Hello everyone, and welcome to another Singaporean article! On this shiok Sunday, I’m reviewing a couple of room fragrances from local fragrance label, Singapore Memories.
Given that everyone (including me) is stuck at home, I thought it would be a good idea to do a review on some room fragrances! If you’re indoors all day, it’s paramount that your home smells nice and fresh. Singapore Memories kindly sent me some of their best-sellers for review – let’s check them out!
Singapore Memories – the Brand
I’ve previously covered Singapore Memories as a brand in my review of their perfumes. If you haven’t already yet done so, do read the article here!
1) Night@Safari
The first is Night@Safari, which is a special scent dedicated to nocturnal orchids.
According to Singapore Memories, Night@Safari is crafted with “a combination of Asian therapeutic Orchids™ notes , Singaporean Woods, and rare Native Orchids of Singapore and dash of soft Ozonic Air.” It’s a very sweet scent – I can’t think of any other phrase to describe this other than heavily perfumed. Unfortunately, I’m not a fan of this, as it smells almost cloyingly sweet. The scent does become milder and more palatable over time, but Night@Safari unfortunately still won’t be my choice to perfume my room – unless you want your room to smell like a mythical forest!
2) Arab Street
The second room fragrance we are looking at is Arab Street.
Singapore Memories states that Arab Street contains “Jasmine, Champaka Flowers, Amber, Myrrh, Frankincense & Sandalwood,” and “a dash of Oud”. As compared to Night@Safari, I prefer Arab Street a lot more. Arab Street (the actual street, not the fragrance) is a location with complex aromatic history, as merchants used to peddle scents and spices along the street. The Arab Street fragrances capture that exotic scent perfectly. It’s a scent that has many layers – there’s the sweetness of Jasmine and Champaka, a smoky/leathery smell due to the usage of Amber, Myrrh and Frankincense, all tied together by the underlying woodiness from Sandalwood and Oud. I’m not sure I want my room to smell like Arab Street, but as a scent, it’s definitely very interesting.
3) Botanical Garden
For those lazy to jog in the park, don’t fret – Botanical Garden immediately transports you there.
Meant to evoke the scent of freshly cut grass in the morning, the Botanical Garden uses some of our native orchids such as “Aquatic submerged Ginger, Lipstick Plant, Jarum Jarum, Wax flower” and other orchids. I know I said ION is my pick out of the lot, but Botanical Garden has to be a close second. Singapore Memories states that Botanical Garden is meant to capture the smell of plants in the morning, and it really does an accurate job of doing so. Strangely enough, it reminds me of my time in BMT – smelling the freshly cut grass and trees of Tekong in the wee hours of the morning, on my march to the cookhouse. By itself, it’s actually quite a nice scent, and it would definitely be my pick of a morning room fragrance.
4) Peranakan House
Peranakan is a culture renowned for their cuisine, with a strong history of unique smells.
For those uninitiated, Peranakan refers to Straits-born people of Chinese and Malay/Indonesian heritage. Renowned for their cuisine, Peranakan also has a deep history when it comes to scents. Here, Peranakan House smells just like Peranakan cuisine – spicy. There’s a lot of spicy notes in there, underlined by woody base notes. It really smells like an Ayam Buah Keluak dish. Peranakan House is a very interesting scent – probably the most intriguing scent out of the lot – if you’re sure that you want your room to smell like Peranakan food!
5) I Love Singapore
Lastly, I Love Singapore is Singapore Memories’ tribute to our little red dot.
To pay homage to our garden city, Singapore Memories uses two types of Singaporean orchids in the fragrance, Foxtail Orchid and Pigeon Orchid. Other notes used to balance this composition are Mimose, rich Leather, fresh leaves and Oak. To be honest, I didn’t expect much from this fragrance – the name sounds a little basic, for a lack of a better adjective. However, I’m actually pleasantly surprised by its complexity. The fragrance blends the freshness of the Orchids well with the woody, muskier scents of rich Leather and Oak. It smells like a hybrid of the aforementioned Arab Street and Botanical Garden. I think that Singapore Memories is spot on here. In their description for I Love Singapore, the brand stated that they wanted to pay homage to Singapore’s status as both a clean and green city, as well as a food haven. I think both are effectively conveyed in the fragrance, so kudos to Singapore Memories for pulling this off!
Conclusion – so Singapore Memories “shiok” or not?
If you find yourself missing your favourite haunts during this extended circuit breaker, Singapore Memories’ room fragrances present a unique way to bring the scent of the outdoors into your home. There’s plenty of other room fragrances too – some of the more interesting ones include Singapore Sling, Tai Tai’s House, and Jewel. Personally, I think that some work better as room fragrances than others, but nevertheless all have impressed me thus far with their accurate depiction of the location they were inspired by.
For more information on Singapore Memories’ perfumes, do check out my review of them here. Update: A curation of my favourite Singapore Memories perfumes can also be purchased on The Shiok Shop.
View the full range of Singapore Memories’ products here.
P.S Do check out the new “Discounts!” page for exclusive discounts for Wahsoshiok readers! More brands will be added very soon – stay tuned!
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P.S.S.S Shiok is a common word Singaporeans use to express admiration or approval. As of 2016, you can find the definition of the word in the Oxford English Dictionary.
