10 Corso Como (1999)
by 10 Corso Como

like being hit in the face with a pot of geraniums planted in sandalwood powder. I adore this juice, but it is gone in 20 minutes on my skin. for those 20 minutes I am so soothed my the medicinal zing of those geraniums, and focused by the deep base of the sandalwood. I wish everyone else would smash their bottles of this so it could be all mine, mine, mine.
I have heard it compared to costes, which is another spicy, medicinal, woody favorite. Costes is more masculine, with cleaner lines, clearly made for a big space. 10 coso como is the atmosphere between your shirt and your bra, right over your heart.

Well, I guess individual chemistry does play a big part here. Trebor says 10 CC could turn out to be a nightmare and in my husband's case it did. We didn't get anything fresh or genuinely woody. In fact, it didn't smell like anything organic at all. The juice isn't especially potent, still, as it developed it stayed harsh, flat and horridly sweet, as offensive as acetone. Can't imagine this on a woman and wouldn't want to smell it again on a man, but maybe its just my man? Or my nose?

The bottle is cute, I agree.

Very nice, very red wine like. Sweet and woody, definitely red in color. Quite sharp but well blended and balanced. The thing that strikes me most is that the one is actually able to smell every single note that has been listed : Sandalwood, frankincense, musk, rose, geranium, vetiver and oud wood - it is all there to be noticed!
Very natural smelling overall, and most definitely unisex.

This is a subtle rose, cedar and sandalwood fragrance that is an introverted cousin of Rose 31 by Le Labo. Where Le Labo has a similar presentation, the personalities are different. In comparison, Rose 31 is more upfront, with greater projection and longevity. 10 Corso Como is wonderfully subtle and understated. A great place for a guy to experiment with rose. Why is this listed as a woman's fragrance only? Guys and gals will like this, or love this depending, on their appreciation for very subtle fragrances.

I received a sample of 10 Corso Como as a freebie. I tried it on a cool, crisp morning without much in the way of expectations and it totally wowed me! Cedar is the predominant note in 10 Corso Como but it is tempered with sweet sandalwood, musk and light incense. Having mentioned the incense, I must say that I normally find incense off-putting (no Bond Chinatown for me!). However, 10 Corso Como did not have that effect at all. Rather, the incense note was warm and woody, kind of like incense that you might find burning in a sophisticated apartment in Milan in October.

I found 10 Corso Como to be very similar to Ormonde Jayne's Isfarkand, only with a bit more warmth and without the pink pepper rush.

In closing, 10 Corso Como is an expensive smelling scent that would be the perfect to wear in the fall, just as the leaves are turning and you snuggle into a Loro Piana cashmere sweater for the first time that season.

As others have already mentioned, skin chemistry plays a very important role here – wearing this could either be a pleasure or simply a nightmare. For me, there is something about 10 Corso Como that I just don't like. On my skin, it smells like cheap red wine (which is supposedly the plum note) - this sharp resinous accord takes ages to subside and irritates more than it intrigues. I did detect some oud but it wasn’t as evident as I had expected. As for the drydown, this was nothing more than a whisper of sandalwood with remnants of what went on before (i.e. not much). Although its lasting power is okay, its sillage is below average.

10 Corso Como isn't a complete failure, though - more a sore disappointment. Definitely a case of try before you buy.