Valentino
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Salt and ginger crack across your skin like electricity—sharp, almost savoury, with violet leaf's green bite underneath. Vanilla emerges quickly but controlled, sweetness threading through the spice rather than dominating it. Those first minutes are arrestingly unusual: more aromatic cologne than fragrance, sharp where you'd expect soft.
Lavender blooms into prominence, but there's something dry and slightly powdered about it—aged lavender rather than fresh. Sage and nutmeg create a warm, herbaceous spiciness that feels almost gourmand-adjacent without tipping into sweetness, whilst woody notes scaffold everything into something more sophisticated. The vanilla gains ground here, its balsamic undertones mingling with sage to create an almost smoky sweetness.
Tonka bean, benzoin, and Haitian vetiver collapse into a warm, creamy-woody base that's surprisingly soothing. The spice fades but doesn't vanish entirely; instead, nutmeg lingers as a ghost, sweetening what might otherwise be austere. What remains is soft, powdery, and vanilla-forward—a fragrance transformed into something gentler, though never quite losing that salt-stained, slightly unconventional character from the opening.
Born In Roma Intense announces itself as a fragrance caught between restraint and indulgence—a scent that refuses easy categorisation. Guillaume Flavigny has constructed something deliberately contradictory: violet leaf's green, slightly bitter earthiness clashes with vanilla's creamy sweetness from the opening moment, whilst salt crystallises across the top like a seasoning that shouldn't work yet does. This is no comfortable fragrance. The ginger arrives with a subtle peppery warmth that complicates the vanilla's sugar further, preventing any descent into gourmand territory.
Where most fragrances would soften into their heart, Born In Roma Intense doubles down on its aromatic complexity. Lavender and sage enter not as fresh, clean notes but as dried herbs—dusty, slightly herbaceous elements that anchor the composition's synthetic warmth. Nutmeg and Provençal lavender add a spiced, almost medicinal quality, whilst woody notes provide structure that feels more architectural than decorative. The interplay between Provençal lavender and standard lavender creates a curious doubling effect—as if the same note is being sung in two different registers.
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4.3/5 (8.9k)