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A testament to Almairac's skill
The fact that you can still get this stuff in 2024 for so cheap is frankly mindblowing. Granted, it's not a top-10 best panty whatever according to the interwebs; but if I wore panties, and I'm thinking about it, they'd probably be across the room by now. Or I dunno, on fire.
Honestly it really isn't difficult to pin this fragrance. Those who have made the correlation with Beau de Jour from the talented Maisondieu are bang on. Of course, I haven't yet sampled the newest formulation of Zino, but my vintage edt screams BdJ in the opening. Very aromatic lavender, with that tangy clary sage greenness you can expect from many soapy vintages, yet smoothed out perfectly with a rather bulky vanilla. You'll recognize the barbershop genre immediately, but more importantly, there really is nothing animalic about it - an undercurrent in many modern reviews that held me back from acquiring this one long ago.
No, what scares many young guns away from this one methinks is the distinctly floral heart. And herein is where the references to animalic indoles come in. Because it's the jasmine. And patchouli. And rose that take me back to the accord built upon Gillotin's original Noir edp for Tom Ford, and imo, perfected in Botanicae's Matin a Mogador. What can I say, it can easily come off as bad breath from an old lady wearing too much flowery perfume; BUT, in Zino, it combines seemlessly with the barbershop opening to mask it in the most beautiful way. And before you know it.....
.....transition number deux, into what can EASILY be recognized as the drydown of Guerlain's Heritage edt. Yes ma'am, sir....ma'amsir. It's a creamy, woody and vanillic patchouli alright, but so well done, that it could almost pass as Heritage to the untrained nose at a distance. Bye bye indoles, hello goodness. And this is probably my favourite part - one that easily lasts a full work day on me. So to summarize, it's barbershop heaven in the opening, a sultry floral mid and a Heritage finish? HOW?? HOW is this still so cheap??
Once again, I need remind the reader that I'm smelling from an old 75 mL edt splash, but can the newest version really be that different? The quality is just off the chart for such an affordable fragrance, with the only caveat being an appreciation of floral barbershops. Personally, I can't say that Zino goes overlooked since it did used to get a bit of mention in "gentlemanly" lists, but to be so quickly shunned and overshadowed by today's nose cringing woody ambers and flavour-of-the-week clones seems almost criminal. Anyone else?
So to all of those on the fence right now like I was, perhpas wondering if it's too old manish or mature, or hairy chested, or well endowed, or whatever, just look at that price. LOOK AT IT. Now shut up, and get it. How's THAT for an ad eh? lol Nah, I'm kidding of course. But not really. I guess I'm just sad that I don't smell this on more people these days. Because as much as I am a fan of Almairac's cedar-laden fragrances - and they effing rock - this one might just be one of my favourites from him. Such a great scent. And that's all I have to say about that.
Honestly it really isn't difficult to pin this fragrance. Those who have made the correlation with Beau de Jour from the talented Maisondieu are bang on. Of course, I haven't yet sampled the newest formulation of Zino, but my vintage edt screams BdJ in the opening. Very aromatic lavender, with that tangy clary sage greenness you can expect from many soapy vintages, yet smoothed out perfectly with a rather bulky vanilla. You'll recognize the barbershop genre immediately, but more importantly, there really is nothing animalic about it - an undercurrent in many modern reviews that held me back from acquiring this one long ago.
No, what scares many young guns away from this one methinks is the distinctly floral heart. And herein is where the references to animalic indoles come in. Because it's the jasmine. And patchouli. And rose that take me back to the accord built upon Gillotin's original Noir edp for Tom Ford, and imo, perfected in Botanicae's Matin a Mogador. What can I say, it can easily come off as bad breath from an old lady wearing too much flowery perfume; BUT, in Zino, it combines seemlessly with the barbershop opening to mask it in the most beautiful way. And before you know it.....
.....transition number deux, into what can EASILY be recognized as the drydown of Guerlain's Heritage edt. Yes ma'am, sir....ma'amsir. It's a creamy, woody and vanillic patchouli alright, but so well done, that it could almost pass as Heritage to the untrained nose at a distance. Bye bye indoles, hello goodness. And this is probably my favourite part - one that easily lasts a full work day on me. So to summarize, it's barbershop heaven in the opening, a sultry floral mid and a Heritage finish? HOW?? HOW is this still so cheap??
Once again, I need remind the reader that I'm smelling from an old 75 mL edt splash, but can the newest version really be that different? The quality is just off the chart for such an affordable fragrance, with the only caveat being an appreciation of floral barbershops. Personally, I can't say that Zino goes overlooked since it did used to get a bit of mention in "gentlemanly" lists, but to be so quickly shunned and overshadowed by today's nose cringing woody ambers and flavour-of-the-week clones seems almost criminal. Anyone else?
So to all of those on the fence right now like I was, perhpas wondering if it's too old manish or mature, or hairy chested, or well endowed, or whatever, just look at that price. LOOK AT IT. Now shut up, and get it. How's THAT for an ad eh? lol Nah, I'm kidding of course. But not really. I guess I'm just sad that I don't smell this on more people these days. Because as much as I am a fan of Almairac's cedar-laden fragrances - and they effing rock - this one might just be one of my favourites from him. Such a great scent. And that's all I have to say about that.
MrHonest
