Romeo Gigli (1991)
by Romeo Gigli

Herbal, spicy, citrus, and...smoky? This is a complex masculine fragrance that evolves through its' scent line in a "pay attention or you'll miss something" way. An odd, but appropriate description. The bergamot, oak, and patchouli tend to be pervasive throughout wear, but there is a powdery smoky quality that either mellows or partially obscures these notes depending upon your point of view. A mature and sophisticated fragrance that should be sampled before investing in purchase. Lasts more than 6 hours on skin.

21st January, 2012.

Unlike some of the other reviewers, I smell a somewhat simple fragrance. I smell honey with spices and herbs. Very, very likeable Oriental. Just the right strength, with very good longevity.

17th January, 2011.

"Romeo Gigli" by Romeo Gigli is NOT a masculine perfume, but a feminine, and no longer in production, and should have a picture of an oval bottle with cursive texts in white letters scribbled onto it going along with the reviews.....

I find Romeo Gigli a good scent for summer time. In the opening notes, it may come across as a pungent and cheap smell, but this does not last longer than the first 1,5 seconds. Then, the complete freshness and sweetness of bergamot and bitter orange and the sweetness of rose, the freshness of verbena and the heavy sweetness of neroli unfolds. After you have sprayed this perfume, you may go out and then you will notice the patchouli, which makes this such an interesting perfume to go an meet people: you will smell like patchouli, in other words: you will carry the wildness of the flower-power hippy with you, but only as a slight and for others subconscient hint, because all the other smells are there to camouflage the patchouli. What stays after a couple of hours is the memory of civet with tobacco, which makes this the perfect perfume to also mix with male company.

4th December, 2010.

A masterpiece of originality and romanticism just conceived for nostalgic and decadent souls, this very complex and sophisticated fragrance conjures up left over things by now opaque in the memory as heavenly afternoons of the youth spent in the gardens of some nobiliar italian houses running long the tracks of green labyrinths followed by children like you at times, as young ladies in white laced dressed and midafternoon's snacks in suits under the shade of the oaks. It reminds images of rooms by high ceilings equiped and adorned by tapestries, heralds, trompe d'oeils and valuable crockery whose air was enveloped by smell of sweets and cakes. Today those glorious buildings, once crowded and industrious, are in loneliness spoiling and while lurking outside the courts you can observe just an old moody guardian no willing to talk. The juice itself starts with an aromatic-balsamic very complex blast of bergamot, orange, verbena and coniferouses and dries down, passing through floral-deeply spicied middle notes, in to a puzzling tobacco, patchouli, sandalwood ambery oriental base featured by a solitary and tasty civet note. Romeo Gigli Uomo possesses a very remarcable longevity. It is a very original and a bit baroque fragrance for solitary souls of farms, a dreamy scent that manages you to plunge sometimes in a delicate world of disappeared things.

28th March, 2010. (Last Edited: 7th October, 2011.)

I know it’s wrong of me, but whenever I see blue liquid in a fragrance bottle I cringe in anticipation of yet another drab, “sporty,” fresh fougère or unpleasantly chemical aquatic.

Imagine my surprise and delight then, when as I timidly sniff, Romeo Gigli sheds its conventional bergamot and soapy aromatic top notes and morphs into a full-blown patchouli, tobacco, and spice-seasoned woody oriental structure. Things get even better as judiciously blended animalic notes slide into place to warm the scent’s woody/balsamic foundation. In overall mood and structure, Romeo Gigli lies somewhere between the civilized woody orientals like New York and Héritage, and the big tobacco fougères like Lauder for Men, Jules, and Or Black.

Romeo Gigli is the kind of scent that could easily be loud, crude, or overly assertive, but the sillage and projection in this case are cleverly balanced to yield for controlled strength without brute aggression. Yes, Romeo Gigli is staid, perhaps even “old-school” in style, but it’s also complex and sophisticated, and should appeal to those who seek self-possessed dignity in a fragrance.

11th December, 2009. (Last Edited: 30th March, 2011.)

I share SirSlarty's view on this to a "T". I don't know where all those notes in the pyramid are coming from, but it sure isn't from the mini bottle that I have in my hand. This is a vile, sickly sweet smell of cotton candy, laundry detergent and nail varnish. I'm not exaggerating and not trying to be funny here. Like SirSlarty, I have to wonder if I got a skunked bottle, because I can't imagine any guy ever wanting to smell like this.

6th December, 2009.