This recent ZARA release, together with its 11.0 sibling, belongs to a collection issued a few years ago, originally including 7.0, 8.0, and 9.0, and soon after 6.0. In case you didn't know, the number in the name stands for the first notes in the composition, a kind of like of LeLabo naming convention. However, the truth is that there are more notes than just those listed on the bottle. According to the ingredient list and the official site, such as bergamot, leather, and cedar. 10.0 package comprises a carbon box, and the bottle is made of a satin glass of sheer Prussian blue color. It is a woody aromatic cologne, don't be fooled by the bottle color, or by the aquatic accord, cause 10.0 is everything but
Aqva pour Homme Eau de Toilette or any of its flankers. This fragrance is a delight, and I'm glad that I left my prejudices on the side and decided to give it a try.
At first, just out of the bottle, it might remind you of CD Fahrenheit. The petrol-violet vibe is screaming, similar, dominant. But after a short while, it fades away, and if you stick through it, the scent turns into its citrus, aquatic, green, spicy, and woody aspects. The opening of 10.0 comes from dry bergamot, which takes a huge backseat to the slightly sweeter mandarine accord here, and a touch of violet that brings a watery feel. Nothing earth-shattering but so excellently uplifting, happy, and fresh. To some extent, the opening shares some vibes with Aqva pour Homme, though it is not fully inspired by or a clone of it.
Things get interesting when the leather, wood, and nutmeg take over after the initial citrus blast wears off. At this point, the sporty character makes little sense to me. The leather is that parched kind most modern fragrances sporting a leather note tend to play with, but it just melds into green notes before the base comes on. At this stage, I didn't get any floral jasmine notes, yet the nutmeg shines as it often happens with L'Eau D'Issey creations.
The citrus and leather melange fold into a slight dry amber (ambroxan) note, which is livened with cedar and sandalwood and cut with some Iso E Super. They are many elements, but they don't affect the freshness nor the lightness of this scent at all. They add depth, maturity, and distinctive character to the fragrance with the very mild yet unique sweet woodiness that they add.
It is a very provocatively sensual and athletic/sporty perfume, and it exudes strength and power a lot. It reminds me of
L'Eau d'Issey pour Homme Sport, which is very similar to the original yet less floral, nevertheless, a dead ringer to it, It has a little sweetness that comes from the nutmeg and leather and not from vanilla or tonka beans but the right amount to make it very charming and not cloying. I highly recommend this to men who are in the sporty field or heading to the gym, some of the men aren't blessed to have an excellent natural musky aroma, but this perfume sure saves the day and makes your sweat become drops of sexiness that sure seems like it came off from pours of a Greek god. If you like modern, sporty scents, and you are fond of Issey Miyake l'Eau Sport, this one is a must-have, in my opinion. For right now, this was a rather nice find for me.
-Elysium
Topfpflanze3
Elysium
