Blu Mediterraneo Capri Orange / Arancia (1999)
by Acqua di Parma

This is placed in the range of fragrances i love to wear at morning in south of Italy at the beginning of the summer when a bit of wind blows on your face and you are projecting your glance towards the crisp sea and beyond  the horizon. On my skin the initial blast of bitter orange-mandarin, crisp grapefruit and aromatic leaves is intoxicating and highly mediterranean. The bitter and aromatic greens are surprising and smell like leaves of orange and lemon rubbed on the hands. The botanic feel is supported by  woods and bergamot which turns out a sort of traditional smell of cologne. The smell retains a touch of ozone, an airy and fruity dimension with its silvan petit grain,  a slightly prickly (cardamom) aqueous feel, may be an hint of ginger and ends towards a very pleasant mossy base . The chord of cardamom and vetiver keeps on a certain level of dusty virility waving in the fruity water. I don't smell any caramel, just an orangy-mossy and musky denser  dry down. The smell is very natural in my opinion, the synthetic feel is under control and the longevity, together with projection are at least on my skin higher than the average despite what some reviewer said. Not bad at all.

17th November, 2011. (Last Edited: 22nd November, 2011.)

Blu Mediterraneo Arancia di Capri, like many others in this line, has captured the exotic Summery-ness of far-away lands through the use of citrus and oceanic undertones.

While I do like this fragrance, the continuous use of citrus in so-called essential Summer scents does get boring at times.

Opening with sour lemon, juicy orange and sharp grapefruit, Arancia di Capri has that all-too-familiar acidic juice smell, that while refreshing, never seems to interest me.

The citrusy quality is a definite mood-lifter, however it often brings me down due to its inability to agree with my skin chemistry. Arancia di Capri unfortunately was not made for me. I have similar issues with Fico di Amalfi, D&G Light Blue and Annick Goutal's Eau d'Hadrien.

On any other person I would probably like this fragrance, especially if the orange decides to dominate over the sharp grapefruit note. I didn't pick up the caramel on my skin, however once again it may shine on another's chemistry.

I wanted this fragrance to develop some more, yet unfortunately the lasting power was quite weak. I have noticed that many others experience the same problem.

It may be a unisex scent, but I see it as more of a feminine fragrance due to its slight sugary-ness. On the right person, in the most idealistic Summer weather, preferably humid, Arancia di Capri is most recommended.

14th November, 2011.

What a waste of money .And the worst thing is that this is EXPENSIVE
Yes, at first splash you get a great orange/mandarin hit ... and no more .After an hour you smell nothing .
This fragrance has one of the POOREST LONGEVITY I have tested .And the same to the projection : absent .
If you want to smell good orange fragrances try Hermés

6th August, 2011.

TENTATIVE THUMBS UP DUE TO LONGEVITY ISSUES

As of right now I'm pretty sure I'll eventually buy this, although I'll probably want another sample. This is an odd fragrance and I sprayed little bits of my small decant to sample it before finally killing it in an all day wearing.

Arancia di Capri starts out smelling like orange soda, which is pretty pleasant although damn peculiar in a fragrance. After the opening the sillage smells like an orange shampoo. Of course, if you press your nose to the fragrance it still resembles orange soda, but it real life nobody has nose to skin when smelling a fragrance. I only noticed the real goodness hours later. Every time I walked into a room I would wonder who was wearing the yummy fragrance, and I always needed to remind myself that it was me. It's just unusually good. Unfortunately, it's also got serious problems with longevity. It isn't horrendous, but it's enough to give me pause when considering a purchase.

9th July, 2011.

The initial blast of fresh squeezed oranges is amazing. It is bright, crisp and juicy sweet. Like others say, it avoids the synthetic candy zone. It is surprisingly natural smelling and oh so delicious.
Great for hot summer days. Others complain about lasting power, but i find that 2-3 sprays will last 8 hours for me. I will sometimes reapply midday or before dinner.

The Mandarin Orange notes change over time. Sometimes its fresh orange juice, at others its orange rinds, and sometimes its just a soft orange scent. All are very good.

The dry down on this one is interesting. It is like a caramel with hints of orange.

Overall its very good. It does have lasting power on me, but it does not always project very far. However, it is one of the few fragrances I can smell on myself ALL day long. it will still be there when i wakeup. If you like the initial blast of oranges, then you will probably enjoy this one. Its a shame its so expensive, but its natural scent makes it stand apart from all the popular scents out there.

25th March, 2011.

What do you get when you mix Brown sugar
pure Cain sugar and Oranges you'll get
Arancia di Capri with it's juiciest citruses of the coast of Mediterranean
islands into an 2.oz bottle of pure enjoyment. I love the top notes of citruses and intoxicating grapefruit and
dries to an powdery finish of bergamot.

And i thought to myself if you love the citruses are composed well in this scent
why do you just like it? i think i know why it's the Petit grain with it's greenish muskiness that can be overwhelming in this scent but that's my only complant. but i love the drydown
consist or cardamom with it's spiciness
and surprising the sweet note of Caramel. sometimes with fragrances
your'll get surprised if an simple bottle you'll think nothing excited but
with one spray it's artistry in a bottle. Big things comes in Small Packages.

14th December, 2010.