Acqua Di Parma Eau De Cologne

Another trip to Manchester, another funeral but it wasn't all doom and gloom, a lovely evening out with my Aunt really put me in the Italian mood (Puccini's in Swinton opposite the Town Hall is amazing). A brief shopping trip on the Sunday meant shopping in Harvey Nicols and in turn, me making a beeline for the aftershave section.

Acqua Di Parma was an aftershave I had wanted to try since February of last year after someone on Reddit mentioned in passing that it was their favourite and gave me a run down on the notes.

Fast forward ten months and as soon as I saw a bottle I knew I had to give it a whirl. The fact that I spent ten minutes talking notes with the gentleman with the tester says a lot about my obsession with all things fragrant. Needless to say, one whiff and I was hooked. £53 was parted with for a 50ml bottle.

Marketed as a timeless, refined Eau De Cologne, which is still created in the same traditional method and with the same original composition since it's creation in 1916. The smooth notes of Silician citrus reveal a rich heart of blooming rose and refreshing lavender, the precious woods offer warm base notes to this harmony of more than ten natural ingredients.

A delicate, fresh and elegant Eau de Cologne that embodies the Acqua De Parma brand.

Now my personal favourites in the cologne and aftershave stakes tend to err on the citrus side, with a few exceptions where they have rich and light top notes that dry down to a warm and earthy aroma. Given the patter coming from the salesman I thought to myself that this would be a perfect fit for me and my skin type.

First impressions in Harvey Nicols were that this baby comprised simply all of the citrus zest top notes on earth and they were very strong, really strong, yes it may initially come across as it leaves the bottle that you have just paid £53 for a bottle of orange rinds blended with lemon zest but almost instantaneously it hits the heart notes and within minutes the entire blend has dried down

As it dries down for around thirty minutes you can pull out incredibly subtle hints of the citrus and lavender and it does get a little warmer on the nose as the dry down woody notes come through, but then nothing, nothing I tells ya.

An old favourite of Cary Grant and Ava Gardner (the salesman had every fact in his arsenal) this is indeed a timeless classic with a wonderful fragrance. Yes, I’m in love with the actual fragrance but this is wear it all goes a little bit pear shaped - the staying power. It has none to be blunt and that is a massive disappointment. Within thirty minutes of applying I asked for a second opinion while out and about to be greeted with “are you wearing any aftershave?”. Not good, not good at all.

Still the same some 98 years on the mantra 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' really doesn’t work here. It needs tweaking so that it simply lasts longer on the skin and is more noticeable ten minutes after applying it. At £53 for a 50ml bottle I expect it to still be wafting around hours after application.

Putting all of my cards on the table I love the fragrance for the first half an hour but then boom, a reapplication is needed and taking the price into comparison this just doesn’t represent good value for money. Six to seven sprays and still no signs of the cologne after an hour. This is not good.

If you can afford to work through a bottle quickly then you probably won’t mind this but for me I expect some form of quality to go with the amazing fragrance and this is sadly lacking and therefore it is the first aftershave where I love the smell but can’t in all honesty recommend it. 

NOT RECOMMENDED

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