Top Notes 
Heart Notes 
Base Notes 
11/23/2011
Apicius
222 Reviews
Apicius
1
An Honest Reformulation
I had to think twice whether I should add LiboCedro to the database or not. It is not completely clear what this is. Is it the same as Acca Kappa's Cedro, or is it something unique?
On Acca Kappa's website, it is not listed yet, but it is already available at The Different Scent shop in Berlin. Also First-In-Fragrance seem to have it, but they confuse us by presenting it as Cedro / LiboCedro. Which of the two do you get when you order?
Anyway, it is not a bad idea to indicate a reformulation with a slight change of the product name – at least this stands for fair-mindedness towards the customer.
By courtesy of The Different Scent I got a sample, so I can compare LiboCedro with Cedro. Of course I know that fragrances change a little when they get old, and I bought my Cedro over 3 years ago. Also, there will always be a natural, unintended variance of ingredients, so batches can differ from each other. Nevertheless, the result of this test is clear to me: reformulation!
Acca Kappa seem to have a special favour for scents with musk, especially white musk, and this is what they are really good at! Even if musk is not listed in the known pyramids of Cedro and LiboCedro, some sort of musk seems to be the backbone of this fragrance, maybe enhanced with a little dash of Iso E Super. The Acca Kappa musky scents all have this appeal of fresh bedsheets or ironed shirts. These kind of perfumes do have a certain popularity, with good reason. Even if these scents are basically pure chemistry – who will hold it against us that we were exposed to the smells of products by Procter & Gamble when we were babies instead of fresh country air?
There are quite a few good musky fragrances of that kind by now: Psychotrope, Sylt Man, Musk by Keiko Mecherie and of course Acca Kappa's own 1869 and Musco Bianco. But Cedro has a special character of its own: its spicy woodiness. This is so prominent that Cedro surely can only pass of as a men's fragrance. I do not know any other perfume that combines both styles.
First of all, LiboCedro is different from Cedro by the design of the badge on the flask. Instead of a pale teal, the colour is dark green with neon yellow letters. Yes – this does describe the difference of the scents a little bit. Even at the shop I already noticed that LiboCedro is somehow fresher than Cedro. Now I see: the “fresh-linnen-accord” is somewhat emphazised. The scent is greener and less woody than Cedro. Also, maybe a kind of new floral note was added to the heart, but only very little.
But there is also something missing: If I compare both I recognize that Cedro has a very masculine, somehow smoky side – especially when the base note is reached. The smokiness (smoky amber?) has not come to my mind so far, but now I see that a big part of Cedro's masculine character comes from it. And this is what has been reduced or left away in LiboCedro! LiboCedro is much more unisex. The changes are minimal, yet they result in quite a different character. Cedro is dry cedar wood with a bitter appeal plus musk. Cedro appears to me like a remake of the legendary 70ies barber shop scent “SIR Canada Ceder” by Mülhens. But with LiboCedro, it's much different. Here, it is all about fresh linnen, which just gets accentuated with a pinch of woodiness and spicyness. Acca Kappa takes LiboCedro a big step towards the other musk scents mentioned above. It might be more pleasing. The customer gets a fresh experience that is also a childhood image. He does not have to cope with the antithetic aspects that Cedro has.
The longevity of LiboCedro seems to be less than Cedro. In this case, this is not a decline. However delightful Cedro is – musk scents of the fresh linnen type are quite strenuous in the long run. After a complete day with Cedro I am really fed up with it for a while.
How will it go on? Will both scents be available at a time? Probably not. I am glad that I still have a certain amount of Cedro left. LiboCedro is not a replacement – it is something different!
On Acca Kappa's website, it is not listed yet, but it is already available at The Different Scent shop in Berlin. Also First-In-Fragrance seem to have it, but they confuse us by presenting it as Cedro / LiboCedro. Which of the two do you get when you order?
Anyway, it is not a bad idea to indicate a reformulation with a slight change of the product name – at least this stands for fair-mindedness towards the customer.
By courtesy of The Different Scent I got a sample, so I can compare LiboCedro with Cedro. Of course I know that fragrances change a little when they get old, and I bought my Cedro over 3 years ago. Also, there will always be a natural, unintended variance of ingredients, so batches can differ from each other. Nevertheless, the result of this test is clear to me: reformulation!
Acca Kappa seem to have a special favour for scents with musk, especially white musk, and this is what they are really good at! Even if musk is not listed in the known pyramids of Cedro and LiboCedro, some sort of musk seems to be the backbone of this fragrance, maybe enhanced with a little dash of Iso E Super. The Acca Kappa musky scents all have this appeal of fresh bedsheets or ironed shirts. These kind of perfumes do have a certain popularity, with good reason. Even if these scents are basically pure chemistry – who will hold it against us that we were exposed to the smells of products by Procter & Gamble when we were babies instead of fresh country air?
There are quite a few good musky fragrances of that kind by now: Psychotrope, Sylt Man, Musk by Keiko Mecherie and of course Acca Kappa's own 1869 and Musco Bianco. But Cedro has a special character of its own: its spicy woodiness. This is so prominent that Cedro surely can only pass of as a men's fragrance. I do not know any other perfume that combines both styles.
First of all, LiboCedro is different from Cedro by the design of the badge on the flask. Instead of a pale teal, the colour is dark green with neon yellow letters. Yes – this does describe the difference of the scents a little bit. Even at the shop I already noticed that LiboCedro is somehow fresher than Cedro. Now I see: the “fresh-linnen-accord” is somewhat emphazised. The scent is greener and less woody than Cedro. Also, maybe a kind of new floral note was added to the heart, but only very little.
But there is also something missing: If I compare both I recognize that Cedro has a very masculine, somehow smoky side – especially when the base note is reached. The smokiness (smoky amber?) has not come to my mind so far, but now I see that a big part of Cedro's masculine character comes from it. And this is what has been reduced or left away in LiboCedro! LiboCedro is much more unisex. The changes are minimal, yet they result in quite a different character. Cedro is dry cedar wood with a bitter appeal plus musk. Cedro appears to me like a remake of the legendary 70ies barber shop scent “SIR Canada Ceder” by Mülhens. But with LiboCedro, it's much different. Here, it is all about fresh linnen, which just gets accentuated with a pinch of woodiness and spicyness. Acca Kappa takes LiboCedro a big step towards the other musk scents mentioned above. It might be more pleasing. The customer gets a fresh experience that is also a childhood image. He does not have to cope with the antithetic aspects that Cedro has.
The longevity of LiboCedro seems to be less than Cedro. In this case, this is not a decline. However delightful Cedro is – musk scents of the fresh linnen type are quite strenuous in the long run. After a complete day with Cedro I am really fed up with it for a while.
How will it go on? Will both scents be available at a time? Probably not. I am glad that I still have a certain amount of Cedro left. LiboCedro is not a replacement – it is something different!
