Acqua Essenziale Colonia

Just picked up a bottle of this for $14 at Marshals! So far, this is the epitome of a barbershop scent in my opinion. Fresh, but not too much citrus, manly, deep, lots of interesting notes pulling your nose in multiple directions. This is great! It shares a lot of similarities with Replica At The Barber's, and the sage note reminds me of At The Barber's basil note. I originally sold Dior Sauvage in favor of At The Barber's, but this is so similar to ATB, that I might sell At The Barber's in favor of this! (That's not to say that this is similar to Sauvage, because it isn't.) We'll see which I keep after some wearing, but this is a great manly fresh scent so far! How anybody could label this as unisex, I have NO idea! (And that's coming from a man who will openly wear women's perfumes without an ounce of shame). Update: Two hours in, and the water note is finally taking precedence, while it was heavily shrouded by the sage note, originally. Now I'm noticing a VERY SLIGHT similarity to John Varvatos Artisan, which is not a bad thing. The other notes are still present and keeping this scent mature and manly. Final update: Four hours in, and the projection is gone and the scent is now just an unrecognizable skin scent of fresh water notes. Still there, but not enough to be noticed. Unfortunately the performance is a bit abysmal on my skin, but at its price, it's one that you can respray on your lunch break without any guilt. Final Update: Decided to keep this one and part with At The Barber's. This is a no brainer scent, and while not my favorite genre, or favorite scent in the genre for that matter, this scent will scratch the itch just fine for whenever I'm in the mood for a clean barbershop type scent. (And it's cheaper than the others too!) Also - I don't like AdP Colonia, but I do like this, obviously.

First let me start off by saying I can understand how this scent could throw quite a few people off. This scent reminded me of Bright Neroli by Ferrari, which is strange because there is no neroli in this, but it has kind of the same vibe going on. Years ago I also purchased 4711 and loved it because of its freshness but the performance was horrible. Shortly after I went back to my Ferrari bright Neroli bottle and started to understand it and appreciate it way more over time, so much so I picked up a few other bottles. Anyway, I’m telling you all of this just for context about my struggle with these types of scents. When people say it smells like an old lady I think they mean like an old ladies attic, you know, the mothballs thing. That’s what I equated Ferrari’s scent to, mothballs.. However, something strange happened to my senses after wearing 4711 for a few months, I started loving it, and when I ran out I went to Ferrari’s bright neroli more and more, and then it was one of my most beloved fresheis for spring and summer rotations. I think what I’m trying to say here is if you like 4711 Eau de cologne but hate the performance of that, think of this as 4711 on steroids. Sure it’s slightly different but not by much. To my nose this has the herbal feel that most Salvatore Ferragamo scents have and has a touch of sweetness in the top and mid that I find the other 2 colognes I’ve mentioned are missing. This is everything I could wanted for this type of scent, some much needed punch and staying power. Solid 9/10 for me. You need to let this stuff grow on you, and I promise the compliments will start rolling in. It’s winter over here and I’m wearing this even in the winter, and I’m doing just fine with it.

Don't judge this one on the opening, which is an astringent blast. Give it a good minute to settle and you'll smell a subtle sour sweetness of juicy bergamot. As it dries the clary sage and orange blossom start to come out more. Some will read this combo as "urinal cake" but it's very well blended and calls to mind classic Italian colognes in the vein of AdP. The lavender starts to become apparent after a while, say an hour later. Mixed with the neroli/orange blossom you get the impression of fresh laundry blowing on a clothesline on a sunny day. It gets a hint of powder to it, but never becoming a powdery scent. The base is ambrox done right. It's less the intense bombs of blue fragrances of the last 10 years and more in a tobacco-y ambergris sort of way. It's around from the early stages and quite nice for the price you pay. The coumarin adds a hint of sweetness while never being overt, and the vetiver keeps a sour, slightly salty vibe through the far drydown. Vetiver, orange blossom/neroli, and a slight hint of bergamot are most of what remain after about four hours and it remains somewhat close to the skin for another few hours after that. It's not listed, but I get a bit of patchouli in the far drydown, probably there to extend things out a bit longer. Essenziale Colonia certainly feels like a Morillas creation, and I'd even go so far as to say if Acqua di Gio were an Italian guy in his 20's, this Colonia is the same guy in his 40's. The ideas of Eau Sauvage mixed with Mugler Cologne are apt. I might say it more as AdP/Mugler, but that's splitting hairs. It's a more mature scent that a lot of 20's and 30's guys won't jibe with, but for those that click with it it's a gem in the price range.

Salvatore Farragamo Acqua Essenziale Colonia EDT To my nose: This opens with a very soapy mix of clary sage and neroli (orange blossom), with clary sage being dominant. As it dries down I get hints of soapy vetiver and lavender mixed with clary sage and neroli, making the whole thing smell like Italian soap (though clary sage is still the most dominant note). It's a very pleasant smell. I also detect watery notes throughout the whole thing, which I'm not sure were necessary for this type of fragrance. It has a very Italian 'colonia' type feel to it. On drydown I can also detect ambroxan. Ambroxan to my knowledge is a synthetic version of a very old perfume ingredient known as ambregris ('grey amber' in French), or whale vomit, which when aged smells very pleasant with an oceanic and mineralic undertone to it. Ambroxan has been used in a number of famous modern colognes, chief among them being Dior's Sauvage and Versace's Dylan Blue. The ambrox in this is there but it's muted (which I find particularly pleasant as too much ambrox as in Dylan Blue and Sauvage ends up oddly smelling like generic shower gel to me). Sillage is moderate while longevity is moderate leaning strong. The whole concoction in this fragrance ends up smelling like a fine Italian soap, and I actually enjoy it. Alberto Morillas (my favourite perfumer) was behind this fragrance, of famous names like Armani's Acqua di Gio, CK One, Carolina Harrera 212 Men, and Givenchy Pi. And he doesn't disappoint with this fragrance either, which is in the style of Acqua di Parma's Colonia but different. It has an old-school sort of feel to it that I really enjoy. 5/5

Light, airy and enigmatic. Opens citrussy. It's light and airy. Aromatic and a bit waxy on the skin. Clean, a little zesty and "rindy." Tiny bit green, then becomes fruity and smells a bit like "Skittles." Turns watery, remains airy, gets tangy. Aquatic notes are quite salty and marine like but overall it's still fruity (maybe some pineapple?) Base has some vetiver, maybe faint notes of melon? Some very light musk. Still clean and a fraction spicy. The Clary sage is noticeable as the scent warms off the skin. This isn't a strong fragrance, not that the performance is bad, just that it is constructed to resemble a traditional cologne and so is light with occasional wafts. Inoffensive and safe for the office, fine all year but is designed for the heat. More masculine. Performance is enigmatic, others will smell it longer than the wearer. Good projection for at least 2hrs, skin scent no more than 3-4hrs. Smells like the sea in a pleasant, synthetic way. The actual smell of the sea can be quite sulphurous, this is more like an idealised aroma of the Med. Has a passing resemblance to "CK One" and "Cool Water" and is closer to Creed "Millesime Imperial" more than "Himalaya." This is decent for the right price but wouldn't pay over the odds for it. I really like it though.