Colonia Futura
Acqua di Parma (2020)

Acqua di Parma's Colonia line has been a bit all over the place, but Colonia Futura is one of the best of them (alongside the original and Assoluta). Futura has less of a relationship to the original Colonia than it does to Roudnitska's Eau Sauvage, with a bergamot opening that immediately recalls the great classic's signature effect, but in a harsher, brasher way.

Futura's selling point in press releases was the high concentration of natural elements ("99% of natural origin ingredients," per the website), and putting the marketing caveat aside, it certainly smells fresh and alive in the way one would hope from something marketed as "natural."

The slightly smoky sage in the heart is nicely articulated, given a full three-dimension presentation. It gently joins hands with the lavender and vetiver to give the composition some body.

Colonia Futura is very much a well thought-out, smooth vetiver scent, so not your traditional colonia based on citrus or soapy neroli notes.

The opening is a bit misleading and comes across as really harsh. In fact I’m not even sure the citrus in the opening does the overall fragrance much justice. Luckily that aspect doesn’t last.

Once the heart notes start pumping out, the fragrance smooths considerably and turns very green. The sage and lavender provide this part which is where things turn quite pleasant to my nose. There is also the gentlest of sweetness at this point supported with a faint hint of woodiness below it. It stays very green. In fact by this point, you may wonder if you’re dressed in camouflage or lying in a herb patch.

The vetiver enters with some moss, but these aspects simply underpin the green sage and lavender accord which sits on top throughout. The whole accord makes for a herbaceous, aromatic green scent.

I can’t wait to put this on in the warmer months, but even in the winter it has proved unique, vibrant and uplifting. In my opinion it’s everything that the hash-up known as Colonia Club should have been. My faith in AdP may just be restored with this scent.

Hello, beautiful people! This is stunning! What a beautiful masterpiece created by the one and only, master parfumeur Francois Demachy!😍😍😍 Here we have the Demachy signature beautiful lavender with herbs and greens. It's the perfect resonance with the juice color. Green!
Open it's citrusy realistic bergamote and fresh peel, than a blast o lavender, sage and vetiver comes around.
Very linear but solid and complex one.
Eve if it's cologne concentration, it's stay a lot on the sky:6-8 h with medium projection
A perfect green aromatic for me!
10/10 love at the first sniff

If you think of it as a vetiver scent instead of a citrus scent, you won't be disappointed. Think a watered down but warmer Floris vetiver.

Fans of Creed's discontinued Citrus Bigarade may find some solace here. It's not an exact replica by any means, but the family resemblance is there.

I've stated elsewhere that I've long wanted to smell a classic cologne built entirely from the natural essential oils used back when cologne was new, hundreds of years ago. I thought this might be my chance, but alas, heavy restrictions on the amount of citrus oils usable in a modern perfume have left Futura more focused on the herbs than the citrus.

Don't get me wrong - there's a proper opening blast of gritty, herbal citrus that doesn't disappoint. But that quickly fades into green herbs. The notes say sage, but I suspect there may be some basil or juniper berry, as this has a dark streak that's unexplained by sage alone. Meanwhile, the lavender adds grit - I don't think I would have picked it out without expecting it.

There's no real base, and this is a natural perfume, so longevity is weak, maybe a couple of hours at most, but that's an excuse to keep respraying and getting that citrus kick, so I'm not complaining. That being said, I can imagine the lack of longevity for the price being a real sticking point for many people.