Memoirs Of A Trespasser Imaginary Authors (2012)

Memoirs Of A Trespasser by Imaginary Authors

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8.0 / 10 145 Ratings

Memoirs Of A Trespasser is a popular perfume by Imaginary Authors for women and men and was released in 2012. The scent is smoky-woody. The longevity is above-average. It is still in production.

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Perfumer

Josh Meyer

Fragrance Notes

Ambrette seed, Benzoin, Oaken barrel, Gaiac wood, Madagascan vanilla, Myrrh

Ratings

Scent

8.0 (145 Ratings)

Longevity

8.3 (123 Ratings)

Sillage

7.4 (125 Ratings)

Bottle

6.8 (112 Ratings)

Submitted by Franfan20, last update on 01.04.2020.

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Reviews

01/26/2020

6.0 7.0 8.0 8.0/10

Pollita
0 Reviews

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Pollita

Greatly helpful Review 21

I like you, I don't like you...

I'm torn between that smell. One sniff - aah, I love him. Smell again - mmm, smells funny. The comparison with Margiela's By the Fireplace is correct, but in Memoirs of a Trespasser another fragrance first came to my mind: La Fin du Monde from Etat Libre d'Orange. This one also combines delicately sweet notes with something "strange", which I can't really classify as a fragrance. With the ELDO it might be the gunpowder, here my association probably comes from the myrrh with the wood chords, which I actually like, but which here seems a bit grumpy.

Memoirs of a Trespasser starts with vanilla. A very pleasant, not too sweet vanilla, as I also know it from Eau Duelle. In the background I perceive a note that reminds me of fruit. I have no idea where it comes from, because I can't find any fruits in the pyramid of scents. The smell becomes liquory-liqueur, which I like very much. But now comes the but: This myrrh-wood-combination, which always reminds me slightly of a cold ashtray, gets to the front and starts to annoy me. But there is still the delicate vanilla, which I find so unspeakably delicious. I sway to the right, I sway to the left and I can't decide. Do I like you or are you annoying me? Do I let you move in with me or do I forget you again very quickly, since it will probably not be anything longer with us?

For me, the fragrance is neither clearly feminine nor masculine. Nevertheless, I can imagine that Memoirs of a Trespasser for Men could be a good fit if a vanilla scent is what you are looking for. Because this one can't get too sweet. Where I see Eau Duelle, although loved by many men, in principle more in a woman, I see this one more in a man. If you can with its strange note, the fragrance is a dream. I can also understand the associations with the old books and the blown out match. The ashtray note after the fierce party from the lecture, but still always resonates.

A very interesting scent, which should be given a second try. Whether you want to smell like this is something everyone has to decide for themselves. If you have the ELDO and can use it, you must also discover Memoir of a Trespasser. They go in a very similar direction. Sillage and durability are in a pleasant range. The scent adheres well without projecting too much. I like it so far.

I haven't checked it off yet. I like to sniff him too much for that. It is definitely something special!

13 Replies

05/31/2019

6.0 8.0 8.5/10

Stanze
0 Reviews

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Stanze

Helpful Review 17

In the Desert Spring library

When Philip Sava, born in 1867, completed his training as a geographer, he explored his native California. He was particularly taken with the ghost towns in Kern County. He liked the abandoned settlements so much that he wanted to make a map of the villages. He found an antique barber's chair in Big Blue Mill. He unscrewed the chair, took it to Bakersfield with a horse-drawn carriage and sold it there for 50 US dollars. That was a lot of money back then. Thereupon he drove down the ghost towns again and again to search for valuable legacies. Sometimes he would sit in the houses for hours and breathe in the dust. Dry dust. He loved to sit in the old Desert Spring library. The books smelled so good. When he took a book from the shelf, the dust rose like smoke and curled in the rays of the hot desert sun that shone through the cracks between the boards in front of the windows. Moments of happiness in which he stayed in spirit in foreign countries and experienced adventures.

Sava wrote his first work "Wood Fire and Desert Sun" in the library of Desert Spring. The book was so successful that he was able to buy a farm in Madagascar from the proceeds. He fulfilled a childhood dream with it. He hired some natives and grew vanilla.

Sava never forgot his beginnings and rebuilt Desert Spring's abandoned library on his property in Madagascar. The library inspired his imagination and the adventures he experienced there in spirit made him a rich man. His travelogues have been translated into many languages. In the USA Sava had a similar meaning as Karl May in Germany. The two also met once at a writers' congress, but didn't have much to say, since May didn't speak English and Sava didn't speak German.

