FRAGRANCE | Rajo Uno EDT by Bench: An inexpensive local gem

Philippine retail giant Bench has been many a high schooler's go-to shop for cheap colognes, myself included. And even during my college years, Bench has remained a staple. I remember Bench Ei8ht was very popular with many people back then although my favorites were their body sprays Cielo and L'Amoureux. Through the years their roster of fragrances has only grown by leaps and bounds, with a lot of them made in collaboration with celebrities and fashion designers like Rajo Laurel.

Laurel has two fragrances with the house: Rajo Uno and Rajo Dos, both in EDT concentration and which have been around for a while now. I tried them both in-store and got the former because I gravitated more towards its scent profile. Props for presentation because for something so inexpensive (Php 528 for a 100ml bottle), I'm impressed with the minimalist bottle with an oversize cap. The box, too! Made of relatively hard carton, it takes after the styles of Amouage and Memo Paris where the larger top part is completely removed to reveal the bottle fitted into the box's base. It also comes with a small leaflet describing the fragrance.

Rajo Uno opens with a mix of different citruses. It's bright but never sharp, perhaps tempered with hints of sweetness. Again, for something this cheap, it doesn't pierce your nostrils even right after spraying. There's also an underlying patchouli this early in the game.

As the citruses start to relax, I get a faint trace of ginger but only when I stick my nose to where I sprayed. Not long after does the patchouli properly reveal itself in all its full, earthy glory. There's an overarching softness, however, along with leftover citrus droplets from the opening, that make the patch more pleasant and accessible. It's no dirty patchouli like Diptyque's Tempo, and while it's also been prettified, it's not as strong as the patch in Ulrich Lang's Nightscape.

Even though it's totally unfair to expect the scent to project a lot and last very long, overall performance is quite respectable, probably at par with Guerlain L'Homme Ideal Cologne. Rajo Uno is pretty much unisex although I bet some will likely find it to be masculine-leaning. It carries a certain air of elegance, is versatile, and light enough to be worn in warm weather. All in all this is a good buy, a fairly inexpensive gem from Bench.