Gomma Etro for women and men

Leather perfumes are often defined by the 'leather +' principle. Leather + citrus (Azurée), leather + green (Bandit), leather + tar (Lonestar Memories), Leather + cumin (Rien.) These scents are all so different to me, but I enjoy them all.

Gomma’s leather is defined by florals and amber. But its plus-one is really rubber. I find that the sweet, powdery, slightly burnt rubber that is prominent from the start lasts all the way through. I would categorize Gomma as a leather, but my nose remembers it as a rubber. The amber sweetness is powdery, but it doesn’t have vanilla, and therefore keeps off Bvlgari Black’s turf. Gomma is direct but not aggressive in the least, and so stays off Knize Ten's turf.

I appreciate that this fragrance is in EDC concentration. It allows the fragrance to remain light despite its peculiar timber. Gomma is not so much linear as a bit of a striptease. Initially the notes are threefold---leather, floral, amber. But the leather is leathery rubber with a bit of tar; the floral is violet with an abstract white floral; the amber is powdery, sweet and full. The accord remains even as components fall away and in the end, you have a sweet, violet rubber.

I happened to smell Gomma by accident. I was in a store where I usually buy vintage fragrances and the SA, knowing my taste, suggested me to try this composition before leaving. As I was just showered and completely unscented I agreed for a full wearing...

Gomma's opening is quite impressing. A rubber effect (actually leather) that is penetrating but not too strong, slightly smoky with artemisia adding an astringent aspect that's pretty enjoyable but at the same time somehow challenging. After a couple of minutes some floral patterns and amber make their appearance and a strong sensation of "deja-vu" started to materialize in my head...it took a couple more minutes to realize that Gomma was incredibly similar to Knize Ten. Well, actually much more polished and toned down but I still quite alike.

Being a Knize Ten lover, I can't say that Gomma smells bad but I honestly expected something more original. Overall this composition could be a decent alternative for anyone who doesn't have the guts to face Knize Ten but be aware that the original name of Gomma used to be Knize Nine and Knize Nine < Knize Ten. It's not my opinion, it's mathematics.

Rating: 7.5/10

To me this is a light version of The Knize Ten. It doesn't have that leather blast at first that you get with TKT, but it does have that nice blend of powdery sweet/spice/leather when you get to the drydown. I get no rubber, pencil erasers, or anything like that, but rather a burnt quality, which doesn't last very long. The floral aspect serves to soften this up, but is not especially prominent otherwise. So, unless you need the "in your face" leather of TKT, you can save some money and get this instead, because the drydowns are quite similar. The projection/"sillage" on Gomma might be a bit less but longevity is excellent. What's odd is that the citrusy quality seems to become most evident far into the drydown!

Gomma smells like erasers from start to finish and it has a leathery accord to it.
It's a linear scent and it doesn't develop much, if not at all. If you like erasers' smell, then Gomma is for you.

Gomma is very fresh and efficient, good office scent.The first time I tried Gomma, I got the burnt rubber note(smells like eraser), not leather. It was really bad for me, but... Second try was the charm, I guess so. Now I smell a strong similarity to Tabac Blond, which for me is perfect! My only wish would be for Gomma to longer lasting.