Best Love Memoir by Iman Alternatives & Similar Perfumes

Madagasgar’s threatened forests are home to some of the most intoxicating plants in the world. Including vanilla. Which smells loads better than a lemur.

But we’re not talking about ice cream or a shot of vanilla goo in a skinny latte. No, this is naked vanilla packed with luxurious orchid warmth. Blended with the best Madagascar has to offer including ylang oil, vetiver,violet, musk, jasmine and cloves.

Think of this it as an ecosystem in a bottle; a hug from mother earth. You get the picture.

Almaz, the Arabic word for diamonds, are renowned not only for their beauty, but also for their timelessness as they withstand millions of years of immense pressure in their formation. This EdP references the indestructible nature of diamonds with a powerful blackcurrant-led bouquet. Juiciness is enhanced with raspberry, while powdery heliotrope and musk add padding to the cushiony feel. The ambered base, redolent with vanilla and brown sugar, offsets blackcurrant’s tartness.
 
The jewelled bottle incorporates a poem composed by Elen Jeres Ayoub, portrayed in Eastern Kufic calligraphy. The words have been meticulously placed so that the vertical lines create eight zones on the bottle, representing the lunar phases in each lunar calendar month to represent the passage of time.

The seasons and their times
And pressures and their effects,
Bear Diamonds as their fruit.
-Elen Jeres Ayoub

A passionate declaration of love written in ink and blood. The scent opens on a dark, almost smoky red rose, pierced with crimson sparks. Metallic aldehydes emerge, adding tension and intensity. Dense magnolia adds a sweaty sweetness. The opoponax warms and deepens the whole, leaving a profound, mysterious signature.

The never-ending war between what you “should” do and what you want to do. Where being loyal to your dreams and desires clashes with societal expectations. Well, here’s where the conflict ends. Inner War is an amber carnival of too-muchness, a stop at the candy floss stand, a ravenous kiss on the big wheel. This extrait is a billowing cloud of talcum powder and almond, suggesting delicate heliotrope. Curling like tendrils into the air is a phantom, licorice-like anise, adding freshness and subtle weirdness. Rose supplies the syrupy “mmmmm” that glues together ambroxan, vanilla and patchouli.

A dream of childhood summer days. You’re in a garden, familiar and unfamiliar, looking into the kitchen of a house where your mother makes jam with fresh-picked berries. There’s a rose bush with a magical cat underneath, its dense fur filled with your favourite toys. A sublime aroma of tart blackcurrant and rhubarb, sweet lychee and magnolia, along with woody amber ferries you off to a dreamlike world, brimming with enchantment at every corner. You don’t want to wake up.

Perfumer: Julia Rodriguez Pastor

A perfume celebrating the legendary Damask rose, and its travel across ancient empires along the Silk Route. The formula is a complex tale of the rose's journey through souks filled with fantastic fruit and precious spices, mixing with sea breezes to encompass the Mediterranean.

Delulu is a soft-focus dream sequence in oversaturated colours, swirling across a soundtrack of shoegaze and nineties/noughties indie.This particular sequence follows childhood into adolescence: a favourite toy, a pack of crayons, a melted sweet in your jeans pocket, a bite of berry pie, a long sunny day doing nothing. There’s fizzy cedrat and the salty-fresh friction of tart rhubarb against rooty vetiver. Like all dreams, things get weird: a niff of rosy plastic and smoky incense. Yesterday is a place you can never visit again, but it’s still an escape from tomorrow. That’s Delulu.

Delulu bottle caps are hand made from memories, specifically a nostalgic jumble of plastic beach toys captured in epoxy resin.

Master perfumer
David Chieze

Perfumer: Chris Maurice

Sensual, refined and compelling this fruity rose opens with crisp, succulent green apple blended with spicy pink pepper and lush blackcurrant. A honeyed bouquet of jasmine and tuberose enriches the delectable pink rose for a sophisticated effect. The tenacious golden base of amber, musk and vanilla indulges the floral fruits for a bold and amplified diffusion. 

Light, sand, dreams of faraway places. This creamy tropical floral is built around insinuating jasmine sambac and tiare, fleshed out with coconut and vanilla. A sun lotion accord conjures bare skin gleaming on the beach, while sandalwood lends comfortable milkiness.