Uomo Born in Roma vs Coral Fantasy

Born in Roma is a series from Valentino which has enjoy pretty massive success for the brand, in both the men’s and women’s side of things.

Uomo Born in Roma has now spawned a bunch of flanker colognes and the number seems to be growing each year. One of the more popular options, is Coral Fantasy.

In this post, I want to compare these two scents. Which one smells better? Lasts longer? Is the better fragrance to buy?

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Tale of the Tape: Uomo Born in Roma vs Coral Fantasy

Born in Roma

Notes include: ginger, salt, mineral notes, sage, vetiver, violet leaf 

Click here to try: Valentino Uomo Born In Roma EDT 3.4 oz / 100 ml Men’s Spray 

My review: Born in Roma

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Born in Roma Coral Fantasy

Notes include: red apple, tobacco, patchouli, sage, geranium

Click here to try: Uomo Coral Fantasy

Read my review: Coral

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Opening

The opening of Born in Roma is sweet with a strong mineral note, and an aquatic sort of feel thanks to a salt and violet leaf combination. It really does remind me of a blend of Invictus and Invictus Aqua, at this point.

The ginger is light, but it adds a nice freshness to the mix and as this one dry down it will become cleaner and soapier, with less resemblance to those Paco Rabanne fragrances.

Coral Fantasy opens up with a crisp and juicy red apple note, which is mainly paired with cardamom and some other spices playing a lesser supporting role.

Sage and some citrus bergamot round things out at the top. Later, we get a freshness with geranium, lavender clean, and tobacco.

Which is better?

I like Coral Fantasy more at the opening. The apple is nice and it has a more unique aroma than what I get from the original which apes the Invictus line a bit too much.

Edge: Coral Fantasy

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Projection

Born in Roma EDT actually starts things off pretty strong. I can detect it from up to 8 feet away, when I spray it on a t-shirt and walk away. That’s with a few sprays.

After that, it settles into something that is more moderate, but it’s not a weak scent at all.

Coral Fantasy is a much more moderate scent, on the whole. It doesn’t reach the same heights as EDT, but has a solid enough start.

Much of the wear for me, was as a skin scent.

Edge: Born in Roma 

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Longevity

With Born in Roma, I’ve gotten between 7-8.5 hours on skin, during my testing of this colognes. It’s pretty solid with what it delivers, but nothing that elite and it never came close to double digit hours in my experience.

Coral Fantasy seems to fall in that 6-7 hour range. Maybe a little longer, but I still think it’s a step down from Roma EDT.

They’re not too far off from one another, but EDT takes this category.

Edge: Born in Roma

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Versatility

Roma EDT feels more like a spring and summertime fragrance to me. But, really anytime it’s moderate to warmer outside, it should be good.

Coral Fantasy is better in autumn and winter, but still quite nice in the more temperate days. I wouldn’t venture into the summer with this one.

Each of these skews younger with it’s target demographic. Especially the early stages, I do think that Coral Fantasy is the more versatile scent with its age range in the back half of the wear. Feels well put together.

Also, I think it fits in slightly better in a wider range of scenarios.

Edge: Coral Fantasy

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Overall Scent

Overall, which of these two Born in Roma colognes do I actually enjoy more?

With Born in Roma EDT, I think that the dry down is better than how it opens, but I still not completely sold on what I get with this fragrance. It’s fine.

Though, I have to say that violet leaf and mineral notes are not my personal favorite ingredients to smell. So, others may enjoy this one a lot more than me. The performance is better and this a pretty good cologne all around.

With Born in Roma Coral Fantasy, I was excited to try it, back when it came out. The apple opening is good and I thought that the overall experience would be great.

Turned out to be pretty good with good enough performance. I do slightly prefer how it smells versus the original Born in Roma EDT, but it’s not by much.

I’d personally go with Coral Fantasy because I actually get something at least somewhat different with its entire presentation, even if I don’t think that this Valentino is ultimately an amazing fragrance.

Winner: Coral Fantasy