Aura Maris

To me, this perfume is a subtle piece of art. It does not have the smell of the sea so don't expect a watery, oceanic scent but it gives me the feeling of sunkissed seaside, that feeling of freedom, freshness and expanded space I get when going to the see and the happiness of watching it glistening in the sun. Aqua Maris is both fresh, warm, light and somehow calm/European so it must be the mediterranean, no? Like a painting it expresses something I cannot put into words, which to me is the definition of art: communication of something otherwise inexpressible. It is more like a sculpture than a symphony: very unified form rather than individual notes jumping out at me. But this doesn't mean it does not change. It behaves as a quality classic perfume, starting with the fresh/flower/citrus notes, fininshing with musky/woody. To me, Aqua maris has almost no sweetness, which I like and which makes it a unisex and almost asexual scent. It is sensual and beautiful in a subtle and classy way. Low to medium projection according to weather, stays on me till the next day (but I almost never have longevity issues plus I have a rather sensitive nose). Update: citrussy, woody/spicy lovelyness kept together by a wonderful dose of narcissus:) I find the scent evaporates very quickly in hot weather which is a waste. So I'd recommend to use in no warmer than scandinavian summer weather for good longevity and beautiful projection. One funny thing: When I wear this I do not get complimented on my perfume but often on my looks! I use it as my fresh formal scent.

I got a decant of this quite by chance, because a member selling a decant of something I really wanted offered this as well and I thought "why not, can't go wrong with citrus". It took me a while to get around to wearing it though, because in the bottle it doesn't smell at all promising: quite ordinary, and what's worse, a bit dirty; not really what I'm usually into at all. So it was a pleasant surprise to find out how nice it actually is when I finally wore it. It's a subtle kind of citrus scent, quite elegant and without any "loud" elements. The musk that makes it smell dirty in the bottle (or at least I'm guessing it's the musk) turns into something quite different on the skin. Like the previous reviewer said it does have something ever so slightly salty and reminiscent of the sea, and the combination of that with the natural citrus notes does make it successful as an evocation of the Mediterranean. But even more than that I get a delicious and very clean powdery quality that I can't stop taking little sniffs from on my wrist, it's so lovely! So this is a surprise love for me, and I'm sure my decant will see a lot of use when the warmer seasons that will really make it bloom come around again.

This fragrance proves my theory that Italians are citrus masters First of all, I am not a big citrus fan, and it's not something usual that I like a citrusy fragrance. Amongst all citrus scents this one caught my attention and really earned my admiration. Actually I love it. Screaming with quality, natural ingredients. Might come off feminine to some noses, but it's totally unisex for me. The florals here are my favorite part, jasmine and narcissus, with fine woods in the background along with patchouli. I have FINALLY found a great scent to wear during the summer days unlike all other generic, boring, you name it!, type of scents for summer. Great longevity. A 10/10 for me.

Very nice bergamot opening with support of orange and fruity notes. Then the narcissus accord shows up, supported by benzoin, a noticeable woody note, spices (unlisted by clearly present) and a hint of musk. In a nutshell: a citrus/floral, with oriental undertones. Moderate performance. Very nicely crafted and indeed quite close to Eau de Rochas pour Femme. Or more remotely a Minotaure flanker for the Summer? A winner for warmer days, with a consistent top quality delivered by Lorenzo Villoresi.

I love how subtle this fragrance is. The citrus is soft and uplifting with gentle woodsy notes. When I first spray it, I sometimes get a little bit of an anise smell that may be part of the green notes. The dry down reminds me of a tamer Chance by Chanel, with the floral, amber, and musk becoming more obvious. I would purchase an entire bottle of Mare Nostrum, but I currently have a bottle of Chance that I love dearly. I think the Mare Nostrum is a bit overpriced.

A great work of art done by master Villoresi. A moderately sweet lemon combined with bergamot and brought to character by the elevated musk. Salty effects along the way give the combination its true charm.Tends towards the male side indeed. Love it!

