Roma
Laura Biagiotti (1988)

Roma is Shalimar's grown grandchild in a bathing suit, licking a cool and refreshing set of creamsicles, grapefruit and orange blossom flavored, washing them down with a bergamot mojito while a breeze brings windswept, sandy carnations and beach roses. It's a mouthwatering, astringent summer jouissance of an amber, offering up an enveloping sunset glow of myrrh and vanilla with just the slightest carnal tang deep within.

It makes me wish I could drink it like it was something along the lines of an Aperol Spritz, all vibrant orange and bubbly, and with the smoothest form of intoxication. It makes me fantasize about a holiday in Rome I never had; cruising down the Amalfi Coast on a Vespa. It makes me want to own a condo with a deck overlooking an ocean, to recline languorously, wearing linen pants and listening to Swing Out Sister or Basia, losing sense of time.

Somewhere, in a distant galaxy, there may be aliens that smell like this.
An abstract bouquet of myrrh and orange flower; Roma is an avant-garde classic that - even after three decades - is still ahead of it's time.

Love it, smells so nice

I finally got around to purchasing this. It has been on my radar since the early 90's. Why it took so long is beyond me. It is everything I'd hoped for, in a fragrance from the 80's.

Very well orchestrated. It is a genius combination of notes. Rich, full-bodied like a fine cognac. A libation for the soul of a goddess!

To me, no ingredient over-powers another. A classic "oriental".

The initial notes of Roma are quite on the sweet-creamy side; ylang, vanilla, a hint of fruits, a balsamic-resinous breeze (myrrh, apparently: basically an Oriental spicy-incense-resin smell like olibanum), a minty note, heliotrope, delicate and aromatic citrus notes, aldehydes, supported by an earthy-animalic velvety base, refined and understated, which gives just a tiny touch of "animalic" à la Jicky but quite soft and hiding like a shadow behind a cloud of silky spicy soapiness. As minutes pass it darkens becoming smokier and more resinous, the balsamic incense is now more prominent together with woods and patchouli, always surrounded by a sweet talc creaminess of ylang, flowers and sandalwood. So in short it's all about flowers, resins, woods, quite on the sweet-bright side despite some interesting darker corners. Undoubtedly a pleasant scent, simple, friendly and elegant (not that sophisticated, though), versatile and iconic – you smelled this everywhere some fifteen years ago in the streets of Italy. The drydown is dry and unexpectedly more greenish, almost grassy and a tad metallic. It may sound weird, but given the similarity of the notes, it almost resembles to Zino Davidoff or Guerlain Héritage's "blond sister". Good and easy-going.

7,5-8/10

As Barbara Herman describes this, "a sweet spicy floriental, a combo of Shalimar with amber and black currant."

Quite accurate - a sumptuous oriental from the late 1980s. The currant, vanilla civet and amber add depth to the tried and true formula that spawned Shalimar and Emeraude.

Top notes: Bergamot, Pink Grapefruit, Black Currant, Mint
Heart notes: Jasmine, Rose, Muguet
Base notes: Sandalwood, Vanilla, Amber, Musk, Patchouli, Oakmoss, Civet

Quite excellent.