In 1923 Sava went on a lecture trip to Japan. His press agency had advised him to do so, as his books broke all sales records in Japan. Sava arrived in Yokohama on 1 September 1923 and took a room in a hotel. Unfortunately, the Great Kantō Earthquake destroyed the hotel where Sava lived and the writer was killed. Similar to later Elvis and Jim Morrison, Philip Sava was said not to be dead, but to have changed profession and become a perfumer to escape his followers. If he had become a perfumer, he would have olfactorily recreated the library in the ghost town of Desert Spring and the perfume would smell like Memoirs Of A Trespasser.

8 Replies

09/13/2018

7.0 10.0 8.5/10

Kafumi
0 Reviews

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Kafumi

Greatly helpful Review 13

Shh! Quietly!

When I sprayed this scent from the test on my arm, I had no expectations at all. I hadn't read any reviews and didn't know anything about the background story, which is always the basis of the concept for the I.A. fragrances.
So I sprayed the scent, put my nose to my arm and had to stay the same for 2-3 minutes. So far no fragrance has managed to put such a specific image into my head. A musty, gloomy room with a shop in front of the windows, next to the door some boxes, otherwise shelves full of ancient books. You sit on a dusty chair and open one of the books and go close to the sides with your nose.
I'm honestly excited about what I.A. created here. I have often read fairy-tale comments about some dream trips people have experienced when they smelled perfumes, but every time I smelled them, it was more like "meeh", but well. But this time I can't help but have this vivid association before my eyes. Really crazy.
The more the fragrance dries, the more the dusty shelves, bookcases and musty carpets soft and what remains is a dark, greasy vanilla. But no vanilla with the water in your mouth but a (if you can say so) serious vanilla.
Whether the fragrance is now particularly wearable, everyone must agree with himself. Think about it on colder days. What is certain for me is that he is an experience that I will not soon forget.

3 Replies

07/15/2016

7.0 7.0 9.5/10

Fluxit
19 Reviews

Fluxit

Helpful Review 4

A familiar Trespasser

You know this feeling when a scent SPEAKS to you, its name, its concept, its notes ... and you know that you want it? After long searches for a test specimen of this (in Germany) rare fragrance, I finally - after having asked a parfumo member from Norway - got my hands on one, only to find out that the glass sample got crushed in the unpadded envelope on its rough journey. I was crushed, too ;)
At least, it had been packed into a small plastic bag that inclosed the valuable liquid. So I couldn't be sure if I had missed any head or other note here. But another thing happened: Since the fastener of the bag didn't close tightly, the scent sneaked out, spreading around my desk and surrounding me over the course of days. A trespasser, true to its name. But it seemed familar, rather a bodyguard or old friend than a disturbing contemporary. Thus, he shared my work environment at home and even after a week and longer, I kept this companion as a friend, even though I usually react irritated to a permanent display of any fragrance. This is a quality not to be underestimated!

My vanilla reference is Eau Duelle, which comes with a smokey background as well. Both I appreciate because they frame my beloved vanilla in a mature and non-feminine way. However, Memoirs of a Trespasser is way rougher than Eau Duelle, edgier. Beautifully charred, dry oak plays with unsweet vanilla, dark wooden chips on the white body of the intruder, who silently wears his cape of smoke over his soft heart. Like this, he stands beside me, not a dodgy housebreaker, but a trusted attendant who admits to have come uncalled, only with the intention to guard and protect you.

Some months later, I managed to get an original sample, so I could investigate the fragrance over its whole lifetime. Admittedly, the first sourly fermented minutes don't appeal to me, but it's just a tiny downside compared to the fabulous upcoming hours, a mere 0.5 deduction from a perfect score.

On a side note: I have ordered a flacon and it's on its way now. In the process, I've been talking quite a bit with Josh as the scent creator. I expected him to be a busy business man - and maybe he is - but his mails shine with modesty, curiosity and friendliness. Another positive layer added to this already fantastic indie scent!

05/02/2013

7.5 7.5 10.0/10

Coutureguru
223 Reviews

Coutureguru

Very helpful Review 9

The best of the bunch ...

I left reviewing Memoirs for last as it is my favorite fragrance from Imaginary Authors, I like this one even more than I like Violet Disguise.

Memoirs of a Trespasser is a smoky, woodsy incense that veers in the direction of an Amber (my passion du jour for some reason!) and contains all of the things I like very much. The Myrrh is dry and a touch mysterious, the Benzoin incensy and reminiscent of faraway places. Slightly boozy woods create the 'lived in' aura of a paneled library, a personal space containing a myriad of memories.
The combination of slightly musky Ambrette in the top and faintly spicy Vanilla in the base is just wonderful ... conjuring images of comfort and gentlemanly erudition ... the idea that all the experiences and adventures of the vast outside world can be brought to one place to enjoy.
Once again, I find a certain homo eroticism in the title of this fragrance (a very 70's notion inspired by reading too much gay literature from that period) ... but that's just the idea that "I'd like to cuddle up in his sweater smelling like this while he is away" manifesting. Absurdly romantic and a touch maudlin, but there it is.
'Memoirs' is only slightly sweet, but I'd warrant that a few of the gals could pull this one off beautifully too. Personally, I find it leaning more masculine, which is strange because I don't really believe in gender-ising fragrance. There's just something about this one that makes me think of a very handsome author I once knew ...

