• About
  • Login to comment
    • Bluesky
    • RSS
    • Twitter

Now Smell This

a blog about perfume

Menu ▼
  • Perfume Reviews
  • New Perfumes
  • Archives

Fragrance review: Memory of Kindness by CB I Hate Perfume

Posted by Robin on 12 April 2006 26 Comments

tomato

Memory of Kindness is one of the latest fragrance releases from CB I Hate Perfume. It was inspired by a childhood memory of crawling under a tangle of tomato vines, and the notes are fresh tomato leaves, green tomato vines and garden earth.

This is a must try for green fragrance lovers, especially those of you who adore the scent of tomato leaf. It captures their distinctive bitter-green herbal aroma perfectly. The fragrance is very sunny and bright, and to my nose has a distinct citrusy undertone although there are no citrus notes included. Add the smell of dirt warming in the sun, and you have the whole picture: the tomato garden in early summer. Simple, cheerful, and just right for this time of year.

Memory of Kindness is available in perfume oil ($60 for 15 ml) or in a water-based spray formula ($60 for 100 ml).

Other fragrances with tomato leaf: Donna Karan DKNY Woman, Lorenzo Villoresi Yerbamate, Annick Goutal Folavril (please comment if you can add to the list!)

Other CB I Hate Perfume reviews: Mr Hulot's Holiday & Russian Caravan Tea, Just Breathe, Burning Leaves & Gathering Apples

Off-topic: raise your hand if you are a resident of the United States and you haven't finished your taxes! I did my Federal taxes last month, but haven't even started on the State & Local. If you don't see a perfume review here tomorrow, it means I didn't get them done.

Note: image is tomato [cropped] by Lawrence in Houston at flickr; some rights reserved.

Possibly of interest

Illuminum Tomato Leaf ~ fragrance review
Annick Goutal Folavril ~ fragrance review

Filed Under: perfume talk
Tagged With: cb i hate perfume, green, tomato leaf

Advertisement


26 Comments

Leave a comment, or read more about commenting at Now Smell This. Here's our privacy policy, and a handy emoticon chart.

  1. Anonymous says:
    12 April 2006 at 4:45 pm

    I WANT! =)… and thanks for pointing out that tomato leaf is in DKNY Woman, that must be the enticing note!

    Log in to Reply
  2. Anonymous says:
    12 April 2006 at 4:46 pm

    BTW… I've been waiting ALL day for your review =)

    Log in to Reply
  3. Anonymous says:
    12 April 2006 at 5:29 pm

    Tomato leaf! Who woulda thunk it? I'm clearly out of the loop these days, as far as stuff they put into perfs goes ;D.

    Log in to Reply
  4. Anonymous says:
    12 April 2006 at 5:31 pm

    Sorry I am so slow 🙂

    I really need to go try the DKNY again, I had forgotten about the tomato leaf, and I do love that smell.

    Log in to Reply
  5. Anonymous says:
    12 April 2006 at 5:32 pm

    L, Annick Goutal Folavril has been around since 1981, so I guess it is not a new thing, and would imagine there are lots of other tomato leaf fragrances I don't know about. Nobody tells me nothing either 😉

    Log in to Reply
  6. Anonymous says:
    12 April 2006 at 6:10 pm

    R, how different is it from the Yerbamate (which I like very much, but which is much more expensive)?

    Log in to Reply
  7. Anonymous says:
    12 April 2006 at 6:38 pm

    Very different. MoK is much less sweet, and has none of the smoke or powder of the Yerbamate. A simpler scent, and for me at least, much more wearable — I admire Yerbamate greatly but it is rare that I can wear something with that much powder.

    Log in to Reply
  8. Anonymous says:
    12 April 2006 at 8:03 pm

    Lovely review, R! For me the smell of tomato(-leaf) brings back fond memories of the house, and particularly the garden, I used to live in. “Dirt warming in the sun” is such a beautiful association only a true lover of nature can have! Still, I'm not sure I'd actually wear something smelling of tomato seeing as the only tomato(-leaf)-based frag I tried, Lacoste's Essential, did nothing for me. Perhaps I just like eating them (tomatos, naturally :-)) rather than wearing them. Oh, well. Cheers!

