C0R4N0L by Zara

Zara’s Coranol is a fragrance I bought about 5 years ago, and at first I didn’t like it entirely, but I stuck with it until I gave up; now I find it again at the end of my collection and my perception has changed. It’s a woody and linear fragrance, which isn’t bad since it doesn’t deceive you: its opening is its finish. It has a longevity of 6 hours… I’m glad I didn’t give it away.

Smells like dog kibble.

Minimalist, childish, and summery. It suggests a very clean, neat, and well-groomed boy. The longevity is quirky: it seems to disappear for a moment before returning in the dry down with full force, lasting a solid 5 or 6 hours. It’s not a bad smell; it reminds me of childhood, but I can’t see a practical use for it. EDIT: The next day, I could still smell it on my clothes—great longevity, 12 hours.

Coranol is interesting. I tested it in the square bottle last season and now a couple of times in the new round one. It’s linear but full of nuances. I suppose the Coranol molecule gives it that spiced-herbal and semi-sweet vibe, with hints of violet, violet leaves, and spicy cardamomo close to cinnamon. I even catch a green note. In the base, there’s an Iso-E super book note that takes over after about 30 minutes; it smells like cedar, but also dust and wet earth. The whole thing is fantastic. Pity the performance, especially the trail, which is so poor. There are some lovely traces of turpentine resin around. Contradicting the previous review, this immediately reminds me of Gucci No. 2 for Men and Sculpture’s God’s Night. If they release a slightly more concentrated version in an octagonal bottle next season, it will definitely sell out.

I’ve hit the jackpot, but the battery life is short, not even half a TV broadcast. It doesn’t disappear quickly; I put it on my hand at 1 PM and it was still there at 7 PM, but with such a fine trail that it’s barely noticeable, stuck right to the skin. It’s a shame that a cologne like this, a minimalist woody water style from the late nineties with elegance and that cosmopolitan, intellectual air, performs so poorly. It wouldn’t be a tragedy, but it’s hard to find bare-wood fragrances with that 1999 New York skyscraper aesthetic, that clean woody tone that drives me crazy, so when I find one, I celebrate. This has been a huge disappointment due to the performance… Coranol smells like raw wood, freshly cut wood with bits of fresh resin; upon testing, I’m reminded of two similar scents: Armani’s Bois d’Encens and the already discontinued Celine for Men. It has that same vibe of fresh sawdust, alcohol, cedar with flashes of laboratory sweetness, a really pretty thing. The cardamomo was hard to pick up, but once I forgot it was in the composition, it hit me with notable force. When it finally gives up, what remains is a sweet cedar tone facing off against a very cool powdery cardamomo and some green facets that aren’t vegetal—a tree-bark green that had me sniffing like crazy. What a pity that a cologne like this, a handsome guy with glasses and a white shirt, a rare bird these days, has such terrible performance. I hate this era quite a bit; there’s so much of that sticky male perfume stuff with tonka, vanilla, praline, red pepper, cinnamon, and smoky leather, but classic daily woody sports scents are scarce, to say the least. You either buy a burnt-out party animal for nights or a sugary aquatic for the day, and I can’t stand either. Anyway, since I’m half a slob, I bought a bottle, even if just for walking around the house, because it really smells great.