Number one on my list of purchases from this house ... I have thoroughly enjoyed testing and reviewing Mr. Meyers' fragrances. A great concept, with some truly good fragrances to back it up!

4 Replies

01/06/2013

7.5 10.0 6.0/10

Silverfire
130 Reviews

Silverfire

Helpful Review 7

Memoirs, Yes; Trespasser, No.

Memoirs… goes on as a lit cigar plunged into vanilla ice cream, which works better than it sounds. The vanilla ice cream hangs around in the background as the cigar qualities fade into to a sweet tobacco. It's heavier, sweeter, and smokier than your usual tobacco / vanilla scent. And the projection is generous but not floor-invading. Ok, you've got my attention!

In the first hour, the smokiness of the tobacco makes out with the benzoin, which then borrows the clothes of vanilla. The scent is no longer as smoky nor as sweet as it once was; the benzoin takes it in a different direction. Benzoin imparts a feeling of high class, like you're in a high-class fridge or a fridge in a high-class house. Wait. No, you're definitely in a ballroom with a chandelier refracting light in many different ways. There's definitely an impression of elegance, riches, and formality at this point. (As an aside, this is the best benzoin that I've experienced. It's sweet and has a little bit of a citrus tang to it. Usually benzoin makes me nauseous, but not here.)

In the later stages, the benzoin turns sweeter from the vanilla, but the acridness of the smoke or tobacco keeps it from being foody, and the projection slowly decreases until it reaches the foot range. After that, a tinge of musky spice infects the vanilla. What remains is a foody vanilla with occasional whiffs of the past, be it smoke, tobacco, spice, or musk.

Now that I've reached the end of this olfactory journey, I'm not sure that the scent exactly fits the name. I don't feel that I was a trespasser. I feel like a rough-around-the-edges gentleman who somehow gets invited to upscale parties. Now both are out of place, but trespassing suggests more secrecy, danger, and criminal intent. The Memoirs part of the name works better; the scent imparts a sense of progression through time, as though you were living another life in stages. The beginning captures a man in his 20's, and the middle part, his 40's-50's, and the end, an elderly man recollecting prior times.

Memoirs.. wields benzoin and vanilla (both notes I dislike) so that even I can enjoy them, especially around the 2-4 hour mark. Whether that's quality components, or skillful perfumery, or both, quality results. The 13+ hour longevity is nothing to sneeze at, either. If you enjoy vanilla, or if you're looking for something gentlemanly but a little off the beaten path, try this.

3 Replies

11/03/2012

7.5 7.5 6.0/10

Franfan20
58 Reviews

Franfan20

Helpful Review 6

Bestseller

Philip Sava was a master of writing. He knew how to write novels that take the reade into a fantasy world like no other. He incorporated pieces of his own life into his work. He was an adventurer, a rogue, a daredevil. There is hardly any place in the world he hasn't been to, but nonetheless he had also a domestic side. He loved to return home from his long travels, relaxing in his armchair and revive the feeling of "Home Sweet Home" while drinking a glass of cognac by the open fire. His home of choice was madagascar. Philip loved the isolation on the island, the tropical surrounding, the nature, but it was the scent of madagascar vanilla he loved the most. The aroma reminded him of something special. That's what's reflected in "Memoirs Of A Trespasser" as well. The scent doesn't point out a specific episode of the novel, it rather deals with that feeling of Philip being home again in his comfort zone. A very spicy vanilla opening goes right into the nose. It's accentuated by smoke and wood - madagascar vanilla in combination with the woody aroma of the oak barrels that house Sava's beloved cognac and the guaiacwood walls of his house. A certain resin note does come out as well although not very dominant. It's a cozy scent for the colder days of the year. It reminds me somehow of the gourmand spiciness of "Bloody Orange" by Alice & Peter, but without the carrot note. However this smoky-spicy vanilla flavor is very similar, like a cupcake fresh out the oven. Sava's novels were bestsellers of their time because of his extraordinary writing style. The same applies to "Memoirs Of A Trespasser" as Josh Meyer - the creator of the brand - told me. I'm curious to see what other creative things will come out of his mind. His scents give enough room for interpretation to create an own world of fiction. So the goal of the concept is reached.