Acqua di Parma | The Scented Hound

June 21, 2012
by The Scented Hound 10 Comments

A Vacation From the Everyday: Fico di Amalfi Blu Mediterraneo by Acqua di Parma

It has been incredibly hot the last couple of days here in DC. In fact, today we broke the record by being 98 degrees with over 60% humidity. So basically it felt like it was about 106 degrees today. Thank God for air conditioning. I always wonder what people did before air conditioning, daily showers, etc. I guess if you had money, you covered up your stench with perfumes. Hmmmm, maybe in a past life I really stunk, thus my love of fragrance. In any case, I digress…

Since it was so hot, I thought I would pull out a fragrance from my husband’s collection, Fico di Amalfi from the Blue Mediterraneo line from Acqua di Parma. He received this as a gift last year and I have never really worn it myself. All that I can say is that the first time he wore it, it immediately took me back to our trip to Aruba last fall. Fico di Amalfi is tropical without being beachy, fruity without being too sweet and perfect for a hot summer day.

Fico di Amalfi goes on with zing. It’s really fresh and cool, with bursts of citrus and grapefruit. It’s also very zesty, like fruit that has just come off of ice or even better, a crushed ice fruit cocktail served on the beach. The opening notes are pure happiness!

After a little while that zesty freshness disappears and a light pepper musk comes to the surface. And then the fig. You are left with the fig, which is green and woody and oh so slightly fruity. It’s calming and fresh and a bit creamy and very comfortable. Fico di Amalfi would be perfect for walking around in a t-shirt and flip-flops to putting on your best linen outfit for a night out on a town.

My one disappointment with this fragrance is that late in the drydown, the scent you are left with reminds me a bit of Tide laundry detergent, but it’s not that significant to stand in my way of wearing it. However, I have to admit, I like smelling this on my husband more than on my self.

Fico di Amalfi is a beautiful fragrance that takes you on a mini-vacation from your everyday life. OK, so it’s not as a good as the real thing, but I’ll take it in the meantime.

Fico di Amalfi notes:

bergamot, lemon, grapefruit, citron, fig nectar, pink pepper, jasmine petals, fig wood, cedar wood and benzoin.

Bone Rating: 4 out of 5 possible bones
Scent: Floral Fruity
Classification: Unisex
Expense: Varied, around $60 for 60ml EdT

April 14, 2012
by The Scented Hound 2 Comments

Colonia Assoluta In Villa by Acqua di Parma

In Villa has been sitting on my shelf for several years. It’s has remained in the back of my collection for a long time. I thought I should dust off the bottle and give it another chance. There are a couple of things to note about this fragrance:

1. It comes with a bulb atomizer. If my recollection is correct, that was a huge selling point. It seems very glamorous. The reality is that it’s awkward to use.

2. This only comes in 200ml bottles. As a result, I have enough of In Villa to last 2 lifetimes.

OK, past that, what does In Villa smell like? It’s green. When applied, you get hints of citrus, and lots of cypress. The citrus quickly disappears and you just get the cypress. I am confused a bit, because the notes list cedar and to me cedar is more woody than green and as such, I think cypress, not cedar. According to the Acqua Di Parma website, this scent is rounded off with warm spicy notes. These spicy notes help to balance out the green to lessen the sharpness of the scent. In Villa is a very old-fashioned scent. It reminds me of scents from the 1970’s and has hints of barber shops smells. It’s pretty linear, lasts a long time and is a cologne that will not offend. That said, I find it a bit boring. Would I purchase this again (if I didn’t have a 200ml bottle)? Probably not.

In Villa Notes:

Top notes: lemon, bitter orange, bergamot, and cardamom
Middle notes: chilli pepper, jasmine, ylang ylang and rose
Base notes: white musk and cedar

Bone Rating: 3 out of 5 possible bones
Classification: Unisex, but leans masculine
Expense: $160 for 200ml Eau de Cologne

March 24, 2012
by The Scented Hound 5 Comments

Profumo by Acqua di Parma

Today I broke one of my permanent collection scents that I haven’t touched in quite a while. I probably made this purchase 5 or so years ago and it was one of my favorites, but all perfumistas know that we go through cycles when something we love goes to the back-burner only to be replaced with a new scent. The difference with this scent is that it veers from the masculine and is considered a feminine scent. Profumo by Acqua di Parma is a lovely and elegant chype. A light floral with a hint of spice and powder, it’s beautifully composed and comfortable to wear. It’s not something that I would wear on a regular basis and when this bottle is gone, I’m not sure that I would buy another; but it has served me well.

Profumo Notes: Jasmine, May Rose, Ylang-Ylang