born in roma

Uomo Born in Roma Green Stravaganza by Valentino

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Valentino’s Born in Roma series continues to roll along on both the men’s and women’s side of their fragrances. Uomo Born in Roma Green Stravaganza was released by the designer in 2024, but I recently bought some more perfume samples and received this one as a part of the lot.

So, after testing this Green scent out, how does it smell? Does it last long? Is it actually worth a try? Below is my complete and updated review of this cologne.

Born in Roma Green Stravaganza Review

Notes include: bergamot, coffee, vetiver

Click here to try: Green Stravaganza

My Take

Here’s how Valentino describes it: A fougere ambery fragrance, uplifting your extravagance with the bright Calabria bergamot heart, a fresh aromatic complex, and an addictive coffee accord.

So, Born in Roma Green Stravaganza is a fairly simple fragrance. It’s paired down so that it can be the line’s go to option for the spring and summer months.

The opening is mostly about the bergamot note. It actually sort of reminds me a bit of YSL’s Myslf up top. Same use of citrus. However, here it doesn’t take on the same level of juiciness and intensity.

The bergamot is smoothed out by the inclusion of coffee. The coffee accord isn’t heavy or dominant, but it’s used to beef up the scent a bit while maintaining its freshness. It darkens the feeling of the wear compared to the usual bright and citrus-laden summer colognes.

As we move along, the bergamot will lose a good deal of its power, and Born in Roma Green Stravaganza will be much more of a balanced bled.

It’s fresh, somewhat earthy and greenish at times thanks to the inclusion of the vetiver note. The dry down has a soapy/amber finish to it. I think there is a light ‘amber’ note that isn’t listed and the greenish finish is pretty vetiver heavy on my skin.

Not much obvious coffee aroma left and I can still detect the citrus that prevents a complete domination by the vetiver.

That’s about it with this cologne.

Projection, Longevity, and Versatility

The opening here actually does have some weight to it and reach, as far as the projection goes. It will leave a fairly substantial scent trail in one’s wake for the first 30-60 minutes, with a decent amount of sprays.

But, that will tone down into something that could be considered a lighter moderate scent for most of the wear. It’s noticeable for a majority of the wear, but isn’t going to be in your face about it, before it turns completely into a skin scent.

For me, I get somewhere in the 6-6.5 hour range of use out of Green Stravaganza. It’s about what I was expecting, something simple and for the warmer weather, and not a dense long-lasting powerhouse.

Seasonally, again, this one is spring and summer for most places. If you live in a warmer climate, I guess that will be more year round for your area. It’s fine in more moderate temperatures.

I don’t think that it would smell bad in colder weather, but maybe feel out of place with it’s livelier ‘greenish’ aroma.

This Born in Roma isn’t a serious fragrance or a nightlife scent. It’s not completely juvenile or informal. I’ve been wearing it around as a casual daytime fragrance when I’m running errands around town or just lounging around the house. Something along those lines.

Overall Impressions of Uomo Born in Roma Green Stravaganza

Overall, do I like this cologne? I do, even if I ultimately think that it falls short of being something that is truly great. In the end, I think it’s a pretty good scent that wouldn’t be a bad pickup at the right price.

The opening act with the bergamot at its peak, blended with the coffee accord giving the fragrance some more depth is really quite attractive. It works well on a warmer day and is my favorite part of the wear.

After that, it’s fine. The general woodsy aroma with some soapy touches in the dry down is fine. I’m not enthralled with the back half of Green Stravaganza and it really doesn’t hold much interest for me.

The performance is middle of the road, but still better than a lot of fragrances that are spring and summer wears.

I have finished out my samples of this scent for this review. I won’t personally be grabbing a bottle of this Valentino, but I do think that it’s a solid enough effort from this line.

Uomo Born in Roma Yellow Dream vs Coral Fantasy

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Uomo Born in Roma has become an extremely popular line of fragrances for Valentino and is producing new flanker scents each year. Two of these flankers to the original are: Yellow Dream and Coral Fantasy.

But, which of these two actually smell better? Which lasts longer? Which is ultimately the better buy? Here is my full breakdown and comparison of each, after having tested each of them out.

