Clara Molloy photographed by Sofia Dadourian  

In our Creative Directors in Perfumery Series, Clara Molloy who founded Memo Paris wrote “The name of the brand, Memo, comes from Memory. Olfaction is our most archaic sense. A fragrance can reveal you, transform you”. Mme. Molloy works in collaboration with perfumer Alienor Massenet since the brand’s inception in 2006. 

Lawrence of Arabia, 1962, directed by David Lean

The word Shams is Arabic for Sun. Released in 2011, Shams Oud is one of the ‘oudiest’ ouds I have smelled, yet there is a sense of glowing brightness permeating the fragrance brought in by  ginger at the top and cypriol (similar to papyrus) lending an earthy, leathery quality not unlike vetiver. I Inhale this fragrance and imagine Peter O’Toole as T.E. Lawrence in the movie “Lawrence of Arabia” as dawn breaks in the desolate desert. This fragrance is dry, almost desiccated, but there is a sense of another time, culture  and place.

Peter O’Toole and the ‘match’ scene

There is a pivotal scene in David Lean’s classic film, when Lawrence lights a match, his face enigmatic as he lets the flame burn and then extinguishes it with his other finger. He blows out the match and smiles, “It only hurts if you let it”. Shams Oud is exotic, difficult and for those who are looking for a run-of-the mill commercial fragrance, painful.  For the rest of us, there is pleasure, as Shams Oud is of one of the best fragrances in the  Les Echappees collection.

Contributor Sebastian Jara of the YouTube Channel Looking Feeling Smelling Great, and founder of a popular Facebook Group, reviews Shams Oud.  

Michelyn Camen, Editor in Chief

Disclosure: Shams Oud from my collection and Sebastian was given a bottle of Shams Oud; opinions are our own.

Photo by Sebastian ©

Thanks to Europerfumes the US distributor of Memo Paris for a registered  CafleureBon reader and Looking Feeling Smelling Great subscriber in the USA (if you are not sure if you are registered click here (you must register on our site or your entry will be invalid) for a 75 ml bottle of Memo Paris Shams Oud. To be eligible please leave a comment ON THIS SITE with what you enjoyed about Sebastian’s YouTube review, if you have a favorite Memo Paris fragrance and why you would like to win. Have you been in a desert or seen the movie Lawrence of Arabia? Draw closes 5/1/ 2017. You can follow us @cafleurebon @lookfeelsmellgreat on Instagram. Check out on @Offical_ europerfumes and @memo.paris

We announce the winners on our site and on our Facebook page, so Like Cafleurebon and use our RSS feed…or your dream prize will be just spilled perfume