Like our first kiss, or first London taxi ride, we always remember our first bottle of perfume. My father returned from a business trip with a bottle of Acqua di Parma for my sister and I many years ago and the memory of the gift and the fragrance stayed with me over the years.
I have worn many different fragrances over the years but always return to this one and I think it’s the reason I always lean towards a fresher citrus fragrance over a floral or heavier oud scent popular today.
It makes me laugh when I pass the concession in store and spray the perfume, as woman with kids now, how inappropriate the scent was really for a child but the bottle sat on my dressing table for years. It didn’t have a spray and I remember carefully dabbing a drop behind my ears, mimicking my mother and grandmother in their perfume application. It lasted for years.
I know this scent so well I recognise it when someone, man or woman passes wearing it, even if it one of the spin off fragrances now in the range. It is so distinctive and recognisable.
The next time you are passing the Acqua Di Parma stand, stop to admire the iconic bottle with deco style black top that hasn’t changed since the beginning.
Acqua De Parma comes in two sizes 50ml and 100ml, it’s not cheap not expensive, sits somewhere in the middle, at around £70 for 50ml and £140 for 100ml eau de toilette depending on which specific one in the range you pick. The Blu Mediterraneo is the new range I love but an Eau de parfum in that collection will set you back £256.
The fragrances in the Blu Mediterraneo are Fico Di Amalfi, Arancia Di Capri, Cipresso Di Toscano, Mirto Di Panarea, Chinotto Di Liguria, mandorlo di sicilia, Mandarino di Sicilia, Cedro di Taormina, Ginepro di Sardegna, La Riserva Flankers and Bergamotto Di Calabria. When you go into store and try and choose one it does get a little overwhelming until you narrow it down to a few favourites. There are a lot of options.
I do want to try the new limited edition Eau de Parfum, Acqua Di Parma Bergamotto La Spugnatura crafted from an ancient technique, a soft rounded bottle cap in contrast to the most memorable perfume bottle I have described giving hand-finished organic effect. It is designed by Laura Gonzalez, and inspired by La Caletta an ode to independence and the freedom of choosing one’s own rhythm. Here we find elegance in restraint, me to a tee whilst remaining unmistakably authenticity Acqua De Palma. Smells divine. It’s on my shopping list.
Don’t let this gorgoreous historic lasting perfume range, hair care and candles pass you by without giving it a go. It’ll become memorable and instantly nostalgic and recognisable I promise. You’ll create you own memory and then every time you smell it it’ll take you back there.
Funny how perfume does that, it’s almost more enchanting than the scent itself.