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

Coral Fantasy

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

Click here to try: Uomo Coral Fantasy

Read my review: Coral

roma coral fantasy review

Yellow Dream

Notes include: gingerbread, lime, pineapple, cinnamon, vanilla, lavender, cedar, geranium

Click here to try: Born in Roma Yellow Dream

Opening

Coral Fantasy opens with a sweet and succulent red apple note, supported by cardamom and other spices in more subtle roles.

Sage and some citrusy bergamot round out the opening profile. That bergamot enhances the red apple beautifully. Very bright and fairly sharp.

In the later stages, freshness emerges through geranium, clean-smelling lavender, and tobacco.

Meanwhile, Yellow Dream opens up with some light freshness and juiciness from its fruity notes. The pineapple is slightly stronger than then mandarin orange, but both are somewhat subdued by the warmer and spicier notes.

There’s already a heaviness in the base. I get lots of the gingerbread accord, obviously we’re going to have plenty of ginger and cinnamon spice in this mix.

Though, that vanilla note is already fairly present from the jump.

Which is better?

I like both in the opening act, but Coral Fantasy has a more unique and ultimately somewhat better dynamic at the start of the wear than does Yellow Dream.

Edge: Coral

Projection

Coral Fantasy is a more moderate fragrance overall. It doesn’t achieve the same reach as Intense or even the EDT, though it does start reasonably strong.

It’s also not as heavy of a scent as Intense or others in the line, like Rockstud Noir.

Yellow Dream is also pretty moderate with how it projects. It is the heavier and thicker of the two fragrances and I also think that it has a bit better projection than Coral Fantasy.

Not a massive difference, but I’d give the edge to Born in Roma Yellow Dream.

Edge: Yellow Dream

Longevity

Coral Fantasy tends to persist in that 6-7 hour territory. Perhaps slightly longer, but I still consider it a step down compared to Roma EDT.

With Yellow Dream, I get more than 7 hours and maybe it hits 8 or 8.5 hours in total sometimes. It’s not an absolute beast with its performance, but it does have a slight advantage again here over Coral Fantasy.

Neither is great, Yellow Dream is just better.

Edge: Yellow Dream

Versatility

Seasonally, both of these work best from autumn through spring. Neither is built for hotter weather, but can do just fine when things are temperate.

Coral Fantasy has more of an extension into warmer weather than does the heavier Yellow Dream.

They’re both quite versatile in their use cases. Coral Fantasy and Yellow Dream can be worn by any age group, though these aren’t very formal fragrances. Both will have more use cases among the younger age cohort.

One is cozy and spicy sweet, while the other is more of a sweet, tobacco, and woodsy aroma.

Not much separation here.

Edge: Push

Overall Scent

So, overall which of these two Valentino fragrances is the better one between them? Which do I actually prefer wearing?

With Born in Roma Coral Fantasy, I was excited to try it out upon its release. Ultimately, it wasn’t as good as I had hoped for.

The apple note is good and is the highlight of the fragrance, but I was expecting more. It was above average with decent performance.

Though, it’s saving grace in this competition could’ve been that Yellow Dream isn’t particularly outstanding either.

Yet, having worn both of these fragrances quite a lot, I still think that I prefer Yellow Dream more so than Coral.

I like the opening act of Coral Fantasy, but then it becomes pretty unremarkable. Yellow Dream is pretty good throughout at least, with moments where it is much better. To me, it’s just a steadier level of enjoyment.

There’s not a huge gap in my opinion of all the releases from the Born in Roma line. These two are almost neck and neck, but I have actually wanted to wear Yellow Dream here recently, and that was not the case when I had a bunch of samples of Coral Fantasy.

I basically forgot about it after I did my testing and review of that cologne.

Winner: Yellow Dream

Ranking Uomo Born in Roma Colognes

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Uomo Born in Roma is the men’s side of the very popular Valentino Born in Roma fragrance line. There are now more than a handful of colognes that have been released by the brand, but which is the best smelling of them? Which is the right option for you?

Uomo Born in Roma Fragrances Ranked

Note: This is the list as of now. I have yet to try the newest release, nor have I gotten a hold of the now discontinued ‘The Gold’ Born in Roma cologne. I will update, as soon as I come across those scents.

