Gringo
by AbdesSalaam Attar Profumo

A suave and rather arresting fragrance that showcases some dry, dusty frankincense with a touch of aromatic woods and spice. I'm almost positive there is some tobacco flower in there as well. I thought it smelled like Grezzo d'Eleganza without the sweetness.

As the story goes, GRINGO was originally composed for an Italian stylist who turned it down as he thought it was too audacious to be appreciated by his customers. Seriously? What a moron! With all due respect, this stylist probably wears thin watery crap all day and hangs around AdG-drenched clients. That's just too bad for him for this 'charming rogue' is definitely one of my favorites from this house.

7th August, 2011.

If you've tried Grezzo d'Eleganza, you might be reminded of it, especially the opening phases. At first I thought it was Grezzo with extra citrus and some peppermint. Is that the shared castoreum, perhaps? And then it develops into a really complex set of accords which to my nose is dominated by peppermint, with Mysore sandalwood (creamy smooth), rose (to deepen and join with the sandalwood), a hint of vanilla (to sweeten and kiss the others), and frankincense (to sparkle a little and raise our heads). A really interesting and enjoyable experience. I have only just tried it though and will be interested to see what it might be like in larger doses and in different weathers (it's winter right now).

Lasts ages, has good sillage for 2-3 hours and then retreats gradually to medium/low sillage - just above skin level. (A really good tip, if you don't know it already, is to put some on the front of your wrist. Every time you raise your hands towards your face, you'll smell it. I also like to put some on my sideburns - the hair seems to hang on to the oils longer/evaporation is a little slower.)

How does it make me feel? It's quite a zingy feel from the lemony peppermint, which is youthful and with the castoreum a bit frisky, but it's also sophisticated and centred, rather as L'Aventurier perhaps has already commented. I will certainly enjoy the rest of my small sample and, depeding on how my other Via Profumo samples pan out, it may well reach the Buy a Bigger Bottle list!

2nd February, 2011.

Ingredients that are mentioned at Profumo's page:
Patchuli, Frankincense, Peppermint, Sandalwood, Vanilla, Rose, Castoreum and Lemon.

Gringo is one of the most interesting fragrances that i've ever smelled.
It's very elusive...like a mad time traveller. It's plentiful with the power of a hurricane.
It's retro and avantgarde at the same time...sentient and rapturous.
This fragrance evokes a remembrance of Ludwig van Beethoven. C-minor? Yes...why not;)

p.s. Gringo's longevity? Well...27 hours on my skin of dorsum of hand. Go figure!

18th January, 2010.

Gringo opens up with one of the best minty (peppermint) openings I've experienced, along with a touch of lemon. Right from the get-go, you also get notes of camphorous patchouli, frankincense and castoreum. It's one of the most complex fragrances I've smelled from Profumo's line. The drydown is less upbeat than the opening, but it's just as interesting, as the scent becomes more leather and frankincense oriented, along with little hints of vanilla, sandalwood and rose. Overall it's lemony, minty, green, incensey and leathery all at once, with the tiniest hint of vanilla sweetness.

While many of Profumo's fragrances are old fashioned to my nose (that's usually a good thing), Gringo manages to be youthful and modern while also maintaining an earthy, natural feel. It's no easy feat to create something like this.

As far as the pirate/buccaneer connotations on Profumo's site go, they're pretty accurate. Gringo smells like a young man with an old soul - I swear, if it had rum in it, Gringo would smell just how I imagine Jack Sparrow (ie. Johnny Depp) should smell. It's adventurous, rugged and and playfully bad-ass.

Gringo's sillage and longevity are very, very good for an all natural fragrance - probably the longest lasting I've ever tried besides Ayala Moriel's Razala. For example, the dry-down takes about an hour and then it coasts on for about another 8 hours on my skin.

While Gringo isn't a conventional scent, it's very wearable and my small sample has sadly run dry over the past few days. Currently in the top 3 of Profumo's fragrances I've sniffed so far, this will be the next full bottle or decant I purchase if I'm not side-tracked by Tasneem's innocent, sweet and creamy Ylang-Ylang/Jasmine mix.

9/10

20th July, 2009. (Last Edited: 18th August, 2009.)

Big thumbs up! Gringo is one of my favorites of the ones I've tried in this line. Smells herbal/minty, somewhat citrussy, and woodsy, and lasts a fairly long time on me. I love it. I definitely get an island pirate bay-rum buccaneer vibe. There is a sweet impression of spices (clove? Cinnamon? Nutmeg?), a bit of citrus peel, and the camphoraceous quality of patchouli. I know I am easily suggestible, but these are the scents of the trading days on the high seas. I get a sense of free spiritedness when I wear it. I do seem to get the moods and soul in these fragrances that their creator suggests.

1st July, 2009.

Before I looked at the notes, I identified the frankincense. This perfume smells like sticking one's head into a bag of frankincense resin and snorting the dust like cocaine.
It is rich, heavy, and high-quality. Anyone who enjoys incense fragrances ought to try this one, especially those who like Messe de Minuit.
And it satisfies my patchouli craving. The patchouli adds an earthy mustiness to the scent, and it brings with it its sweet, chocolatey undertones.
The mint and lemon freshen and lighten the scent. And the vanilla rounds it off with softness. I cannot smell castoreum, per se.
I borrow this description from Profumo's website:
"The result is a perfume that touches the soul by its intrepid sweetness and sensuality, adapted for a truly gallant and refinely elegant buccaneer. This is the soul of a real pirate that the stylist recognized his young and trendy customers were lacking. Through their clothes they wanted to appropriate only the image of an adventurous corsair, while this perfume exudes his very soul." OMG. I'm a middle-aged woman from Nebraska, not a stylish young rakehell.
What does this say about me? I am troubled. Actually I am smiling. Well, if I can't live the life, at least I can vicariously enjoy it in perfume.
Maybe...next reincarnation...

18th March, 2009.