    Log in to Reply
  9. Anonymous says:
    12 April 2006 at 10:01 pm

    His story reminds me of my dog. Which, uh, sounds dumb, but my little dog loves creeping through my father's tomato plant jungle as well, and since he's only half a dog tall, sometimes we just lose him in there for a whole afternoon.

    This sounds just wonderful and fun. I love that dirty/clean smell of a big plot of tomatoes. Wonderful review, R, thanks.

    Log in to Reply
  10. Anonymous says:
    13 April 2006 at 8:51 am

    Thanks for adding Lacoste Essential to the list — I haven't smelled it yet & will have to do so.

    Log in to Reply
  11. Anonymous says:
    13 April 2006 at 9:59 am

    Sounds amazing, I will have to try it from Scent Systems in London.

    Eau de Campagne from Sisley has tomato leaf too, if I remember correctly.

    Log in to Reply
  12. Anonymous says:
    13 April 2006 at 10:36 am

    Another great fragrance I forgot, thanks B!

    Log in to Reply
  13. Anonymous says:
    13 April 2006 at 3:50 pm

    Sounds lovely, I adore green fragrances.

    Log in to Reply
  14. Anonymous says:
    13 April 2006 at 5:20 pm

    Me too, and there aren't enough of them.

    Log in to Reply
  15. Anonymous says:
    13 April 2006 at 5:35 pm

    Interesting! I sometimes layer Demeter Dirt and Tomato (which to me is all leaf, no fruit) so I wonder how Memory of Kindness would compare to that combo? I'll definitely try to check this one out!

    Log in to Reply
  16. Anonymous says:
    14 April 2006 at 8:42 am

    Hey, Robin…. I keep poking around on the website, trying to decide what to order. I'm thinking MoK, Mr. Hulot… is the Beach sufficiently unusual? What else do you think is interesting? Have you tried the Black March? (I think it sounds wonderful…) I'm not so interested in the single scents. Other recommendations? Thanks.

    Log in to Reply
  17. Anonymous says:
    14 April 2006 at 10:45 am

    I have not smelled Demeter Tomato, but if it is all leaf would guess the end result would be similar, although the dirt in MoK is subtle. You'll end up with something much longer lasting than Demeter, though!

    Log in to Reply
  18. Anonymous says:
    14 April 2006 at 10:48 am

    M, so sorry that I still haven't tried Black March. I can't keep up this spring: too many scents, too little time. But will try to do so this weekend.

    Yes, MoK & Mr Hulot, and Burning Leaves if the idea appeals to you. If you adore green, also CB93, and if you love tea, Russian Caravan tea (which is probably still my overall favorite from the line). The Beach thing really captures the coppertone perfectly, but since I don't love that smell, I prefer Mr Hulot.

    I am still making up my mind about the Tea/Rose, but have seen nice reports elsewhere so it is worth a try.

    Log in to Reply
  19. Anonymous says:
    14 April 2006 at 1:14 pm

    Robin, thanks! I think I will get all your recommendations. I'd forgotten about the leaves. Tea is, well, my cup of tea. Of course I need to buy some more samples like I need a third eye. (although I could use another arm for more fragrance testing space….)

    Log in to Reply
  20. Anonymous says:
    14 April 2006 at 1:19 pm

    M, am absolutely overwhelmed with samples myself at the moment. Can't keep up.

    Next time you get to NY, do go visit the shop…you'd be surprised at how much fun some of the individual accords are. Great place to spend a couple of hours sniffing.

    Log in to Reply
  21. Anonymous says:
    14 April 2006 at 9:06 pm

    I have you to thank (blame?) for the trouble I got into today at Art With Flowers. As if I needed more stuff… I love that place, the closest I'll get to NY anytime soon. Thanks! Will be giving you props in an upcoming post.

    Log in to Reply
  22. Anonymous says:
    14 April 2006 at 9:39 pm

    Ooooh, can't wait to hear what you bought!!

