Acqua di Parma Profumo (1930)
by Acqua di Parma

The 2008 version which I bought today is wonderful...I had been looking for a fragrance which could be worn as an alternative to Misouko - and this is the one. Very soft, a chypre in cosy colours, no harsh notes, just a lovely, envelopping veil of easy plushness. Profumo is neither loud nor ultra-innovative. I fell in love with it and think it is very versatile and elegant. My husband is delighted with it, too.

11th September, 2010.

The original Profumo was very good but this one is even more so. I prefer the new version. Sweet fruit - light floral chypre to begin - if you love Mitsouko and The Party In Manhattan then you will love this one too. Dries down a clean woody clean clear cut chypre. Excellence !

1st September, 2010. (Last Edited: 20th January, 2011.)

(This is for the 2008 version). What a lovely chypre fragrance. Kinda old fashioned in feel with its floral, slightly powdery notes (glad they kept some parts true to ther original) but absolutely very feminine and classy. I don't smell too much bergamot or anything sharp and didn't find the drydown too woody. But that could just be how the scent works with my body chemistry. Really worth trying. Too bad it's so outrageously expensive or it'd be mine right away.

22nd April, 2010.

The 2008 version of Acqua di Parma Profumo is an exquisitely poised powdery-dry floral chypre. It’s slightly sweeter and softer than Givenchy III, with a creamy iris note that brings to mind Chanel’s 31 Rue Cambon. The Acqua di Parma is drier and lighter than the Chanel however, and also more obviously floral in its heart. It’s definitely not the dark chypre of Mitsouko or Bhagari. Indeed, there is a luminous quality to this scent that I find irresistible. Acqua di Parma Profumo even induces in me that rare wistful sense - so close to heartbreaking - that I experience with Après l’Ondée and En Passant.

Acqua di Parma Profumo is simply a beautiful thing, a scent that embodies classical perfection: nothing could be added, nor anything removed, that would not diminish it. While it could, I suppose, be unisex, it seems to me so delicately pretty that it belongs on a woman. But there perhaps I’m just being sexist. I suggest anybody with a serious interest in fragrance give this a try. Whether you ultimately want to wear it or not, it’s an outstanding example of balance and proportion in perfume composition.

15th December, 2009.

This is a review for the reformulation which was done in 2008 by Nathalie Lorson. This new version is like Rochas Femme having undergone the same treatment as, say, Diorella did in Amouage's Jubi 25. It smells like a Roudnitska classic but reinterpreted for Cleopatra. It's got that whole ancient vibe about it that you still get in attars from the Mid-East (am thinking in particular of Amouage Ohood), but it's lightened up so that the fragrance breathes. Mature, feminine, classic.

6th September, 2009.

Green and floral chypres have been my 'thing' lately, and Profumo is one of the best I've come across. There is a distinct rose/plum topnote grafted onto the chypre structure that is simply fantastic. It is similar in style to Guerlain's discontinued Parure, but it's not as bright and cheery as Parure. After about 30-40 minutes the rosey/plumy notes fade and a long drawn-out oakmoss drydown emerges that meanders for hours. This may be one of the best oakmoss bases of any fragrance made today. There is an elegance and stateliness to Profumo that must be experienced. Many re-issues of classic fragrances are nothing but pale reflections of their former selves, but this is one that could easily confuse for a 30s era fragrance. Excellent and required for chypre fans. A Neimans SA told me there is a reformulated version now available (because of oakmoss restrictions? She didn't say). I can't attest to the newest version.

On a side note, the presentation is fantastic. The bottles sits in a pedestal base with a slot for the bulb sprayer attachment. The art-deco ribbed glass bottle - sans label - is one of the best looking on my shelf.

23rd May, 2009.