Description
“Daylight is breaking in. What time is it? The Green Fairy inspired throughout your nightlong endeavours and now you’re done. Your beautiful subject is still there facing you. …such a beautiful poser… So well dressed, so carefully groomed, so irresistibly debonair, …beautiful and intoxicating… as intoxicating as the indolic smell of the flowers in full bloom, coming from the garden. So weird – only yesterday you were just friends. Bees hopping from one flower to another, perpetuating the amazing circle of life. Butterflies in your stomach. What is going on? What is this vertigo? Overwhelming attraction, stirring you up. Still you are not in love – yet” — press release of the brand. Romanza was launched in 2015. The nose behind this fragrance is Cristiano Canali.
packha – :
This is art from a source of pure brilliance. A divine expression of an abstraction that outshines that which it attempts to emulate. The best fragrances inspire a wide range of emotions. And even if you’ve not set foot there, it places you squarely. This is therapy. A therapeutic Starship. Take this and be taken away.
patrikon – :
Its a curious one. I cant say the spring flowers combine well with Myrhh and vetiver.
Hyacinth, narcissis and jasmine almost clash with the notes from the East. The hyacinth and narcissis notes are strong and head clearing. Vetiver can also be piercing. There are no winners in this battle.
It’s too pungent. My cat moved away from me when she caught a whiff of this lol
It’s pretty linear. It has good longevity and sillage.
nureke – :
Extraordinary, mind-bending, gravity-defying, logic-defeating stuff. A dirty-spicy-sophisticated floral for people who might not even like florals (like me.) Somehow this conjures very adult adventure even from those supposedly ‘clean, classic, safe’ notes of narcissus and daffodil and violet. My official sample says “Victorian Narcissus”, which totally misled me about the scent inside. Because this could hardly be further away from some grandmother’s garden or old-fashioned windowsill flower arrangements; something (maybe that deep dark warm spicy base?) takes everything into another league altogether – into the territory of upmarket, urbane, fashion-conscious modernity. I didn’t get any notes of urine or cleaning products at all, but certainly did pick up a churning undertow of deeply indolic / sexy / almost dirty molecules far beneath the polished, fragrant surface.
Nothing even remotely safe or staid or suburban here; this is a whirling, dangerous, adult romance, startlingly deeply felt and almost-skanky and opulent when you consider the ingredients. Extremely expansive sillage – she’s a bossy gal! – but slightly weaker longevity than its initial strength would suggest. Reminded me very powerfully of Zoologist Nightingale, for its flowers-with-attitude depth and strength, and a little of Papillon Salome in its sensuality. Real femme fatale scent IMHO – you need to be a grown-up to deal with it. But its skill is undeniable – I wasn’t expecting even to *like* it, much less be as completely bowled over as I was. Swept off my feet by the seductive power of this romance, to be sure.
wask – :
Intense pissiness (a la original Kouros) ultimately becomes one with gothic florals and hay midway through the journey. Exceptionally well done but not for the faint of heart. This juice will likely wear you, rather than the other way around.
This romance is dangerous and fatal: like that of a passionate yet doomed couple in a film noir.
Wear … if you dare.
Darkwin1 – :
The beauty of Romanza is tear inducing. Maybe so is the price. But is there a price to something that can restore your faith in romance?
Emotive perfumery at its best.
Narcissus and waxy greens. Just beautiful.
lapik1253 – :
gosh this is utterly terrible. It smells like STRONG urine with little hint of floral in the background to me.
aleksiann – :
You’re a cleaning lady coming home from work, your hands and skin saturated with sharp and abrasive cleaners, your hair powdered with thick dust, and your knees and shoes covered in bitter urine. Acid, dust, ammonia. Romanza by Masque Milano.
troha66 – :
If you are a Narcissus lover, Romanza is a wonderful view on the flower, a dash of absynth, hyacinth, and parts of romantic vintage perfumery with a synthetic animalic in the base. The fragrance never gets heavy like the vintage Narcisse Noir can get with its thick syrup like orange blossom.
