Costume National 21 (2008)
by Costume National

It's totally synthetic and I hate it. Consider this entirely personal, but I'm 100% finished with this style of early 21st century perfumery. 21 resurrects key notes of Scent Intense and blows them up into a more projecting variant with a kilo of woody-anisic fuzzy cashmeran, iso-e-super and vanillin orientalness which is Disneyland cardboard to the depth and artistry of a Shalimar. Professionally engineered olfactory elevator music of this kind leaves me ice cold these days. Will be forgotten by 2010.

Absolutely beautiful. Warm, creamy and relaxing. I love it and my wife loves it on me. Great longevity too. This will be with me for a long, long time.

This is a a lovely fragrance celebrating CN' s 21st anniversary and I agree with everyone about the notes . Sillage is ok and longevity is outstanding on me. So why the neutral? Because 21 smells exactly like Bogart Pour Homme, which is a fair bit cheaper. I wonder if they know?

CN fragrances to me, are like a sheep in wolf's clothing. Their minimalistic shiny flacons and stark, monochromatic advertising campaigns suggest that the scents themselves should follow suit: clean, linear, unembellished. But if the truth be known, 21 is yet another perfume in the CN portfolio that challenges this very notion. It contains 21 components that run the gamut from cold milk and fragrant saffron, through royal jelly and creamy tonka bean, to spicy cumin and smokey oud. Though there appears to be a striking diversity in its individual components, a rare sense of balance and harmony has been masterfully achieved. 21 intoxicates the senses and captures the imagination.

This scent opens with a crisp scattering of orange blossoms that are cushioned by a comforting lactic milk accord skimming just beneath the surface. It transitions rapidly into something warm and really rather profound... saffron, pepper, cashmere wood, musks and amber all lend their radiant heat to the mix. Curling wisps of labdanum and olibanum and oud contribute a balsamic richness... the effect here akin to something of a smoky tobacco accord. I can also detect dark earthy pits of patchouli (similar to Tom Ford's interpretation in White Patchouli) and bushels of fragrant vetiver. But there is also an ever-present softness - vanilla, sandalwood and smooth tonka bean that allow this scent to last for hours and hours on the skin. This being said, 21 is not a "sweet" scent by any stretch of the imagination; Ennio Capasa's perfume innovation is a clever marriage between white purity and veiled complexity. A fragrance that again epitomises the Costume National ideal of modern sophistication melding with timeless elegance.

This is a great scent, and to me could be even FBW in the future. Almost as good as Intense, but not quite.
Creamy, quite mysterious blend of saffron, caraway and soft woods. Drydown developes an accord which reminds me of the smell of sweet pipe tobacco. Quite complex as it keeps changing on my skin in regular basis.
I was hoping to sense that oud (listed officially elsewhere) a bit more strongly.
I didn`t any problems with the lasting power.

Wonderful soft Oriental in a beautiful bottle. Recommended for sure.

Outstanding! At last Ennio Capassa returns to roots of the original and superb, Costume National Scent! This has a similar structure to the original but this time its kinda milky and creamy. As if the original scent was dropped in some custard! Lasts an age too. I'm already on my second bottle!