The Beginning

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My love for perfume came unconsciously at an early age. Having spent much of my early childhood on the Adriatic coast, I got to experience all sorts of wonderful aromas associated with the region. The warm breeze carrying the smell of the salty sea, sun scorched Aleppo pine needles, brightly coloured and fragrant oleander flowers, and powdery mimosa trees, just to name a few. This sparked an interest that would follow me throughout my life, and almost every memory I have is in some way associated with scents.

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In the mid to late 90’s I was introduced to the wonderful and the not so wonderful world of commercial perfumery. It started with smelling and stealing sprays of my brother’s perfumes and over time evolved into borderline addiction. My collection grew immensely, but I felt that a large number of the perfumes were made with no real passion, only a catchy top note to grab the customer’s attention. Same recycled formulas, only slightly tweaked and reproduced under a different name and bottle. That’s not to say that there aren’t many great designer fragrances - there are, but few and far between. I then began to drift off into the truly wonderful world of niche and independent perfumery. That is when I truly noticed the passion and creativity perfumers have when they are not limited to fitting the agenda of the large corporation.

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The Journey

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About seven years ago I had an idea. I wanted to see if I could create my very own perfume. I thought to myself, “How hard can it be?” I bought some cheap essential oils from a seller on craigslist and I started to mix them drop by drop until I got…mud. It didn’t smell good at all. This moment of utter disappointment let me down the rabbit hole. I started reading books on perfumery, studied GCMS analysis reports of plants and flowers, joined endless forums to connect with like-minded people and smelled everything I could get my nose on. I realized that this is a journey that takes time, patience and money. I had the passion but I needed to invest in high quality materials and proper lab equipment. Over time, the number of materials grew to over 400. Each one studied carefully and eventually blended together to create something special.

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The Idea

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Momento Perfumery was born on the principles of the yin and yang. Pairing opposites to create balance. Blending notes of hot and cold, light and heavy, vintage and futuristic to create something harmonious and timeless. This is also reflected in our logo. Two heads of the Dioscuri were fitting, as I was born under the star sign of Gemini. One head inverted to reflect balance and harmony as a whole.

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Our perfumes are all eau de parfum concentrations (16-20%) made with high quality essential oils, absolutes, CO2 extractions, tinctures and aroma molecules, blended in high grade SD40 perfumer’s alcohol.

To me, scent does not have a gender. A scent is a feeling and a memory of a moment in time. Momento perfumes are unisex and designed to be enjoyed by everyone.

Every cap we make is handmade in-house and unique to your bottle of perfume. Every bottle is hand filled, labeled, packed and shipped with care and attention. Even our packaging is handmade in-house :)