The Best Roma

Born in Roma Intense– To me, this is the best of the bunch thus far. I wasn’t expecting much from it, following my testing of the EDT version, but Intense surprised to the upside.

Now, do I think it’s a great fragrance? No. I don’t think any of these Valentino colognes are amazing, Born in Roma Intense is just a clear cut number one among the rest.

Intense opens with fresh sweetness. The original was sweeter with more Invictus vibes, but they share similarities.

The major difference is the lavender note running throughout, which keeps it from becoming too candy-sweet, though it still flirts with that territory. I  really appreciate the lack of mineral oil/saltiness accord that gave me headaches in the original.

After 20 minutes, Intense becomes a balanced lavender and vanilla combination that feels almost unisex.

The dry down is lavender and vetiver on my skin. Vanilla and amber provide support, but it’s much less sweet and more of a floral/fougere aromatic. Clean and easy to wear. Intense review

Warm and Cozy

Yellow Dream– I’m not sure that I have much of a preference between Yellow Dream and Coral Fantasy or Green Stravaganza. It might be recency bias, but I would probably lean more toward wanting to wear Yellow Dream.

Is it a great Born in Roma scent? It’s sort of like a better and warmer version of Stronger with You Freeze. Lots of overlap in terms of smell and style between Uomo Yellow Dream and that series from Armani, particularly with Freeze.

At no point am I offended by it, while at the same time I’m never quite wowed by this cologne either. It’s just nice, warm, and wearable.

There are points of the development where the gingerbread, pineapple, spice, and vanilla are working together in concert quite well. This is a cozy wear that should be popular with those who like a sweet and spicy gourmand for the autumn and winter months.

The Rock

Rockstud Noir– I’m pretty sure that this edition is already discontinued. It’s a better version of the original EDT, mixed with elements of the Ralph’s Club scents and Y Le Parfum.

But, I think I’d rather wear the YSL scent than this one. Polo? It’s a toss up. I like the opening here more, I think.

If you’re a fan of the original EDT, you’ll probably really enjoy this one. I’m not, but I do like this more as a cologne.

You do get a powerful start from the bergamot here. It is actually stronger and juicier than what Green Stravaganza provides. It’s backed up by sage and ambergris.

It has a clean and somewhat blue-ish sort of freshness to it. This is probably the most versatile daily wear of the bunch. That opening with the full bergamot and sage is when this is at its peak. After that? Fine. Not too interesting

Green Fresh

Green Stravaganza– Imperfect. Simple. Green Stravaganza really had an opportunity to be a great cologne, but instead is slightly better to me versus the rest of the list. Really not much separating it and Yellow Dream, for example.

What’s good here? The bergamot. It’s like YSL Myslf (at the start) without the major floral note. Instead, you get the citrus freshness with a light touch from a coffee accord.

It’s fresh, somewhat earthy and greenish at times thanks to the inclusion of the vetiver note. The dry down has a soapy/amber finish to it.

The simplicity here is at the same time a mark against it and also a selling point. It’s steady throughout, in terms of my enjoyment of it. But also, I don’t feel like it reaches the same highs as Yellow or Coral Dream.

A Fantasy

Coral Fantasy– This is the Born in Roma that I was really wanting to try out, when it was released, and the fragrance does open up with a pretty interesting aroma.

The crisp red apple note is the star, with its sweet and juicy scent getting paired early on with cardamom and some spices.

That red apple note is great with the cardamom and bergamot, lending some warmth and slight lemon-like fruitiness of its own with the spice. The sage is another major note.

The transition into the next phase, does come on early. The initial fruitiness will begin to fade. Geranium freshness will permeate, the lavender and tobacco notes will begin to show up, and the red apple will be a role player.

At this point, it is a colder, drier, freshness. Overall, I don’t think it’s that much better than the EDT. A nice enough fragrance, but ultimately was a disappointment to me. Coral Fantasy review

roma coral fantasy review

Original Roma

Born in Roma EDT– The original is okay to me. The first few times I tried it out, I got a headache from it. After that, it was fine, just not all that great nor is it very original for much of the wear.

