Scentrack:
Waters
– Trying Hard To Look Inside
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| Photo by T.D. |
Beside perfumery, hiking is another
obsession of mine. While hiking I finally get a chance to leave my usual daily
routines behind. All my worries are transported somewhere else, and I am concentrating
solely on rocky trails, cold wind on my face and majestic nature around me.
Special moments when I feel how small I am compared to this grandiose
organism. Simple and dangerous in all
its beauty and diversity. Special moments when I have the opportunity to know
myself better as well. To look inside my soul squeezed by business and other
social demands.
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| Source: Zara |
The beautiful characteristic of all woodsy
scents, including Zara Scent No. 1, is an ability to instantly transport me to
these introspective moments of being somewhere in the mountains. It could be just
some kind of primordial reflexes to go back to the roots, after being exposed
to urban insanity. My personal vaccination against the modern world. Scent No.
1 is a classic dry woodsy scent. It burst from woodiness, but in a very elegant
manner. It opens with a strong cedar note accompanied by nice soft leather
accord. The important perfumer’s trick was to introduce a soft and vivid violet
note to give another dimension to this darker woodsy leather combo. The clean
cedar note is, to my nose, deepen with a Guaiac wood to give a slight smoky
touch to the overall composition. The whole scent is dry with some pale powdery
aspects. Although, Scent No. 1 is promoted as a sandalwood-based composition I
do not feel the usual sandalwood characteristics. In the fragrance community
this composition is often compared to Le Labo’s Santal 33, but unfortunately I
have not tried Santal 33 thus cannot make a comparison. Knowing Zara’s constant
effort to release niche brand knockoffs I believe there might be some
similarities. To me Scent No.1 seems to have some sharing vibes with Comme des
Garcon Wonderwood, Canali Style and very similar to Zara Tiveden. The performance
of Scent No. 1 is average. Longevity is average, but sillage is very soft. I do not to be overly harsh to this
composition due to its absolute bargain price. For around 11€ Euros Zara
delivers a very nicely constructed and elegant scent. In fact, to this date I
consider it, in my opinion, as the best scent released by Zara. I would gladly
pay three times more for a similar scent with deeper aspects and better
performance.
Overall, Scent No. 1 is a solid release
from the house of Zara. For a very modest price, one could have an elegant woodsy
scent for an escape from urban.
Longevity / Projection
Solid (6-8 hours) / Soft
Suggested wearing
Autumn, spring or winter / Day or night
Alternatives
Zara
Tiveden - a very similar release,
unfortunately already discontinued
Comme des Garcon Wonderwood – similar
woodsy and powdery aspects
Canali Style – some similar leather vibe
Carner Barcelona Palo Santo – a touch of
Guaiac wood
Le Labo Santal 33 – this connection you
should check by yourselves
Pros
Elegant woods
Nicely executed and
devoid of usual cheap vibe
Bargain price
Nice bottle
Cons
Linear
Possible performance issues
Possibly already discontinued
Rating
7.5 / 10
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