Friday 6 February 2004

Pic of the day: Distinctive bottle, here the aftershave.

Essenza di Zegna

Essenza di Zegna is a designer fragrance from Ermenegildo Zegna. Like other "designer" brands (Gucci, Burberry, Tacchini to name three of my favorites) there is no real connection between the fragrance and the other products (typically textiles). Basically I guess it is largely marketing synergy. By any other name it would smell as sweet.

Actually "sweet" is not the first word that comes to mind when sniffing this masculine fragrance. In fact, for me the first word was not an adjective at all but a vegetable. Yes, my first association was freshly cut cucumber. I must admit I wondered if this was intentional, and my mind was already coming up with outlandish pick-up lines when I realized that such things are highly subjective. Quite apart from different people's skin being slightly different: Some dry, some oily, some warm, some colder, some more humid and other less so. It may even vary for the same person from time to time.

Indeed, the fragrance changes over time, and before long it turns into a warm, mild spice and yes, a little sweet. Not disturbingly so, unlike some perfumes that smell like candy or fruit or flowers. Here the sweetness just tempers the spice, making it less extreme than the hot, almost metallic spiciness of Sergio Tacchini. It is still a distinctly warm smell, and fairly long lasting for something not too intense. (Actually it may be slightly intense at the very start ... apply a few minutes before meeting people. But at the beginning it is that light, green fragrance that I think of as cucumber. It moves more toward an earthy cinnamon, I guess, after a while, and stays there for a long time fading slowly.

There may be other fragrances out there that are similar -- with more than a thousand to choose among, there's bound to be – but to me it was a first of its kind. I think of it as a workday fragrance, but the lady at the shop was taken aback by that statement. She thinks it is too exclusive for the office and better used for a romantic evening. I can kinda see both, but I think I would prefer something more outright manly for an evening. Boucheron pour homme would be my first choice, or Burberry Touch my second, if I wanted to subtly declare my masculinity to the opposite sex. Theoretically speaking, of course! Boss Baldessamini is a bit too sweet in my opinion, although I can see it used if you actually are bald, sporting a director's paunch, or otherwise too manly for your own good. Essenza di Zegna is a very good compromise candidate though, an all round fragrance that I can wear all day.

And yeah, I bought it. Greeed!