Blu Mediterraneo : Fico di Amalfi
Acqua di Parma (2006)

This is much more a "fig leaf" scent than a "fig" scent. Like you snapped a leaf in half and sniffed the juice inside. But just like a leaf, the aroma does not stick around forever, and it doesn't evolve any further, just fades away. In that sense, if you're looking for photorealism, even with the negatives, this is the fig leaf you're looking for.

I got this on a weekend spent in multiple garden departments of big box stores, stressed out of my mind, snapping and smelling leaves to keep me sane. FdA made me feel like I never left, for better or for worse.

Purchased from discounters, Fico di Amalfi can be defended as a good bargain, but only up to a point. This creamy, clean, citrus-musk with a hint of lactonic fig isn't unpleasant, but there's not much to it.

The "fig fragrance" genre has been done with more creativity and depth in the designer realm (Salvatore Ferragamo, Marc Jacobs) and in the niche realm (L'Artisan, Diptyque).

Alchymia. Perfumare. Magnum Opus.

Attempt at honest fig deteriorates into soapy aggression

Jumping in on this perfume in a little unusual and impromptu manner for me, but here we go.

My last contact with “Fico di Amalfi” was some 5-6 years ago, when I didn’t like it. Being constantly hunting for new aromas, it felt very convenient to give Acqua di Parma another go, given they are now offered in a nearby mainstream perfumery store (Acqua di Parma doesn’t seem to be claiming the niche anymore, it seems). And what better option than one of their most celebrated scents, especially since I love the fig note and, at the same time, am not completely pleased with it in the fig perfumes I have tried (with “Philosykos” being closest to my happiness with fig).

It took me four times to finally arrive at a conclusion about this perfume which, after some drama, ends up as a strained neutral. I am so on edge with fig formulas that deconstruct into the juicy-sweety sticky-cocoa milky synthetic, that I expected the same here. And since I couldn’t find this problem with “Fico di Amalfi”, I think it blinded me and put me under spell for quite some time, before I woke up to the overall reality of this scent.

I am not saying that there is no sweetness in this perfume. There is, but it is not bonded to the fig, but to the nasty chemical skeleton, which I was expecting to emerge from the base. This was my second biggest concern apart from the quality of the fig. And this is where I got it wrong the first two times, since I remained fixated on that dry and semi-stringent, leaning even towards smoky and bitter, note of the fig tree (not the heavier milky and sweet one), which is undoubtedly the best part of “Fico di Amalfi”. But come the third time and I came to my senses and the heavy chemical sweet soapiness did fiercely pierce through the façade. The fourth time I just wanted to confirm if I got it right the third one – which I did.

Another controversy surrounding “Fico di Amalfi” that has to be addressed is the hesperidic notes in the opening. I would be more than eager to smell a Mediterranean Garden type of fig in a bouquet of citruses and spices. So, this gets my appreciation. The execution, however, is poor and those notes don’t blend well with the rest of the composition.

As a whole, the fragrance is gentle and stays close to the skin for a good 2+ hours. It comes at an affordable price; and is honest in not pretending to be a masterpiece or using some exquisite/fancy materials.

So, let’s sum up. The positives of “Fico di Amalfi”:
- Dry fig.
- Attempt to incorporate hesperidic notes.
- Not pretentious.
The negatives:
- The fig is quickly overtaken by an uncompromising synthetic sweet soapiness.
- The hesperidic notes are poorly blended and distort the formula instead of enriching it.

That sweet soapiness is so aggressive and fast to appear that giving “Fico di Amalfi” a neutral feels a bit too lenient to be honest. But a negative also feels too harsh and insincere in relation to my initial excitement about this fragrance.

I am glad I finally discarded this scent and spared the torture on my budget, which is so abused by my perfumery escapades anyway. And when the best a house has to offer is this, I don’t think I am inclined to revisit it again (considering I did that some years ago with few of Acqua di Parma’s creations), especially since there so many enticing and exciting perfumes waiting to be explored and communicated with.

