Acqua di Giò (1995)
by Giorgio Armani

I have had this as a present from my aunt. It's just a pleasant "clean" summery fragrance , nothing more, nothing less.

It is interesting how many different takes there can be on one perfume. It all comes down to past olfactory associations from our pasts and, quite simply, individual taste.

I find Acqua Di Gio to be equal parts floral, fruity and aquatic. Overall it makes me think of the sea and conjures images of the mediterranean in summer, even though I have never seen it. Like many Armani perfumes, it isn't long lasting. But it is to be expected of a fragrance of this nature. You cannot have a soft, fresh aquatic last all day. Perfumes like this will only smell fresh while they are fresh on the skin.

This is one of the only armani fragrances I've actually disliked. I thought it smelled a little vinegary on me, and had to have a shower to get rid of the scent. I don't mind the men's version thought.

When first sprayed on, I was surprised by the amount of sandlewood I intially smelled. This later immediately dried to an all too familiar citrus perfume that strangely enough reminds me of those cheap, imitation CK One scented christmas tree air freshners.

More masculine in design than I prefer.

I began wearing this when it first came out and I have had a bottle of it knocking around ever since. The overall effect of this fragrance is fresh, clean, somewhat citrussy and watery, but complex and interesting enough to keep me coming back to it. I usually only wear this scent during the summer or on days when I want my fragrance to enhance rather than take center stage. For some reason I detect a melony essence in this, although it is possible that this is the effect of the peach/pineapple/lemon scent combination. The lasting power of this fragrance on me is decent although I find that I need to reapply this later on in the day if the first application was in the morning. This fragrance is a safe bet for anyone who wants to smell fresh and pleasant. It's a good scent to wear to work as I find it quite unlikely that this would be strong enough to offend anybody. It is very much a fragrance of its time--the mid nineties gave us various citrussy-oceanic-fresh scents that often had a unisex quality to them. I have since become fond of stronger, more complex scents, but this will always have a place in my collection. It seems to work very well with my body chemistry as several women I know have bought this fragrance after asking me what I was wearing.

Well this is nice... wait, where'd it go? Definitely a no-buy: inoffensively pleasant, light smell with absolutely zero staying power, and a drydown remininiscent to me of cheapish body sprays. Why so classic? Was there nothing else around in the mid-90s?