Born in Roma smells a lot like the original Invictus and Invictus Aqua in the opening act. Roma has that same artificial candy-like sweetness.

The difference is that it is toned down in the Valentino and there aren’t any citrus notes, as in Invictus. Instead, this one gives me a very prominent mineral accord (like mineral oil’s smell) and violet leaf (which is also in Invictus Aqua).

With that, some light ginger, salt, and some sage also come through. It’s not an aquatic and the mineral accord is the equivalent of the Invictus ambergris.

The back half is where Born in Roma begins to have its own personality. Less of that candy-like sweetness and more of a soapy/fresh clean scent. The main notes that I get throughout are: violet leaf, mineral accord, vetiver, and wood. Born in Roma review

Born in Roma Intense vs Coral Fantasy

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Born in Roma is a popular series for Valentino, both on the men’s and women’s sides of the roster. Uomo Born in Roma has spawned off some well-liked colognes, two of which are: Intense and Coral Fantasy.

But, which of these two scents is better? In terms of how each smells and performs. I’ve worn and reviewed both Valentino options and will break things down in this post.

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

Uomo Born in Roma Intense

Notes include: vanilla, amber, lavender, vetiver

Click here to try: Born in Roma Intense

Read my review: Intense

Coral Fantasy

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

Click here to try: Uomo Coral Fantasy

Read my review: Coral

roma coral fantasy review

Opening

Uomo Born in Roma Intense delivers some sweetness up front, but certainly doesn’t reach the same levels as the original release in this series.

The lavender plays a major part here, actually tempering the sweetness in this iteration.

Those mineral notes? Completely absent. I personally wasn’t a fan of them in the original, so I’m quite happy they’ve been eliminated.

Intense follows a distinctly different path than the EDT version. After that initial sweetness dissipates, it’s predominantly a lavender and vanilla experience.

Coral Fantasy begins with a sharp and succulent red apple note, which is flanked by cardamom with other spices in more subtle supporting roles.

Sage and some citrusy bergamot complete the opening profile. That bergamot pads out the red apple nicely. In the later stages, a freshness emerges through geranium, clean lavender, and tobacco.

Which is better?

It’s a close call for me. I do like what Coral Fantasy brings at the very start. It’s interesting, but I like the smell of Intense more in this part of the wear.

Edge: Intense

Projection

Born in Roma Intense delivers a powerful opening act, quite substantial, with a great projection . Particularly during those initial one to two hours.

No complaints regarding this aspect of the cologne. It’s definitely noticeable and leaves a pleasant scent trail behind you, for the rest of the wear.

Coral Fantasy is a more moderate fragrance overall. It doesn’t achieve the same reach as Intense or even the EDT, though it also starts reasonably strong. It’s also just not as heavy of a scent as is Intense.

Edge: Intense

Longevity

For much of my wearing experience, it remained primarily a skin scent. Roma Intense endured about 8.5-9 hours on my skin.

In my estimation, it wasn’t significantly superior to the original Born in Roma EDT regarding longevity. It’s certainly respectable, just not top-tier performance.

Coral Fantasy tends to persist in that 6-7 hour territory. Perhaps slightly longer, but I still consider it a step down compared to Roma EDT.

Edge: Intense

Versatility

Seasonally, both of these are best from autumn through the spring. Neither is built for hotter weather, but can do just fine when things are temperate.

They’re both quite versatile in their use cases. Can be worn by any age group, though, these aren’t very formal fragrances. Day or night wear for each of them is fine.

No real separation in this category.

Edge: Push

Overall Scent

Overall, which of these fragrances do I prefer?

I really do like the opening performance of Roma Intense quite a lot. It’s not perfect, but it is one that grabs my attention

Plus, this represents the peak of my enjoyment. The latter parts of Born in Roma Intense smells good enough, but strikes me as fairly uninspiring.

There’s nothing particularly thrilling  with it. Intense is merely a lavender and vetiver combination with lingering vanilla and amber emerging from the base.

Nevertheless, it remains a pleasant cologne with solid performance and deserves the win, when compared to Coral.

