Quercia
Acqua di Parma (2019)

I hadn't smelled any Aqua di Parma before and nothing I whiffed from the display stood out to me

I'm new to the hobby and I have bad taste

The sales rep was a cool older woman wearing a big layered fabricy black outfit with large pearl necklaces and a grown out black buzz cut

I asked her what she liked and she picked out Quercia and then told me how to say it

She said she thought it smelled sexy and I said 'I agree'

We talked about how men my age often gravitate towards something like the neighboring Parfums de Marly stand, where sexy is a deep, sweet something or other. Until their partner usually speaks up

But here in Parma sexy is a lighter lemon / bergamot crispy wet top that never gets too sweet and dries around into this very polite but dirtier [in this eras standards] base

All in all it was a lovely experience and a great reminder of the group learning and social understanding that I like so much about perfume

same with cooking / eating / drinking / music, the kind of stuff that brings people together. seems Italian to me