Vento nel Vento

... and I'm strolling from one store to the next. Then I stop at Zara and go inside. I stand by the men's fragrances and pick up one bottle after another, spraying a little on the test strips, and suddenly, who are you? Upon applying this perfume, the first thing that hits the nose is a leathery note combined with the powdery touch of iris. This is embraced by a caramel accord that sweetens it. Then, citrusy, woody, and peppery notes come into play, rounding out this scent. If I didn't know better, I would think it's a niche fragrance with a solid masculine vibe. The longevity and sillage are good. Here we have a masculine men's fragrance that is already mature and can be worn well from around 25 years old. It has its peak season on cold days in spring, autumn, and winter. When worn during the day at university, in the office, at a meal, in leisure time, or while shopping, I would recommend applying a little less. In the evening, this scent can be worn at a concert, in a club, at dinner, or simply at a family gathering, and then it can be a bit more. Ladies can also enjoy this fragrance. If you like a leathery, powdery, sweet, woody scent with masculine accents, Zara is the right place for you.

Definitely the best Zara I have been able to test so far. I honestly don't understand the hype around the other fragrances like "Sunrise on the Red Sundunes" and "Sand Desert at Sunset" when there is this special DNA. It smells to me similar to PDM "Haltane" (which is also by the same perfumer) in a slightly fresher and less potent way. Leather-spicy, a bit citrusy, smoky sweet, and dry-woody green. No note dominates. Well-balanced. For the price, very good longevity and sillage. Niche for little money.

It is difficult to understand what analogy inspired the name of this fragrance, Full Moon Over The Desert. The principal theme of this series N° 2, is the desert in all the highlights of day and night. Likewise, it is clear that the perfume revolves around a leathery, phenolic, semi-tarry, and mossy accord. The first impression I had smelling it was that of two perfumes from the Exclusive collection, True Leather Men and True Leather Women, but right after, the perfume takes another direction and veers towards the accords of Ombré Leather (2018) Eau de Parfum and Tuscan Leather Eau de Parfum, those of Memo Cuirs Nomades, with touches that recall the gourmand smoky amber of Baccarat Rouge 540 Eau de Parfum. Yes, the essence contains a mixture of all these perfumes, reinforcing the leathery note, embellishing it with myriad facets as if to portray an image seen through a kaleidoscope. Suppose it is true that nose Benoit Lapouza was inspired by his creation "Angels' Share | Kilian", creating a reinterpretation of "Sand Desert At Sunset | Zara". In that case, it might be equally valid that nose Jordi Fernández was inspired by one of his creations, for example, a reinterpretation of "Walk On The Wild Side | Orlov". Why do I think this? Because these last two perfumes have a lot of notes in common, both recall both Memo Cuirs and Baccarat Rouge 540. But all of this is my thoughts aloud, and it’s unimportant to me. Instead, what matters is the tenacious perfume, a dark, brutal, pitch-black leather with a brilliant performance. The most leathery of the four in the ZARA FRAGRANCE SERIES N° 02, feirie, powdery, and deep, with many points in common with niche leathery products. Risqué, yet sensual. Outstanding quality. ZARA’s official website describes the perfume as “a woody fragrance whose pyramid reveals bergamot and pink pepper top notes on a base of caramel and iris wrapped in leather and evernyl.” Just for an instant, the fragrance releases a citrus note of bergamot peel, a little sweet and aseptic, which is immediately obscured by the arrogance and intrusiveness of the leather accord, which bluntly makes me understand who I’m dealing with. It is a hard leathery, similar to the full-grain harness of waxed leather boots or saddles, rather than the ultra-smooth split-grain of Nappa leather gloves. A leather nuance that looks very much like the smell of a saffron flower, spicy, not mentioned but is felt. You must like the leathery accord because it is present in all phases of the perfume, cutting through the heart like a sword and almost certainly reaching the base with synthetic molecular notes of IsoButyl Quinoline, birch bark, and labdanum. The velvety and powdery notes of the iris take up space in the heart, hinted at and not dominant, adding a dusty aspect that gradually takes the place of the opening spicy harshness. It almost smells the damp sand wet from the humidity of the evening while the wind carries clouds of smoke from the embers of a nearby bonfire, a soft smoke. Perhaps there is not only an iris in the heart, and I seem to capture the dewy and metallic accords of violet leaves. Despite the smoky and slightly caramelised aspects, I can hardly perceive the caramel. But maybe I need more time. I have to wear it a little more on other occasions. When the fragrance reaches its finish, the smell of the leather is tenacious, sticky, and pitch dark. The same smell permeates the air when there is work in progress to renew the road surface, the smell of boiling tar poured, crushed, and levelled on the roadbed. Smoke. Ash. Something mossy and inky comes to me, and it’s the synthetic evernyl, the substitute for oakmoss. Without making comparisons or associations, the essence is like the one we find in Encre Noire Eau de Toilette, despite being two very different from each other. What remains on the blotter, even after a few days, is a hint of inked leather, waxy shoe polish, like the atmosphere you breathe in a tannery. The smell of shoe polish is typically masculine. For many men it evokes images of brave soldiers polishing their boots to a shine. The warm smell of shoe polish and leather filled the entire room, and usually lingered there after they were done. To conclude, the performance is fantastic, and this is the most powerful of the series. Perhaps the projection is not abysmal and is almost intimate, but the longevity is crazy. I feel it on me for many hours. It is suitable for a cool climate, and autumn and winter nights are perfect, although I admit I will use it on cooler evenings this spring. The wild side of leather and its voluptuous yet smooth qualities with a distinctive and contemporary tone. Raw and refined, vibrant and sophisticated. For a date, a dinner, or a night event. I'm basing my impressions on a bottle I've owned since March 2023 (BC 30680). Update: It is an anomalous autumn evening, October 14th, the temperatures are still pleasant, and in the historic centre of Milan you can easily dine outdoors. Between a dish and a sip of prosecco, the scents of this leathery creature reach my nose, and I realize that it is I who is projecting this elixir. I had to raise the rating to 10, there is no shadow of a doubt that this is among my favourites. -Elysium Updated on 10/15/2023

