Sintra by Memo Paris

I tried it out of curiosity and was pleasantly surprised. It opens green and citrusy with a hint of sweetness and cinnamon. As it dries, neroli takes over with a base of caramel and milk. It reminds me of other neroli scents but with a gourmand twist. It’s very feminine and original, but I reserve it for cold weather; in the heat, it’s suffocating. Note: it stains clothes red, so use it only on skin.

At first, we took time to get to know each other, but now I truly love Sintra. It’s sweet, orange, caramelised, and milky. It opens green but evolves quickly, leaving the sweet notes as the protagonist. Try it on your skin before buying. At some point, it smells like dulce de leche and people give me crazy compliments. I call it ‘the Orange White Latte’. It works brilliantly when layered with another perfume.

I’d been wanting it for years and it was worth it. It’s perfect for temperate climates; I use it all year round in the north. I fell in love with the memories: when I was little, I had a set of gummies that smelled exactly like this: green and citrusy neroli with a sweet base and milky touch, it smells like gummies. That memory made me buy it. It’s playful, youthful, light yet powerful, bubbly, and makes me smile. I don’t like the opening, but I adore the dry down. The magic of memories is the best. **EDIT:** My opinion has changed. Now it disgusts me immensely. It’s too heavy for summer and in winter I don’t want to smell like gummies. I can’t see a future for it and I’ve grown to dislike it. I’m selling it. If anyone wants it, write to me. I do shipping. Also, it’s very feminine.

Oops, I did it again. I’d say it’s in the Britney style… and here I am buying blindly once more. Thanks to a brilliant seller who sent me a sample to smell without opening, because it definitely DIDN’T SUIT ME. The quality is excellent, the scent is unconventional and might suit you if you want to stand out, but on my skin the green notes overpowered everything. The dry down is wonderful, but I can’t beat the opening and the intermediate phase where the green and resinous notes are very potent. It’s similar to Love Don’t Be Shy but with a green note present that lowers as it dries but remains. Definitely don’t buy blindly. Now I’m looking for what to replace this with because Sintra isn’t for me 🙁

I bought a decant because I liked its similarity to Kilian’s LDBS and that profile. The opening had lots of bergamot and red fruits, I loved it, but the problem came when it dried. As it settled, the resins dominated and it smelled like hot fruit juice (?), I can’t explain it better. Once it smelled good, sweet and citrusy with a caramel touch; another time it smelled like stale juice. I’d never experienced this before. Mixed feelings. Finally, I didn’t like how it settled on my skin. I learned a lesson: buy decants and test on skin, because perfumes don’t suit everyone equally. What a pity, because the perfume itself I liked.

This perfume has three very distinct phases: an initial half-hour to an hour with a very sweet and acidic neroli that projects for miles. As it settles, the acidity drops and a lovely orange blossom appears, blending with a gourmand, powdery scent of clouds with milk and vanilla. It’s of very good quality and lasted until the next day. I would categorise it as citrus for all seasons except scorching summer, feminine and multifunctional. Due to its strong trail, I don’t recommend it in enclosed spaces without using it with great moderation. It won’t suit those who dislike ethyl maltol. It’s in the line of Love Don’t Be Shy or Classique Cabaret, although with differences. If you already have one of those, I don’t think it’s worth buying. I’ve liked it very much, but as I already have the Cabaret, I’ll wait to finish it before deciding between Sintra and LDBS. Pleasant: 8/10, Interesting: 5/10, Versatile: 9/10, Original: 3/10.

While it recalls Love Don’t Be Shy, its opening is much greener; for me, the neroli and petit grain notes make it ideal and very wearable on sunny days.

Be careful! At first, the petit grain is so strong it drowns out everything else. After 10 minutes on my skin, it turns sweet and powdery with jasmine, neroli, and vanilla. Watch out, it has an enormous trail and lasts about six hours. Best to try it several times on skin and wait for it to evolve.

What a lovely perfume! Totally addictive, I love it. ☺️🙌🏻

It was on my list to try but it didn’t quite convince me 🙁 It started off more green and citrusy, but as it developed I couldn’t quite tell what it smelled like. I didn’t detect the ingredients, just a fruity scent with something milky… but in a bad way, like old curdled milk. Scent 5/10, originality 8/10.

Mixed feelings. The opening and dry-down are worlds apart. Advice: don’t buy it blindly or straight after testing it. The first time I was surprised: a citrus, green, even bitter opening, with a petit grain that didn’t thrill me. After 20-30 minutes the acidity drops and the sweet floral notes rise. Here, orange blossom reigns, slightly lactonic, mixed with a cloud (or marshmallow) of vanilla. I don’t detect the resinous or spicy touch. Summary: I don’t like the opening, but I do like the dry-down. I admit it’s nothing novel. Regarding performance, I was a little disappointed; I read incredible reviews about longevity and projection, but on me it lasts 6-8 hours with moderate projection only for the first 2 or 3 hours. Nothing extraordinary. Compared to ‘Love Don’t Be Shy’, they are similar but not identical; this one is less sweet and I think it has better performance for less price. I haven’t tried ‘Oriana’, but it seems to follow the same line. I’m keen to try ‘Neroli Blanc Intense’, which is also compared. I love the dry-down, but nowadays I’m not sure if I would buy it. There are many others on my wishlist.