Victrix by Profumum Roma

An exquisite aroma where oakmoss shines alongside citrus, vetiver, and laurel with a hint of pepper. It’s herbal and refined, but the longevity and projection fall short. What a pity, because it’s a masterpiece. It evokes maturity, confidence, and elegance—a gentleman’s fragrance. So far, my first time with laurel as the star. Perfect as an elegant signature scent for spring-summer.

It left me cold. I see it more as a personal fragrance; I feel it might come across as intrusive to many due to its astringent and dry character. It would be the serious sibling of Encre Noire. It only softens during the dry-down, starting to recall Molecule 01 with the Iso E-Super load. It has quality in its notes, but little charm. To my nose, the pepper and green vetiver stand out, with very little laurel. Longevity is over 8 hours, but versatility is very limited. I won’t buy it; for me, it’s not worth it. It carries too much Iso E-Super and lacks both charm and usability. Au revoir!

It’s a masterpiece. It’s distinct, special, and distinguished. I’ll refrain from describing its scent because it’s so hard to put into words; you just have to smell it. I’ll only say that beneath that lovely blend of laurel and pepper emerges an earthy sweetness that’s absolutely captivating. I don’t know what Roman domus would have smelled like, but laurel is a plant that in ancient Rome was associated with victors, hence the fragrance’s name. I wholeheartedly agree with Spartacus that this carries a lot of Iso E Super. In fact, in its final phase, when the perfume fades, I’m left with a scent very similar to Molecule 01.

Victrix brings me the rain and its scents. I adore it; I’d sell several perfumes and keep only this one.

The Victrix by Profumum Roma tries to recreate the scent of ancient Roman ‘domus’, a nod to Rome’s history in the form of a fragrance. It opens fresh and sparkling with unspecified citrus and pepper. Then, laurel takes over, dominating alongside oakmoss and vetiver. On my skin, I notice soft smoky notes that remind me of incense (also not listed). It’s a scent that smells of pines, cypress, moss, and damp earth… very evocative. Extremely elegant, versatile, it conveys class and a ‘classic’ distinction. I bought it a few months ago and it doesn’t strictly remind me of any other perfume. Its longevity on my skin exceeds 8 hours, with moderate sillage and projection. One of my favorites from my favorite perfumery.

What a fucking great perfume, this Victrix. Remember that Instagram phrase: ‘oh, it’s so me’? Well, damn, this is pure ‘me,’ I’m blown away. That delicate, woody, earthy side has me hooked, those field mists loaded with Iso E Super (here it’s in bulk) creating swirls of sawdust, vaporized from the garden and low-lying hills where happy little mice run. Early 20th-century woody and spicy waters, with the consistency of something futile and silent that lingers on the skin and reactivates with heat. It’s a blend of badger shaving brush, a kick to a hare’s earth, traces of quality cotton, of home and countryside, of things that do no harm and shouldn’t cost more than sixty euros, but by God, this thing smells amazing. I see the notes, and for me, it should have started with angelica; amidst kilos of Iso, I smell that velvet, damp packaging of wild and cold flowers, divine. I also imagined a very soft, almost non-existent vetiver, you know it’s there because you’ve been sniffing perfumes for a thousand years, but it’s not the main character. At some point, amidst the incredibly oily cedar accord (yes, I know it’s Iso, cheap and in bulk bottles, but let me dream), a hint of the garden appears, of freshly pulled vegetables. It’s like feeling in your nose the moment a hand pulls a carrot or potato with a hoe, that instant that has obsessed me since I was a kid (I grew up in the countryside) where the moisture of intact earth mixes with the air and the steel of the tool… it’s not petrichor, which smells stronger, it’s the earthy, ecstatic scent of pure, hard earth, of earth with worms. Seriously, I’m floating in a cloud. That’s what Victrix smells like, an overpriced perfume of pure earth with a natural sweetness. I’ve been obsessed with that scent for years, it’s part of my olfactory memory; I had the luck to live a childhood surrounded by goats, rabbits, donkeys, peppers, cherries, and irrigation ditches. Those smells are mine, and here they are recreated perfectly: that childhood moment lying in the garden, dirty and in worn clothes, in glory, under the shade of trees, plunging a hand into the earth and playing with a fresh, sensual worm, while pure earth chords arrive, like smelling a wet jar. Accompanying the fine earth tone, there are scales of spicy and woody sweetness. Here, the fresh, mossy, twinkling spices, of a precious greenery, have their part. In the end, Victrix is freshly dug earth and the gentle water tone of things like that Céline for men. What am I supposed to say? I can’t recommend it, it’s ridiculously expensive, it’s not worth two euros per ml, not even inflated like wine or in a delirium, especially considering the amount of Iso E Super it carries, which sells for two bucks. But it moved me like it hasn’t in a long time, I feel it has my name written on it. I need it, I want it. And I know I’ll buy it.