Its narcissus/green facets within the story reminds me of the opening of Ostara, yet this one isn’t plagued by the white musk base. Here, the author smartly opens its animalic nature and narcissus darkness juxtaposed by the green…so it doesn’t become all consuming like Narcisse Noir. To note, these two narcisse fragrances are miles apart in its construction.
The animalic components are synthetic in nature and thus lends a certain sharpness to the composition. Its a fine tuning quibble I have as a vintage lover, but all in all its a splendid narcissus based fragrance.
azlk08 – :
Romanza is a very special perfume… almost Victorian! Is a surprising harmony,narcissus is very obvious but also jasmine! I love it because it is so strange and at the same time fresh also thanks to the violet leaves. It is an astonishing, sophisticated fragrance as it was long ago. Yes, I want it… I love it!
Sillage: 8.5/10
Longevity: 10./10
Scent: 8.5/10
Overall: 9./10
manishpk2007 – :
Omg. This smells terrible on me. Literally like something wet and rotting. I wanted to like the notes but it’s just really bad in me. Gotta go scrub it off.
gav974 – :
There are two things that can redeem you from pain: untimely love or timely death.
This prophetic Nietzche makes shows the splendor of love and death simultaneously very well.
When you are seized and stupefied under the weight of life’s plights and the vain rehash of days and nights there might come
a person whose energy and spring-like joie de vivre enables you to fight life’s lethargy, idleness and dull repeat in their totality and enjoy the good moments that come and go.
What a nice name : Romanza……Love
8/10
british8811 – :
A true jolie-laide of the fragrance world, juxtaposing bright green-florals with the unexpected animalic. Dry down is a richly nuanced urinous hay-and-coffee notes on my skin.
At first, I dismissed Romanza as ‘one of the worst things I’d ever smelled’. After a soap-down, I sniffed my arm again. And decided Masque Romanza is GENIUS. Lesson learned — start out with a *light* application before going strong.
We associate Narcissus-Hyacinth with spring, but this is a melancholy spring. Is that a bad thing though? An emphatic No. Picasso’s _Guernica_ depicts great suffering; and My Sister’s Keeper was a sad read. Mourning and distress are just as relevant in Art as euphoria. Beyond relevant even– Necessary. Based on artistic merits alone, Masque has taken great risks with this one. It’s worth a try.
ilkal – :
Scent – vetiver & jasmine.
Season/Time of Day – I prefer to use this one in the colder months, day or night.
Projection – I did get noticed, I didn’t get a compliment.
Longevity – I get 12hrs consistently.
Kirill98hodierev – :
Smells like brooms. Pure essential oil of broom.
Yes it is a green floral scent, green and yellow, very dusty, very vintage and “polleny”. A lot of real rubbery myrrh, petrol cedar, jasmine and bitter flowers.
This is More cold than warm as scent.
Smells of freshly dried flowers, woods, balsamic, a true potpourri scent.
Good, but very linear, very intense and aggressive in some ways.
Almost burns your throat. After a few hours in fact, this “radiation” is a bit annoying. Suffocating.
Overall though it is a good creation and even a little ‘different.
In a far way remember me Genny and Coriandre.
It could be an Houbigant or a Sisley ones.
Professor77 – :
I love and bought a bottle of L’Attesa and with that came a sample of Romanza. I love Narcissus and I can definitely smell it here. But I like Narcissus when treated like Nicolai’s Le Temps d’une fete where it stays breezy and spring like throughout. Maybe it is the Jasmine Sambac that is ruining this for me but it just has a muddiness to it. I agree that there is something dirty about this but not in a good way. In fact, I wish it was dirtier to add some more oomph. All and all this is just a maybe meh for me. I will sample again to make sure.
valerie – :
I received a sample from Luckyscent along with others and this fragrance is way before my time. I am near 40 but this is like for someone whose 59+ years. Sorry can’t get a man wearing this one its way too mature.
Merfg841JeomiWogkig – :
Ok. I love Masque parfumes. I must admit. I started with Montecristo, and then I had the chance to try Romanza and I discovered and understood the idea of both the essence. When I tried it for the first time I suddenly found myself in the foyer of an early 1900 theatre, looking for a smile I could drawn into. The complexity of flowers, wood and amber takes you somewhere in the past. When you turn, you’ll see Dorian smiling.
