On skin Roma Imperiale starts with just a brief subtle splash of orange and bergamot citrus before moving almost immediately to the heart notes of rose and powdery iris. The iris and rose tandem are co-stars here, both getting equal play while mixing with a semi-sweet jasmine making the scent quite "feminine" smelling at this point. The rose and iris combo tones down a bit and a more unisex woody accord joins in to balance the scent much better. I don't get much in the way of individually identifiable base notes, but there is a bit of powdery vanilla here that coupling with lightly spiced amber just adds to the already powdery nature of the scent in general. Projection is below average to average, and longevity is above average.
Roma Imperiale is an above average scent overall, IMO. That said, it is a tough scent for me to really like due to its powdery nature almost from the start. I wish the rose and woods were more prominent as opposed to the iris and vanilla, as they make this a challenging scent for many guys to feel comfortable pulling off. That said, guys absolutely *can* wear this and I don't mean to scare anyone off from wearing Roma Imperiale, but know what you are getting into. On the other hand, if powdery scents are your thing, then Roma Imperiale should be right up your alley. In my case I want to give it a thumbs up, but as I dislike powdery scents the iris knocks it down to a strong neutral rating. 3 stars out of 5.
