. It’s a bomb in terms of longevity and projection. I didn’t buy it because I already have so many sweet neroli perfumes and on my skin the dry-down reminded me of My Way Le Parfum so I didn’t feel the need to own Marfa when I already have a nearly full bottle of G. Armani. However I highly recommend Marfa if you’re starting your Memo collection and looking for a potent medium-creamy sweet white floral. If you’re on TikTok I invite you to check out my reviews @estefybonham

A wonderful perfume. Basically, it smells like neroli—a sweet and creamy fragrance. It’s very comfortable and pleasant; I feel great when I wear it. It’s enchanting. Lasts about 7-8 hours on my skin, and I notice the projection is high.

I already suspected it smelled like another fragrance, and after six months, I see it’s quite similar to The Only One Intense by D&G, just less sweet and more green.

When I first applied it, the opening wasn’t like other fragrances that hit me like a slap; I liked it immediately, feeling sweet with fruity touches, that rich mandarin, a real treat. As it developed, I found it exquisite: a blend of sweetness, florals, and that wood note that gives it strength, without losing the citrus charm mixed with the sweetness. For me, it’s a daytime scent, perfect for warm but not extremely hot days. I really like it; it has good sillage and decent longevity, fixes well, and lasts all day. It’s always good to buy samples; remember, not everyone has the same taste.

Marfa is a milky and creamy interpretation of neroli. It’s not excessively original certainly but it’s not mass-produced and it’s warm and easy to wear. Although at first I wasn’t too keen on its top notes—seems like the house’s signature is to design sharp aggressive opening notes like a hysterical scream—after a few minutes on the skin that rough dominant growl of the beginning softens making way for soft less aggressive white and yellow floral notes slightly sweetened by those fruity and fresh agave notes which give it a certain lightness. It creates a beautiful and balanced composition yet with character. Like a leopard roaring with all its ferocity and then calming down after catching its prey. There’s no listed coconut but it’s like it’s trying to break through weakly from the rear. It’s a note I can’t stand because it’s so common and poorly executed but in this case it’s neither intrusive nor annoying. I’d highlight its versatility for almost any season although I can also imagine it might get tiring in summer. Thanks to the neroli and vanilla it holds up well in cold weather although I don’t think it performs notably at night. It doesn’t have a projection to die for and the longevity is moderate. I find it quite more feminine than masculine but perhaps it would be interesting to see it on a man. There are certain flowers in perfumery that are extremely difficult to recreate with mastery: gardenia rose neroli… the latter develops in a very different way than in other perfumes that also contain it: Narcotic V. Fracas Carnal Flower and at a much more modest level Gucci Bloom or Scandal among others. For me Marfa is halfway between the skill of Germaine Cellier and more seasoned than any of Jean Paul Gaultier’s one-hundred-thousandth flanker. The question is to figure out if at the price it has right now it’s an interesting purchase knowing it’s stuck in an intermediate limbo…