Industria Extrait de Parfum

Styrax is the quiet addition that separates Memoize London Industria Extrait de Parfum from the lighter version of the same name, and it pulls the whole base in a darker direction.

Styrax is a balsamic resin, sweet and faintly smoky with a leathery edge, and in a composition that already holds leather, guaiac wood and oud it acts as glue rather than as a soloist. Everything above it is generous. Lemon, orange and bergamot open brightly, pink pepper scratches at them, and coriander gives the first minutes a green, seedy dryness. The heart is ambitious to the point of being crowded. Rose, jasmine and neroli handle the flowers, geranium adds a green bite, saffron contributes a dry bitterness that leans towards leather, and leather, guaiac wood and oud take the composition somewhere heavier and more resinous. It is a lot, and it works because the structure keeps pushing downwards rather than sideways. By the end you are left with patchouli, cedarwood and sandalwood for the dry bones, amber and ambergris for a resinous, slightly salty warmth, tonka bean and vanilla for sweetness, musk for persistence, and the styrax holding them together. Twenty two distinct materials, which is a lot by any standard, and at extrait concentration they last. A single application will still be on a shirt collar the following day. This is a cold weather, evening and occasion fragrance, unisex in character though it tends to be bought by men.

Anyone deciding between this and the smaller eau de parfum is choosing strength and quantity rather than a different scent, and should be ready for how long it stays. Apply it before you dress rather than after, and give it twenty minutes before you judge it, because the opening is the least representative part of the wear.