For me it's a Villoresi interpretation of Acqua di Gio, in a good way, though more refined and more depth. Clean green citrus with a edge of sea and hint of light wood. Lovely bright fresh scent, more intruiging than a citrussy colonia type scent

Its a fresh bergamon, but also you can detect a beautiful mix of some fruity floral notes

This is a wonder! It is a mystery how one can put the smell of the sea in a bottle. And you know what? This perfume is the Mediterranean sea in a bottle. I don't know how they done it but it is really a piece of art. It reminds you of a restaurant or harbour on the shores of the Adriatic or Aegean sea in the Mediterranean sea, called also Marum Nostrum, as is printed on the bottle too. It opens in a bergmaot sweet citrus currant scent. And then something happens what makes this perfume so special and wonderful. The scent changes into a subtle sweet fresh salty tone. It reminds you of fresh shellfish with its typical salty scent mixed with refresh cooling sea air. And it mixes with some soft sweet-anice like tone. Its is softer than corallium of the house Carthusia that is also a sea-salty perfume. Aqua maris is a nice good perfume with a good projections and a nice tone.This is really a piece of art.

This is one of the nicest citrus colognes out there. I think the association with the sea creates false expectations. I don't feel this is remotely connected with anything of the sea; it's a citrus grove through and through, with bergamot as the main protagonist and a spicy-woody base. Longevity is average, but if you see it as a citrus cologne then it's actually a good one, and with decent projection for the first few hours. We seem to take it for granted that it's easy to create something like this, but to do this at this level is not. There's a lot of craft behind this. Anyone into bergamot should sample this. I sense a tiny amount of Ambroxan at drydown, but thankfully a very small amount.

I bought a box of 4 samples from the house. I am impressed with the quality of this one. From the moment i sprayed it on my arm i could smell it continuously. Beautiful perfume. There is one note though on the drydown (maybe the narcissus one) that make it a little bit heavy and oldskoolish for me, but not in a bad way. It adds up to its charminess. To sum up this is a masterpiece. I find very difficult to describe creations like these. The experience with perfumes of that quality is 100% personal, as they remain unforgettable, having so many stories to narrate wearing them. A fragrance that come become easily a good friend to take a holiday with you.

AURA MARIS is a very pleasant everyday citrus fragrance for summer. It is completely unisex as mandarin orange here is somewhat in the middle of being sweet/sour. It is also very natural smelling. After the first half and hour AURA MARIS turns very musky. Here musk is the kind of musk I usually can tolerate - it appears extremely clean, so basically with AURA MARIS you will smell like a luxury citrus soap for good 7 hours. That is not a bad thing, but not my cup of tea.

Smells like an orange grove by the sea - citruses are not artificial, and I like that there isn’t a sweetness to it. If you’re a fan of citruses this would work for you. I am fine with them, and this is a perfectly lovely fragrance, but I don’t get that much more from this other than a citrus forward scent, complemented by light floral and woody notes. As summery as it gets for fragrances in this vein.

A fresh citrusy opening and a fragrance that delivers on the perfumer's blurb: "...lemon groves baking under the Mediterranean sun .... blah ... blah ... blah" Not much projection or longevity and a slightly soapy dry down, but this would make a very pleasant companion in the summer months or a welcome reminder of sunshine in the depths of winter.

Beautiful photorealistic skin of bitter orange with some additional traditional note of clear neroli (probably it’s narcissus?) that gives a bit of soapy vibe. It’s quite radiant and soft of old-fashioned but in a good way. I don’t feel much aquatic notes here. For me it’s citrusy, floral and green. Follow me on IG: scent.guide

I like it! Citrus is definitely not my favorite genre in perfumery, but this is nice. Smells to me like fizzy gin and tonic with a generous lime twist. Very relaxing and refreshing! Clean but a little dirty too, and it's that muskiness that makes this more enjoyable than the average citrusy Eau de Cologne.

Nice green-citrus. Reminds me of Xerjoff renaissance except the petitgrain is a little harsher and theres a slight fruity floral note underneath everything. Performance not great, not terrible, but the citrus does die down very fast (30m) and it becomes bitter and musky.

A sort of Eau de Rochas concentree, could be her rich and warm sister. Well done, a bit flat fresh/synthetic sunny sensual elegant creature.

Sharp ...metallic ... sour ...but at the same time - powdery ,soapy and refreshing . masculine +35 for warm weather. formal and casual.

Scent: 7/10 Quality: 9/10 Originality: 5/10 Sillage: 6/10 Projection: 5/10 Longevity: 6/10 Price VS Size: 7/10