With Born in Roma Coral Fantasy, I was excited to try it out upon its release. Ultimately, it wasn’t as good as I had hoped for. The apple note is good and is the highlight of the fragrance, but I was expecting more

It was above average with decent performance.

Note: You could pick up something like the Dua Brand’s ‘inspired by’ version: Rome in Coral Fantasy to go along with a bottle of Roma Intense, if you really can’t decide between these two.

So, with either of these colognes, I think that they are likeable. It’s just that neither is all that great. However, Born in Roma Intense is my favorite thus far from this Valentino series and it gets the win here.

Winner: Intense

Uomo Born in Roma Intense by Valentino

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Uomo Born in Roma Intense is the 2023 flanker to the ongoing fragrance series by Valentino. I haven’t been a particularly big fan of Born in Roma entries thus far, especially the original release. As such, I wasn’t all that excited to try this Intense version out. How does it actually smell, though? Does it last long? Is it worth a try?

What does Uomo Born in Roma Intense Smell Like?

Notes include: vanilla, amber, lavender, vetiver

Click here to try: Born in Roma Intense

My Full Review

Here’s how Valentino describes it: A fougere ambery fragrance combining the intensity of lavandin with an addictive vanilla.

Intense opens up with a fresh sweetness about it. The original was sweeter to me and had more of an Invictus style, but there is similarities here. One major difference is the lavender note that is present throughout.

It sort of tempers things from venturing too far into the candy-like sweetness realm. Though, it still flirts with it. I also appreciate the lack of mineral oil/saltiness in this Intense version. That gave me a headache while testing the original.

Intense becomes more of a lavender and vanilla combination after about 20 minutes or so. Very balanced and almost unisex with how it comes across. Could be a unisex version of the YSL Libre line.

They don’t seem to go into much detail regarding all of the notes. But, I think this has some of the same sage note, as the original and Coral Fantasy. Not to the same extent, however. Possibly some tonka bean? This fragrance totally has Luna Rossa Sport vibes.

The final dry down is like a lavender and vetiver blend on my skin. The vanilla and amber are in support, but this is much less sweet, and more of a floral/fougere aromatic for the rest of the way. Clean and easy to wear.

Sillage, Longevity, and Versatility

The sillage opens up even stronger than Born in Roma. With that, I got 5-8 feet of projection off of where I sprayed. This seems to hit an extra foot or two for that first hour. Not massively more powerful, but it does take things to a slight higher level.

After that, it settles into the same sort of moderate performance. That being said, I still could detect it for a good long while without having to press my nose in closer.

It sticks around for 8.5-9 hours, on my skin. Very nice for a mainstream designer cologne like this. That should be a boost for its popularity.

Seasonally, this is going to be an autumn through springtime wear. It’s fresh, but just a little too heavy/thick for the summer months. In cold or moderate temperatures, Born in Roma Intense comes off well.

The versatility is one of its main strengths, if not the biggest selling point. Day or nighttime wear. You can wear it casually or more dressed up. It has mass appeal and an attractiveness that can work on dates.

For the non-enthusiast or collector of fragrances, you won’t need much more than something like this in your rotation.

Overall Impressions of Born in Roma Intense

Overall, do I like Intense? I do. It’s my favorite of the Born in Roma line thus far. It’s still nothing groundbreaking or anything, but Intense delivers a good experience overall.

I like that initial sweetness, in its more tolerable form versus the other entries in the series. That blended with a strong lavender, vanilla, and the amber coming from the base is nice. Not sickly and has a great freshness.

The back half of the wear is kind of boring to me. Doesn’t smell bad, but Intense gets pretty linear and the development is basically non-existent.

This isn’t too original. Similarities with the other Born in Roma’s, Luna Rossa Sport, and some of the Most Wanted by Azzaro fragrances. Not exactly like any of them, but takes cues from them all.

While it doesn’t hit the ‘great’ level for me, it does everything well enough that I think this one is pretty safe to grab a full bottle of for most guys. Unless you’re not a big fan of lavender, this probably won’t ever be a complete waste.

Personally, it’s too borderline for me to want a full bottle, but I’m glad that Valentino finally put out a good Born in Roma for men.