    Log in to Reply
  23. Anonymous says:
    22 April 2006 at 10:25 am

    thank you robin for the lovely review! very much appreciated here!

    just to give a little background, i first ran across sisley's eau de campagne back in my kiehl days when i opened the company's counter at bergdorf's. the beautiful tomato leaf note in the sisley cologne immediately caught my attention – i planked out my 75 dollars which at the time was rather a lot for a bottle of scent…

    unfortunately for me the scent did not wear well on my skin – the tomato leaf fled in short order and i was left with a dreadful pong reminiscent of cheap drugstore cologne. don't get me wrong – it's not a bad scent it just turns terribly wrong on me! people actually asked what i was wearing and not in a good way – so as much as i LOVED the tomato note i had to give up wearing it. that began my quest into perfume.

    when i began to make perfume on my own, my first mission was to capture that particular scent – my memory of tomato plants. that's what i'd hoped fresh water would be – unfortunately at the time my resources were extremely limited and i had to compromise on something that was good but not exactly what i wanted… well that's life – a constantly evolving process.

    since last july, i've spent a great deal of time perfecting that “tomato” note and now, 13 years later, i finally managed to get it exactly right – i'm extremely pleased and proud of Memory of Kindness if i say so myself. there is a great deal of work contained in that bottle . also the notes i created for it are almost entirely “real”…

    Memory of Kindness is a minimal perfume even for me – yet within its seeming simplicity lies an enormous complexity. as massimo vignelli wrote “minimalism is about distilling the essence of form”. that's what this perfume does for me – it distills the essence of one shining moment that i gladly revisit whenever i happen to sniff the simple scent of tomatoes…

    best wishes

    cb

    Log in to Reply
  24. Anonymous says:
    22 April 2006 at 2:39 pm

    CB, thanks so much for sharing the background of the fragrance!

    Log in to Reply
  25. Anonymous says:
    5 May 2007 at 10:32 pm

    Demeter's Tomato was my first intro to the scent. I loved it and later found CB's earlier version of “Memory” which I'll probably finish this summer (oh boy, an excuse to go buy Memory!). Demeter's Tomato is still great, but of course, doesn't last long. I like keeping it in a desk drawer to perk up stuffy afternoons in the office. CB has another – “In The Kitchen” that is simlarly fresh and garden-ey. Might buy that too!

    Log in to Reply
  26. Anonymous says:
    6 May 2007 at 9:00 am

    I liked “In the Kitchen” too! And Black March, and Russian Caravan tea. It is a really great line.

    Log in to Reply

Leave a reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Advertisement

Search

Recent reviews

Atelier Cologne Love Osmanthus
Moschino Toy Boy
Arquiste Misfit
Diptyque Eau Capitale
Zoologist Bee
Parfum d’Empire Immortelle Corse
Comme des Garcons Series 10 Clash
Frédéric Malle Rose & Cuir
L’Artisan Parfumeur Le Chant de Camargue
Yves Saint Laurent Grain de Poudre
Régime des Fleurs Chloë Sevigny Little Flower
Chanel 1957
Gallivant Los Angeles
Amouage Portrayal Woman

Blogroll

Bois de Jasmin
Grain de Musc
Perfume Posse
The Non-Blonde
More blogs...

Perfumista lists

100 fragrances every perfumista should try
And 25 more fragrances every perfumista should smell
50 masculine fragrances every perfumista should try
26 vintage fragrances every perfumista should try
25 rose fragrances every perfumista should try
11 Cheap Perfumes Beauty Outsiders Love

Favorite posts

The Great Perfume Reduction Plan
Why I Love Old School Chypres
New to perfume and want to learn more?
How to make fragrance last through the day
Fragrance concentrations: sorting it all out
On reformulations, or why your favorite perfume doesn’t smell like it used to
How to get fragrance samples
Perfume for Life: How Long Will Your Fragrance Collection Last?

Upcoming

List of upcoming Friday projects

15 March ~ swapmeet

3 April ~ damage poll
26 April ~ splitmeet

3 May ~ spring reading poll
17 May ~ Haiku challenge!

 

Back to Top

Home
Archives
About Now Smell This :: Privacy Policy
Perfume Reviews
New Perfumes
General Perfume Articles
The Monday Mail

Glossary of Perfume Terms
Perfume FAQ
Perfume Books

Noses ~ Perfumers A-E :: F-K :: L-S :: T-Z

Perfume Houses A-B :: C :: D-E :: F-G
H-J :: K-L :: M :: N-O :: P :: Q-R :: S
T :: U-Z

Copyright © 2005-2025 Now Smell This. All rights reserved.