Air di Gioia

After 50ml bottles of Si Intense (black bottle) and Sky di Gioia earlier this year, I continue to emtpy the oldest perfumes from my collection. Today I emptied Air di Gioia, which I bought in late winter/early speing of 2019 along with a 50ml bottle of Sun di Gioia (which I finished last Summer). I had the old bottle of Air di Gioia: it did not have the gemstone cap yet. Air di Gioia should be called sea/beach/ocean di gioia in my opion. It starts of with a very salty breeze like smell, like when you just arrive at the beach and the smell of sea water hits you. I grew up going to my countries islands every Summer and I spend a lot of time at the beach, so to me the smell ia very nostalgic. I also get a lot of cypress, which makes the smell a bit atypical woody/forrest like. When walking to the beach, my family would always trek through the forrest with our family dog so another point of nostalgicness for me. Air di Gioia does not really change much from that initial first blast. I get vages whiffs of something floral and something citrus after a few hours, but not enough to point them out if I did not know the notes pyramid from fragrantica. Peony for example is listed as a note and peony always works wonders on my skin in terms of projection but here I do not really smell it in the blend of notes. I get a solid 5-6 hours of longlivity with this fragrance, which is fine to me because this is a warm weather (Spring/Summer) scent for sure and I actually like my warmer weather scents to be a bit less beast mode and more light/easy to wear. Overspraying this fragrance is very easy, because like the name suggests, its an airy and light fragrance. But if you overspray you will smell just a lot of salt, like you just opened a bag of sea salt crisps. I am all for smelling tasty, but this is just not it when you overspray so spray careful. I would call this fragrance a safe blind buy if you can find it (its been discontinued for a few years now already). This is an excellent beachy summertime scent for when you do not want to smell like tanning lotion.

I grew up with and have lived with ocean and beaches surrounding me on all directions. The smell of salt air has been in my veins since I was born. So I pick up on the salt air vibe this one gives very quickly. After about 20 minuets, it’s all I can smell. Tranquil, peaceful ocean air. It’s an odd thing to imagine but somehow I can detect that the peony and salt together are what create this. Peony and salty air are almost completely all that I get. (No citrus at all for me sadly) But it’s glorious. This is a specific ocean air scent. Not a sunshine day running on a beach. Not on vacation. This is a scent that locals know. It’s cloudy, almost windy. But you’ve gone out to the jetti to search for seashells and sea glass with your friends, because you know that after a storm brings the best treasures. No sunny warmth. Just pure beachy, salty, intoxicating air. I noticed the word “freedom” in the official description of this scent and I would agree. No walls to be seen. Delicious Open air. Lots of fragrances try to replicate the ocean air scent, but I will tell you as one who lives in, and experiences ocean air most of the year...this one nails it. I LOVE this scent. I would bathe in this for Spring and summer.

Air di Gioia is what I WANTED Acqua di Gioia to be. It’s sand, sea, and sun in a bottle. The opening gives bright orange and neroli mixed with the salt, then it mellows into a sunny blend of orange blossom, ylang ylang, and peony. The cypress in the base is absolutely gorgeous. It’s supported by cashmere, patchouli, and sea moss, giving it a green-aquatic quality. Air d.G. reminds me of poking around all the little shops up and down the Galveston Strand, visiting my family in coastal South Carolina, or childhood trips to the Boardwalk in Atlantic City. The fruity-floral freshness of this fragrance is heavenly to a beach bum like myself, so I’m sad it’s been discontinued. It’s nice when a perfumer understands aquatic doesn’t have to mean coconut. I’m not sure what they were thinking, but the new Ocean di Gioia simply doesn’t compare.

Blind bought a 50mL from Ulta, and I'm pleasantly surprised. More siren than mermaid, certainly. >:] Almost unisex, but not quite--I think the florals save it from being too masculine. I agree with @SeauxGood that aquatic =/= coconut, and for that I'm grateful. @missk was spot-on with this bit: "Air di Gioia for me evokes the smell and the sensation of sitting on a deserted beach on a cold morning, rugged up in a sweater and a scarf, feeling the cool sea breeze against your skin. This is definitely not a bright, fun Summer scent to my nose. It appears to be more somber yet also soothing." As par for the course with most perfumes and my skin, it's now a skin scent at the 3 hour mark--TBD how long it lasts until it fades entirely.

How dare Armani discontinue Air di Gioia!! This is in my top 5 all-time favorites and it is my go-to summer scent. I agree with another reviewer that this one should have been called Aqua and Aqua called air as this one smells more of the sea than the air. This scent transports you to another place. Like sitting on a Mediterranean beach on a cool day with the salty aromatic breeze gentle wafting. I find this aquatic but somewhat unique I don't have anything that smells like it. The opening as well as the dry down are beautiful and I feel this really blossoms in the heat. I have 4 backup bottles and 2 backup lotions. I'm utterly HEARTBROKEN to see this one go. If anyone has bottles they don't want I'll gladly buy them.