Acqua di Parma, Blu Mediterraneo: Fico di Amalfi:
Composition: 7/10
Complexity: 6.5/10
Development: 6/10
Naturality: 6.5/10

Don't like it at all, horrible outdated metallic lemon bomb. Main notes to me: hedione and a lemon synthetic I can't quite put my finger on but I've smelled it before in other classic style fragrances or colognes.

Fico di Amalfi is another alternate take on the traditional ADP Cologne formula, but instead of using citrus and woods, it's fig, jasmine and musk. I can either take it or leave it with fig and in Fico di Amalfi the fig is tolerable because it's sweet (not over-ripe) but without the use of coconut or some other suntan oil concoction. It's as much of a green fragrance, although not truly green, than it is a blue fragrance because to my nose there's a leafy undertone within the fig-jasmine middle. The opening is a short, sweet blast of citrus with grapefruit being the most prominent. This quickly gives way to the fig but retains some of the sweet citric tone. Mild sillage for around 4 hours then it drops to a sweet musk skin scent. I found Fico di Amalfi at a huge discount so I'm not disappointed at all. I'll wear this casually throughout Spring and Summer.

Acqua di Parma Fico di Amalfi (2006) is part of the Blu Mediterraneo line, a range of fragrances that escapes the classic eau de colognes the house is known for and presents traditional citrus or fruit subjects in a more contemporary eau de toilette format themed after the Mediterranean Ocean. Fico di Amalfi gets a significant amount of hype by YouTubers and influencers within the online fragrance community as an accessible fig fragrance, which keeps the scent semi-relevant as the one to try, the introduction to the Blu Mediterraneo range, if nothing else. Not much else from this range really gets any significant talk outside Acqua di Parma fans in the back alleys of online forums, so that's something I guess. I am not the biggest fan of fig unless it is presented smoothly without the weird rotted fruit milkiness that some houses like to employ, so I always walk into testing a fig scent with a bit of skepticism from the start. I'm pleased to report that here in Fico di Amalfi, the fig is quite well balanced with the rest of the composition, and may be one to seek out if you like more of a citrus twang with your fig note anyway.

The opening of Fico di Amalfi right away hits you with citron, orange, and lemon rinds, plus grapefruit and bergamot. The top fades fast but a dark fig powered by some pink pepper and musky jasmine indole quickly envelops your senses. Suddenly, you're not so sure how fresh this is going to be afterall, but the muskiness subsides to let the smoother fruitier aspects of fig shine through. The pepper acts as a nice counter to what might be unpleasant milkiness, being a desiccant for that unwanted (to me) portion of the fig complex, before the whole thing dries down on a resinous base of benzoin, with some nice woody cedar and green notes of fig leaf a la something you'd see in a 90's designer fig treatment. Suffice it to say there is nothing blue about this smell, despite being in the Blu Mediterraneo range and being housed in blue glass. I'm just barely won over by this, but it isn't a love. Wear time is about 8 hours and sillage is on the lower side of moderate, with projection poofing in about 4 hours because this is still primarily a citrus scent. Best use is in spring through late summer as a casual outdoor wear, and can easily be a shared casual unisex scent between romantic partners like Calvin Klein cK One (1994) used to be.

The hype surrounding Fico di Amalfi isn't real to my nose, and the only real thing to get excited about here is the fact that the Blu Mediterraneo range seems to see steeper discounts in the gray market than the rest of the Acqua di Parma house in general, so picking up a bottle will be a slightly less of a pain in the ass to those who hate paying niche prices for niche perfume (imagine that concept). For me? I'm pretty happy with the Salvatore Ferragamo, Marc Jacobs, and Christian Dior trinity of designer masculine figs, even if one of those three is sadly growing a unicorn horn on its precious little unloved and discontinued head due to much the same YouTuber hype that brought all our attentions to this fragrance I'm reviewing now. Being led along the nose by taste makers with an agenda other than actually making taste aside, this isn't a bad fragrance and if I really wanted a nice dark citrus fruity woody scent in my wardrobe, I'd give Fico di Amalfi serious consideration. Fig overall is a love or hate note for many people out there, so if your needle pegs all the way into the hate side of the smellodometer, this one won't change your mind. Thumbs up.