Chapter No.1 - Where It All Began

Many of you will have come across, tested, or purchase the ZARA collections named Chapter n° 1, n° 2, and n° 3, available in the women’s department. In addition, but somewhat quietly, ZARA also launched the Chapter n° 1 men’s collection at the end of 2021, which comprises four fragrances with different olfactory families, all in the EDP concentration and in the unique 100ml format. The bottle recalls the women’s collection’s cylindrical and minimal, but is slightly shorter and thicker. These are four fragrances never released by ZARA while reflecting four more famous scents of design or niche. Let’s discover them together.

Infinite Wave - The Most Aquatic

This is the spiciest, floral, and semi-salty out of the four. A few notes are listed, which is a typical attitude for these types of ZARA scents, but I feel the dominant chords are citrus, resins, warm spices, and roots. From the get-go, Infinite Wave uncannily recalls “L’Eau d’Issey pour Homme (Eau de Toilette) | Issey Miyake”, a blend of citrus and spice, a wonderful zesty-spicy scent with an immense cloud of metallic facets. They are two drops of the same water, uncannily similar in every step. The blend of green and citrus notes makes it feel watery and blue, with slightly herbaceous and vegetal reflections. This perfume deserves to be savoured slowly and calmly, if possible. Evolution flows beautifully and is, olfactively speaking, refined.

Continue reading The Elegance Of The Hedgehog

Wild Coolness - The Most Soapy

This is the cleanest, bitter, and soapy out of the four. Zagara or orange blossom has a white floral bouquet bordering on the feminine. The soapiness of this one is definitely out of the chart. Wild Coolness is a plank of solid wood and citrus fragrance with soap and fresh touch. It isn’t a sweet scent to me and leans more on things’ clean and soapy side. Of course, it has all the characteristics of citrus fruits, but it also has a woody side that makes it different from regular cologne. If you are familiar with citrus blossoms, you will recognise some similarities with niche and designer fragrances: “Neroli Portofino (Eau de Parfum) | Tom Ford”, “Bright Neroli | Ferrari”, and “Bvlgari Man Wood Neroli | Bvlgari”, to name a few.

Continue reading Zagara, Enchanting Sicilian Scent

Tonic Impact - The Most Shocking

This is the most intricate, mutable, and surprising of the four. Tonic Impact is divisive and opens with aromatic herbs, delicious berries, and sour leaves, followed by a spicy blend of dry woods and indolic flowers, ending with a semi-sweet mossiness. It contains a fragrance full of contrasts, originality, and creativity. The first spritz will enchant you immediately, and the fruity burst does not smell like berry jam to me. It’s a lot more tart with barely any sweetness. If the opening note is intensely green and almost tart, but the dry down is warm and musky. The crowd matches this one with #Bond No. 9 NYC Bleecker Street, which I’ve never tested and cannot approve or disprove.

Continue reading The Most Intricate, Mutable, and Surprising

Radiant Bloom - The Most Enigmatic

The ZARA website describes Radiant Bloom as fresh, fruity and floral with prominent notes of bergamot, jasmine and guaiac wood. It is the most curious, exclusive and sweetest of the four fragrances in the Chapter n ° 1 collection. I love the other three, no doubt, but this one is more like something I’ve never heard before, on a par with Tonic Impact. The initial phase is semi-fresh, creamy and incredibly alcoholic. The boozy aspect of the gin-based cocktail is quite clear and direct to me. Despite its name, Radiant Bloom, in the heart, as in all other stages, I have nothing like floral notes or wood. A smoky tip rises from the bottom, warm, soft, perhaps a shade of guaiac wood, like fresh tobacco or the smell of burning leaves in winter.

Continue reading Cool Off With A Cucumber Cooler Cocktail

In my opinion, these little gems have not been appreciated as they deserve and there aren't many reviews or comments around. Have you ever come across any of them? I'm just curious about your opinion, and I'd love to read your comment.

Take care,

-Elysium