Acqua / Water
Antica Farmacista

Nothing very marine comes through on my skin. What I get is a very sweet, almost transparent minty herbal. Antica Farmacista's Acqua is a pretty scent – sweet, subtle, green, and linear. I appreciate its lightness, freshness, clean ambiance, and decent longevity, but it is a little too sweet for me. I tend to interpret mint as “sweet,” which is where I get excessive sweetness. I do the same with MPG's Centaure and some other very minty fragrances. Acqua is a well-made, refined subtle fragrance, and I don't want to cast any aspersions on it, because it would be a great fragrance for one who enjoys mint and sweet.

I came across a sample of this recently, and enjoyed it. Its not your typical aquatic/marine fragrance (its even spelled differently than the other Aqua's out there).Acqua lacks the stark, briny ("saltwater"), realistic stormy seashore effect of Erolfa, or the deep ocean algae-laden (posidonia - "soiled diaper") aroma of Bulgari Aqua or Mare. It captures the more pleasant less common aspects of the marine domain. Infact, I am not sure if its a marine fragrance at all. The main accord (well theres very little development here) is fresh (minty) and sweet with herbaceous notes. Its not overly minty or sweet and at times smells like soap. It lacks that metallic synthetic "twange" that corrupts the composition of so many generic aquatics (which probably speaks to the quality of ingredients in use in Acqua). Sillage is low, but it lasted well over 5 hours on my skin. Acqua will challenge your idea of what a marine fragrance should smell like. For many, it will seem (and smell) grossly misnamed. But if judged on its composition only, you will find a nice subtle minty sweet fragrance with hints of herbal elements. Its simple, very wearable and pleasant. A top "office frag" so to speak. Acqua wears well on skin, but I would imagine it would do even better as a home fragrance. Acqua isn't just another fish in the pond.

This is one of those that smelled great as a sample, but when I bought a bottle, it smelled more synthetic. This happens to me most often with aquatics, a difficult category for me because of the high level of synthetics involved. I'm not sure what rule of thumb I'm violating to get zinged by this metamorphosis from sample to bottle every once in a while. This was a nice marine fragrance in the sample, light on the algae, and to my nose, with a definite minty note which made it kind of a cross between Herba Fresca (Guerlain) and a marine. That minty spark added to the "air" of the fragrance. I didn't detect ozone - just a fresh, subtle and wearable oceanic fragrance.
I think what may happen is that samples are relegated to the wrist, whereas a full bottle is usually sprayed, and covers one's body and aura. I think certain synthetic notes in aquatics lose their softness, make me feel poorly when they cover like a mantle, sort of an aural blanket... just my musing...

A wonderful light and fresh marine scent. Very simple composition, yet very effective. Like a Motu Light. Longevity could be a bit better, but it's very easy to wear and very comforting.