Top 3 Acqua di Parma Fragrances That Deserve a Place in Your Collection

For this week, I want to hop on over to Italy and highlight one of the country’s heritage perfume houses, Acqua di Parma.

The label has long been a symbol of impeccable taste over in Italy and there’s little surprise there. A typical Acqua di Parma is fresh, citrusy and clean, which is safe but rarely perfected in the world of niche perfumery.

Acqua di Parma is consistent in this regard, which is a big reason why it has stuck around for so long. It’s especially why Colonia, introduced in 1916, is still seen as a bit of a blueprint when it comes to citrus.

Top Acqua di Parma Fragrances That Deserve a Place in Your Collection

Colonia Intensa

Colonia is the blueprint and Acqua di Parma will likely never stop creating new versions of its signature. One of the better versions to date is Colonia Intensa, introducing a lot of heavy, woody notes to the original citrus-centric profile. It works incredibly well, with fresh and spicy notes on the top dipping down into those creamy woods on the base.

Colonia Essenza

Here’s another spin-off to Colonia that works brilliantly. You get more of that fresh, airiness, starting off juicy and clean but dialling in something more complex once the stacked middle notes kick in. It’s here that the scent really opens up and you start to pick up notes of clove and jasmine before it shrinks back to focus on the amber woody base.

Acqua di Parma Ambra

Acqua di Parma’s Signatures of the Sun collection is where the brand started really playing outside of its niche, presenting wildly distinctive fragrances that weren’t as immediately recognisable as the famed Italian brand. Ambra is one of them.

Released in 2019, the woody aromatic scent gets a lot of its character from the orange notes on the top, heightened by bergamot and petitgrain for that really zesty, aromatic opening contrasted nicely with the long base of ambergris and sandalwood.