MahmuddIas – :
Romanza plays Spring as the season of bittersweetness, with fresh, young stems, flowers and leaves all crushed together. Narcissus perfumes are a rarity yet Romanza bears a resemblance to Parfums de Nicolai le Temps d’une Fete. Both perfumes set narcissus’s green reediness in a woody, resinous setting, albeit with different orchestration. Romanza’s absinthe topnote performs a role similar to le Temps’s chalky galbanum, ushering in a grassy, green-floral range centered on narcissus. In the heartnotes the two perfumes diverge, though both transition from flowers to woods. Imagine Romanza’s basenotes as sitting an octave or two below le Temps.
I have no idea if Masque Milano even knew of le Temps d’une Fete, but if they are taking on de Nicolai, they’re running directly into the fire. Le Temps d’Une Fete is one of Patricia de Nicolai’s strongest works, a Green Floral that has earned a place next to the other heavy hitters of the genre like Guerlain Chamade, Chanel 19 and VeroProfumo Mito. Romanza’s passing similarity in shape to le Temps is less important than the difference in its intent. Le Temps’s fresh-scrubbed freshness is pure sunlight next to Romanza’s midnight narcissus.
Romanza is based on the attraction of opposites. Bitter angelica accentuates narcissus’s sweet vitality and from the very topnotes Romanza is filled with shadow and texture. The amber drydown has a growl that does not go gentle anywhere. Narcissus might be the image of spring, but the scent is the furthest thing from the stereotype of Spring prettiness. It’s mucky, muddy and messy. Romanza doesn’t hide narcissus’s chaotic side. It liberates it, offering a beautifully defiant take on Spring. The romantic fiction of the season is a birds-cooing, hand-in-hand cartoon of courtship. Romanza reminds us that Spring is brief and there’s no time for subtlety. It dispenses with the niceties and reaches a hand down the front of your pants while it looks you dead in the eye.
Masque Milano’s framing of their perfumes as literary, operatic and episodic is well thought out and has led to a sumptuous style of perfumery. The perfumes are detailed and specific and I don’t question the producer’s/perfumer’s process, but plot and narrative aren’t a requirement to enjoy the perfume. Shear the story from Romanza and you’re left with an exceptional perfume with a detailed, calibrated aesthetic. Romanza is a provocative perfume from a young perfumer and I’ll keep my eyes peeled for future work from Christiano Canali.
from scenthurdle.com
tessei330 – :
A perfect dandy, a perfect vamp. Magnificent hyacinth agreement, great fragrance.
sasha4com – :
Generally greens and florals are a miss for me, but this is an outstanding, unforgettable scent. It is extraordinarilly green, bright, complex with definite wood and warm undertones. The silage and longevity are amazing, as is the vacillation between green astringency,the narcissus which does not share the same DNA to my nose as other “white florals” and the warmth of artemisia and violet leaves followed by woods. The high pitch of the floral green stays true for hours. I actually am finding this addictive and different. Other houses have attempted this, but not succeeded. As a wood, amber, spice oriental lover–I’m surprised by just how much I like this, so it’s definitely in spring-summer rotation. I agree it is not easy to wear, but this is a persuasive perfume.
Healtsjaite – :
I remember it now, after that long day of esxence 2016 in Masque’s booth with Alessandro’s beautiful sister now i got the chance to sniff it again. This is not the usual animalic, it is more of a charming elixir to overcome aging. To refrain the truth behind age defying & to seal it behind a delusional barrier. No wonder Dorian Gray was behind Alessandro’s Inspiration on inventing the idea of this masterpiece.
It has doses of narcissus, and slight jasmines, more of cedar and violet leaves. It could be classified as animalic yes, but not the castoreum or civet, it’s more of a rooty balmy and sort of creamy animalic than the common animalic vintage one. I believe it’s modern animalic.
