I acquired the Abu Dhabi Memo Paris perfume from a friend who had blindly bought it and didn’t like it. He had heard that it was similar to Plum Japonais by Tom Ford, but on his skin, it had a different scent. The funny thing is, I told him to sample it first since I have a few samples of it, but like the stubborn guy he is, he refused. I ended up buying it from him for a good deal because I really enjoy it. As for him learning a lesson not sure. 🤷🏽

Gave Noir by Aaron Terence Hughes a full wear today to see how it behaves from opening to drydown. First spray: ~11:02 a.m. Opening: Right away this opens spicy and warm, with black pepper and saffron leading the charge. There’s a soft sweetness underneath, and everything feels very rounded and well blended. I expected tobacco from the note breakdown, but I didn’t really get it in the opening. ~35–40 minutes in (around 11:39 a.m.): At this stage the fragrance turns noticeably sweeter, likely from the vanilla absolute. The saffron and cardamom are more prominent now, and the whole thing feels smooth and polished. Still not picking up tobacco, but the scent is pleasant and well composed. Projection and intensity are both solid here. Mid wear (around 3:07 p.m.): A few hours in, this settles into a clean, sweet vanilla profile. The spice has softened and the fragrance feels calm and refined. Nothing sharp or challenging at this point. It’s easy to wear and sits nicely on the skin. Final drydown (around 5:48 p.m.): By this point, it’s been a skin scent for a while, but I can still smell it up close even after almost 7 hours. Performance is actually pretty good overall. The drydown is sweet in a vanilla sense, with a smooth base. I never really got anything funky or animalic from the oud. If anything, the oud here feels dry and very restrained, if it’s noticeable at all. Overall: Noir is a sweet, smooth, well-blended fragrance with solid longevity. It’s not loud or aggressive, but it wears comfortably all day. I didn’t get the tobacco or any heavy animalic oud, but the vanilla and spice combination works really well for me. For my taste, this one is full-bottle worthy.