Roma (1988)
by Laura Biagiotti

Starts off with vanilla-orange ice cream dusted with fresh black pepper - very nice! And actually stays this way, pretty much, with the pepperiness dying down only somewhat. I'm conflicted. While pretty distinctive, this does not seem to have that much personality. I imagine I would tire of it quickly. But if I had it, I'd wear it, often and in abundance - it seems to wear lightly, little to no sillage. Very upbeat and happy, reminds me in feel if not in all notes of Kenzo's 7:15 am in Bali, which I own, so probably won't be buying Roma, sadly.

I love the warm vanilla in Roma and that's what stands out the most to me. I do get the pine, but it's really a light and it won't knock you over smelling of pine-sol. I think this perfume is perfect for fall, and makes a great Thanksgiving home for the holidays kind of perfume. I don't really get much of the powdery smell with my skin chemistry for some reason. This is my go to perfume for that cozy, comforting, and snuggly feeling.

I first wore Roma in 1990, when I bought it in a duty-free shop in Germany. It was a very wearable scent, distinctive but not obtrusively so, but since it was not readily available in US, once the bottle ran out I moved on.

Just recently bought a bottle online. I was blown away by the opening notes of citrus--not the cassis/mint I remembered but something more like a full-on blast of grapefruit. After the first 5 or 10 minutes, the citrus calms down and the floral and creamy notes I remember from before take over. I noticed that this is now produced in the UK rather than Italy and suspect it may have been reformulated once the site of production shifted. Too bad--I think the new version is a bit less balanced.

As others have noted, this is pretty powdery, but the carnation, a bit of patchouli, and the hint of civet in the base give it enough spice to be interesting.

I could swear Roma had some Meditteranean herb among the topnotes - I recognize it from what you'd smell on the air on a Greek isle or something, yet I couldn't place it... I keep thinking maybe oreganon, but that's not quite it, it's grassier, citrusier, more bracing...? But I guess that hauntingly familiar yet in perfumery strikingly original herbal note is just an illusion created by the mint, blackcurrant leaf and bergamot together... Anyway, it sits on top on a very sweet and creamy base - the effect is like having a main course with green herbs and a vanilla pudding for dessert all mixed up on the same plate. Not entirely appealing. And after the herbal topnote is gone it's just that rather boring and generic creamy sweetness forever and a day.

One of my favourite women's perfumes along with Chanel No. 19. Roma opens with an astounding fresh mint array. It then deveopls ever so smoothly into a flowery mid then what seems like an ambery base note. This fragrance is like waking up on a spring morning, having breakfast on a balcony of your Marrakech riad with the breeze wafting the fragrance of fresh mint, flowers and musks and ambers of the souk into your face. Sublime!

In the late 80s and 90s, this was my signature scent. I loved how it bloomed, that it was never loud, and that it stayed in my clothes. I dropped a scarf once, and a woman picked it up and crushed it to her cheek. "Lovely!" she said. "I knit it myself," I said proudly. She took the scarf from her face and handed it to me. "No dear, not the scarf, the fragrance." It still is. I know it's and oriental, but to me, it will always be the embrace of someone who believes in you.