Definitely not for anyone.
ymp240InsuffBooni – :
The guys at Masque don’t miss the chance to deliver yet another piece of great perfumery. Romanza is an incredibly complex fragrance that avoids trends and unnecessary gimmick to focus on what, to me, is a cultured style of perfumery that is sadly getting rarer and rarer.
So, don’t expect something easy to like or easy to wear because Romanza is quite an imponent and ambitious composition that takes the best of two worlds and pair them together. On on side there’s a somewhat canonic style of perfumery. A certain classicism that’s generally inherent to officially trained perfumers while, on the other side, there’s an overall artisianal vibe and (more or less) calibrated roughness that’s definitely more typical of indie lines and self-taught noses. These two aspects paired together give birth to a decadent and humongous green floral which, either you’ll like it or not, won’t leave you indifferent.
The fragrance opens extremely green and bitter with a mix of angelica, absinth and florals such as jasmine, narcissus and hyacinth. The florals are so vivid and in your face as in the most classic compositions of the past while a rough edge and a healthy dose of “ugliness” provided by a massive amount of civet preserve the fragrance from feeling pathetically nostalgic and driving it instead towards more artisanal / indie territories. What stylistically comes to mind are some florals by Abdes Salaam as well as Papillon and Bogue but also certain post-Dior-esque florals made in Roudnitska. In this phase Romanza feels incredibly striking, adventurous and creative by continually crossing the boundaries between official perfumery and a more typically-indie style.
A classical, somewhat kind of mainstream base starts lurking in the back introducing a woody vetiver / amber combo to round everything up while paradoxically providing even more decadence. As the base takes over with time, the florals merge perfectly with the rest to turn the composition into an endless and humongous floral of immense beauty.
Now, if you’re not after something that’s easy to like, if you prefer to seek for beauty instead of having it slammed in your face, if you like complexity as opposed to pop, check this out. Top quality stuff all around.
Rating: 8/10
maryatov – :
Comes out on Tuesday, 4/26. Can’t wait. I’ve been dying of anticipation. I pre-ordered it.
ncl184speagoessenda – :
This is wonderfully rich, challenging, and complex. A feast for the nose and the brain. Pretty yet dirty-sexy too. I would definitely approach a stranger wearing this.
seb840Diobtetty – :
This fragrance surprised me ( a difficult affair, lately) with its multiple and different steps of consecutive nuances, going from green orange flowers, to floral, to balsamic, to end with an unexpected mild civet (I know it’s not listed, but it’s an unmistakable present civet) that stays together with vetiver and cedar for hours.
It’s a Spring whisper in the running middle of Italian Winter now.
My next purchase for sure, I’m just waiting for it to come out in the market.
jony_74rus – :
What an amazing narcissus !
This scent has a mystic aura that I totally love. The animalic side appears very subtle to me and the scent keeps evolving and being surprising with time.
Will definitely track down the creations of this Mr Canali as of now !
lebedevsg1 – :
I was very happy to see another floral animalic in this edition of Pitti so good and interesting. It is not dirty in my point of view but it plays on the complementing relation between flowers and civet. A very subtle civet I must say. A bit on the vintage side but sufficiently fresh and airy to feel contemporary.
Silyanov – :
Yes, lust is the right word for it ;o) and the name ‘Romanza’ fits very well – a kaleidoscope of olfactive emotions. I agree that it was one of the best perfumes at Pitti 2015.
I recommend it for both, men and women, but I think that on men’s skin it is even better.
15753217 – :
It’s just an amazing scent… my favorite of the last Pitti Fragranze. Amazing fresh narcissus bitter green-powdery start with following green violet, dry bitter narcissus powder and dirty civet accord. Just a beautiful lust.
MaximusUnexcelled – :
Romanza is a very complex scent, an unusual combination of fragile fresh flowers, green nuances (I even pick up something like lily of the valley in the top) and quite thick, but very enjoyable animalic base. The fragrance lasts forever. I smelled it on my colleague in the evening (it was all around her), she applied it in the morning.
It is a dirty fragrance in a good way (actually a play of innocent floral fresh and dirty nuances), I think it is one of the most enjoyable narcissus fragrance I’ve ever smelled.