Scent of the weekend - 10 Corso Como

This weekend I wore 10 Corso Como, consecutive days. It isn't often that I do this, but it is testament to how good a fragrance 10CC really is. 

I had a look back over my blog, and see that I've mentioned 10CC in passing on at least six occasions, perhaps more, yet have never written about it in any depth.

Named after the address of a Milanese fashion house, 10CC used to be the rage on the perfume boards, but it seems to be mentioned far less often these days, unless I'm just not reading the relevant posts. I think this is a shame, as 10CC is a very good perfume indeed. Luckyscent lists it as being more feminine than masculine, but to my nose, this perfume is as genderless as you can find. The notes include sandalwood, frankincense, musk, rose, geranium, vetiver and what is described as rare Malay oud wood oil. Now, considering all I have read recently (and knew, mostly) about how rare it actually is to find any perfume containing genuine oud, I am not sure how rare and genuine the Malay oud oil is in 10CC. Not that it really matters, mind you. I have to be honest and state that I don't detect an oud accord in 10CC, but that isn't to say it's not there.

In a nutshell, 10CC smells like a very smooth, sophisticated blend of sandalwood and incense. I know the notes list geranium, rose and musk, but for most of the life of this perfume, it plays out as very woody, with very little floralness about it. When I first used to wear 10CC, I found that it smelled very quiet, a skin scent. It's strange how olfactory perceptions change over time (bearing in mind my recent post on Guerlain's SDV) because today 10CC smells quite prominent on my skin. I would never call it a loud fragrance though - it is very smooth and classy. 

I love 10CC because it contains both a lovely sandalwood and an incense accord, two of my favourite notes. I find that sandalwood and frankincense go very well together anyway, considering the long use of sandalwood in incense and they combine to create a very calming and peaceful perfume.

If you haven't tried 10CC before, I would strongly recommend trying to find a sample. I read a few months ago that some people think the formulation has changed and that it doesn't smell the same or as good anymore. I couldn't vouch for that, as I've only ever tried one source of it, but to me it smells fantastic as it is.

Image credit - http://fimgs.net/

Profumum Roma Olibanum

A few months ago I went on a bit of an incense rampage and really sampled quite a few incense-focused perfumes, including Olibanum, by Profumum. I think I'm naturally drawn to incense, having always loved its smell, even as a small boy, when I most associated it with church ceremonies. I love the contemplative nature of incense, and the sense of history one gets when considering it's varied uses over the centuries and its versatility and incarnations. Profumum is not a line I am familiar with. In fact Olibanum is the only one I've tried and often when reading reviews of their fragrances I am surprised at the often negative reviews of many in the line. Anyway, the listed notes include incense, myrrh, orange blossom and sandalwood. The opening of Olibanum is unusual (at least to me) in that it doesn't seem to pair the usual tart citrus notes with incense. In fact, until I had read what the notes were, I couldn't quite make out what was paired with the incense. There is a sweetness to the opening which I couldn't pin down, but now of course I realise that it is orange blossom. I must admit that I didn't find the opening particularly enticing. It was rather nondescript to me, but thankfully, the heart onwards became rather more alluring. As the sandalwood creeps in, the fragrance becomes woodier and creamy, which combined with the slightly smoky (but by no means churchy or gothic) incense is a nice, if fairly well-charted route. Think 10 Corso Como for example, which to my nose is the most comparable. Nothing wrong with that. If anything, I would say that Olibanum is perhaps a bit more intense that 10 Corso Como, with more of an incense presence. The second half of the development works really well on my skin and I must say that I ended up liking Olibanum rather a lot. I wouldn't say it is particularly daring or innovative, but it smells darn nice and that is surely what counts? I don't detect a huge myrrh presence, but I must admit that myrrh is not a note that I'm very familiar with and I'm sure it is in here, somehow complementing the incense and sandalwood, but not in a manner that I can readily identify and comprehend.

Olibanum is, I think, perfectly unisex, particularly with the creamy sandalwood note and I think any fan of incense perfumes would most probably enjoy it very much. If you already like 10 Corso Como but perhaps find it a bit too restrained, then I would recommend giving Olibanum a go, as it seemed very much like a more intense version of a similar theme.

Image credit: Luckyscent.com

Montale Greyland and Les Nez Let Me Play the Lion

I've had samples of Greyland and LMPTL for ages. I've always found them to be quite similar fragrances, so thought I would do a side-by-side review of the two today. The notes for Greyland are cedar, teak, sandalwood, pepper, elemi, cardamom, musk, benzoin and rock rose while those for LMPTL are sandalwood, cedar, incense and spices. As you can see, the notes are similar and the key here is the use of sandalwood and cedar. Greyland opens dry, with plenty of cedar, the sort that screams iso-e super, I suspect. I don't detect much else. It's not sweet, and I don't find it particularly spicy, despite the use apparently of pepper, elemi and cardamom. It's quite a strange opening. In the heart this becomes mostly about cedar and again, I struggle to detect much else. There is perhaps an ever-so-slight skankiness which might come from the rock rose and musk, but the overiding feel of this fragrance is harsh and dry. The sandalwood fails to make much of an impact, but the obvious association for me is to 10 Corso Como, with less sandalwood. It isn't a poor fragrance, but I honestly find it a bit boring.

LMPTL opens a bit sweeter than Greyland, but again, is a strongly cedar-dominant fragrance. There is more of a creaminess from the sandalwood, which is more apparent here. I don't know if my mind is drawing associations from the name, but there is a feel to this perfume that smells 'hot' - a little like dusty, grassy savannah, but having said that, the name comes from a Shakesperean play I think and has little if anything to do with lions themselves, but there you have it! Again, like with Greyland, I draw comparisons with 10 Corso Como. The fragrance overall is sweeter than Greyland and has more sandalwood. There is an incense in here too, which makes LMPTL wear even more like Corso Como than the other.

In summary, if I were to choose I think I would take LMPTL over Greyland. It is that little bit more interesting, but not by much. As I have samples of both of these and 10 Corso Como, I think I have three to choose from that are remarkeably similar, and in my opinion, all a little dull, if well-executed. Having said that, give one or all of them a try, if you haven't done so already. You never know.

Image credit: http://fotoblog.refocus.de/images/