that smells like you. If I were to describe you in a picture, a scene, because I have never smelled anything like this, I would describe you as a warm blanket. The blanket that you take to the beach, where you have been since dawn. In the morning, the air is cool and mineral from the sand. By noon, it gets hot when the sun is almost directly overhead. You can smell sunscreen and a lightly sweet fruitiness in the air. But that’s still not you. You are there when we stay at the same beach, in the same spot until evening, and gradually more friends join us. There are snacks, a picnic blanket, and a small campfire, as the air is cool again. It is dark now, and you can only see the sea as a roaring shadow, apart from the sound. We go swimming again. We always do that. Because the water is now warmer than the air around us. And when we come out, we wrap ourselves in the picnic blanket, sit in the sand, and gaze as if hypnotized into the small but warm beach fire before our eyes, enjoying the moment like a dessert. A friend pulls out his acoustic guitar and plays a song that we all know and sing along softly. It is these moments with friends that give us the richness we otherwise try to create with material things. I find it hard to "break down" the scent; I don’t want to do that - for me, it is complex. It is warm and cool at the same time. It is fruity, leathery, and creamy all at once. That’s why this scenario came to mind. I can’t gauge what season I would wear it in, because it doesn’t exactly come off as very summery, but also not wintry. Possibly an all-rounder for me, that always works and always smells special. I would like to claim that I probably still know too little about what can be smelled in combination. But this has amazed me, and my first thought when spraying it was "wow, I’ve never smelled anything like this." A beautiful moment. Like when you gaze hypnotically into a campfire, wrapped in a blanket on the beach, when the sun has already set. M. Updated on 10/10/2025