Aqua Celestia
Maison Francis Kurkdjian (2017)

Francis Kurkdjian tries his hand at Diorella.
And having no pretentions to art, he eschews the over ripe melon and goes for a soft focus l'Eau d'Issey; a bland, full bodied, citrus - fruity - mimosa - musk.

The fact that Roudnitska's masterpiece is now defunct should be the only reason to wear this, and your spondoolics would be better spent on a vintage Dior
IMO.

The opening is bright - the line and the mint are giveaways that this is is designed for warmer climes, with the mimosa supplying a floral touch. A nice start.

Later on a fruity blackcurrant note arises, with whiffs of redcurrant mixed in too. The citrus dwindles with time.

The main component after that is a good dollop of white musks, which gives a discreetly sweetness to the whole.

I get moderate sillage, very good projection, and seven hours if longevity on my skin.

A pleasant summer scent in the earlier stages, it becomes very plain and a bit undifferentiated in the later stages. 2.75/5

Aqua Celestia continues the line of Kurkdjian scents that include Aqua Vitae, Aqua Universalis, and their Forte counterparts. Once again it combines light, natural notes to create a refreshing warm weather option in a style that is both pretty and immaculately clean. I always envision lots of white linens when I smell something from the Aqua line and Celestia is no different. At the same time, it presents a new dimension to the trio and has its own, unique scent profile. Whether or not you're going to like this new scent profile is based on personal taste of course, and unfortunately, in my case, my taste does not align with it.

Celestia opens with a bright, natural lime punch and the immediate presence of white musk. The mint is restrained to the degree that it provides a fresh, herbal quality to the scent without announcing itself too boldly. In the heart of the composition, is a tart, semi-sweet and fruity black currant accord. This accord is well-executed, and it gathers strength to some degree as the scent progresses, despite coming across fairly subtle at first. I enjoy the currant note when I'm able to sort of isolate it and just smell it by itself. But there's also a mimosa accord that Kurkdjian has added to Aqua Celestia, a bit heavy handedly if you ask me. It's strong, and it's blended with a healthy dose of white musk so as a result the entire fragrance sits in this sort of haze of white musk and mimosa. The lime dissipates quickly into the haze, and the mint is more or less smothered by it. The black currant seems to balance it to some extent, or at least provides a nice distraction, but it's still colored in this hue of mimosa musk and becomes rather blended with it. Is it a bad smell? No. But it smells like a women's perfume to me, and not something really designed for a man or even something that should be labeled unisex. I find the mimosa too pretty--it's a very soft, powdery floral smell and it reminds me of a something a female co-worker wears often. Color-wise, it leaves impressions of pastel greens, whites, and pinks. While Guerlain Homme presented mint and lime in a style that I found immediately appealing, these notes seem to take a back seat here to the blended whole of mimosa, musk and currant. I'm not a huge fan of floral scents to begin with, and here they're used in a manner that is just too strong, and in my opinion, detracts from the scent's more uplifting and fresh qualities. In the end, I don't even know if I would be comfortable wearing this in the heat, as I think the floral musk would bother me. While I don't think Celestia is a bad scent necessarily, it doesn't meet the high hopes that I had for it. I'm not recommending this to guys looking for a fresh summer option (if it's mint and lime you're after, there's Guerlain Homme L'Eau Boisee, Selection Verte, and Armani Code Sport Athlete). However, I would recommend that women sample it as it seems as if it could work well in that capacity. Final rating 6.5/10

Big disappointment. The opening makes you think it might be the interesting niche mix you would expect but with the top notes gone in seconds it's just not the case. And what I feared became true.

A certain plant note potently prevails: Mimosa. I've never smelled it before, but it's obnoxious to me. Meanwhile in the background: a mojito made with rubbing alcohol in stead of drinking alcohol.

It's awful. Ended up washing it off.

Maybe for a woman who specifically likes Mimosa. Other than that Aqua Celestia just has no place in perfumery.

Aqua Celestia is an excellent fresh unisex daytime fragrance that sits fairly close to my skin. It sparkles with musk and citrus and it stays pretty linear on me in the dry down. Aqua Celestia has longevity is great too. It smells fresh after 10 hours on my super dry skin. It is a fantastic warm sunny day scent. It makes me feel clean and bright.

A very simple freshie that is a light clean floral musk that would be a killer laundry detergent and this is why I like it. Wearing this, I smell clean - very pure and natural. The first aroma to hit the nose is soft floral that reminds me of magnolia wafting through a lush green cooling garden but is evidently mimosa flower which is a gentler floral and absorbs its green flavor from lime citrus. In fact this fragrance reminds me greatly of Atelier Sud Magnolia which also contains blackcurrant musk but lacks the mint and green quality of A. Celestia. I have never smelled mimosa before and doubt I could identify it - nice! This soft yellow & green floral has a touch of lime and a slightest hint of mint which dance crisply against a blackcurrant musk clean but dry stopping point. Celestia is similar in character and charm to M. Kurkdjian's Aqua Universalis but slightly less innocent and is missing the narcotic jasmine found in Aqua Universalis Forte. Of these three MFK freshie florals Aqua Celestia is my favorite.