Roma (Eau de Toilette).

Roma was conceived in 1988 as Laura Biagiotti’s olfactory tribute to the Eternal City. Annick Menardo translated the architect’s love of stone, sunrise and bustling piazzas into scent, choosing ingredients that echo Rome’s sun‑kissed façades and fragrant gardens. The name itself evokes the capital’s historic grandeur, while the formula mirrors its layered history, bright, floral, and warmly grounded.

The blend opens with pink grapefruit, mint and Sicilian bergamot, a crisp trio that captures the city’s citrus groves and cool morning air. Blackcurrant and hyacinth add a juicy, slightly green edge, while the heart of carnation, jasmine, rose and lily‑of‑the‑valley mirrors the blooming roses of Roman courtyards. The base weaves myrrh, amber, vanilla, sandalwood, oak‑moss, Singapore patchouli, civet, castoreum and musk, evoking ancient marble, warm stone and whispered incense in hidden chapels.

At first, the pink grapefruit and mint explode like a sunrise over the Tiber, sharp and invigorating for the opening ten minutes. Soon the bergamot and blackcurrant soften, letting hyacinth’s green whisper slip in, creating a bright, slightly herbaceous bridge. The heart unfurls around the 15‑minute mark: carnation’s crispness, jasmine’s silk, rose’s depth and lily‑of‑the‑valley’s watery purity mingle, forming a garden that feels both intimate and expansive. As the composition settles after half an hour, the base emerges, myrrh’s resinous glow, amber’s honeyed warmth, vanilla’s creamy sweetness, sandalwood’s dry elegance, oak‑moss’s earthy veil, Singapore patchouli’s earthy spice, a whisper of civet and castoreum that adds an animalic, almost sacred undertone. This drydown lingers for the next six to eight hours, leaving a powdery, slightly balsamic trail that clings to clothing and skin, echoing the lingering light of a Roman evening.

Since its 1988 debut, Roma has become a quiet staple among collectors who value its balanced blend of citrus vigor and warm oriental depth. It’s often cited as a quintessential late‑80s Italian Eau de Toilette, praised for its elegant evolution and lasting sillage, and continues to appear in vintage fragrance circles as a reference point for Mediterranean‑inspired compositions.