Zara
Zara
321 votes
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
The lavender arrives first, herbal and slightly medicinal, before cinnamon crashes through with its hot-sweet spice. It's an assertive start that smells expensive—the aromatic sharpness of lavender cut with cinnamon's sticky warmth creates an immediate tension that feels deliberate rather than discordant.
Cedarwood emerges as the fragrance settles, bringing its dry, woody backbone to tame the opening's exuberance. The white blossoms add a pillowy softness whilst musk wraps around your skin, creating an intimate halo effect where the spice recedes and the composition becomes more textural than bright.
What remains is pure warmth—amber and vanilla fuse with residual cedar to create something honeyed and woody, with ghost traces of oud adding depth rather than typical barnyard funk. It sits close to the skin, almost private, like the scent of woodsmoke that's clung to your clothes hours after leaving the bonfire.
Zara's WO/01 Somewoody is a study in contrasts—a fragrance that manages to feel both austere and opulent, masculine and androgynous. The opening lavender-cinnamon combination immediately signals intent: this isn't the barbershop lavender of fougères past, but something spicier, more resinous, with cinnamon lending a sticky warmth that borders on gourmand territory before the cedar steps in to anchor it. The heart reveals the fragrance's true character, where cedarwood provides a pencil-shaving dryness that keeps the composition from tipping into sweetness, even as white blossoms (likely orange flower, judging by the creamy undertone) soften the edges. The musk here isn't clean or detergent-like; it's almost animalic, adding a skin-like quality that makes the whole thing feel lived-in.
What's clever about this composition is how the oud and amber in the base never scream their presence—instead, they create a golden, resinous backdrop that allows the vanilla to read as woody rather than dessert-like. The 88% spicy accord rating tells you everything: this is warmth with bite, comfort with edge. It's a fragrance for those who want something cosy without feeling soft, who appreciate woody fragrances that don't strip away all personality in pursuit of "clean" masculinity. Wear this wrapped in a wool jumper as daylight fades, or in spaces where you want to feel simultaneously grounded and slightly mysterious. At this price point, it punches well above its weight—a reminder that high-street doesn't have to mean generic.
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3.9/5 (508)