Acqua di Sale
by Profumum

I find that ADS suits me well. It has great longevity and has what I would describe as a rather cantabile manner. It just flows well, even if some find it a bit linear. I did not like this upon my initial smell - it smelled like pure tanning oil to me. But once I applied it, I realized it was much more than that. It does smell a bit like tanning oil, but also has a sweet and salty smell at the same time (more sweet than salty, although the salt is there, at least in the middlenotes). I'm not for sure what exactly it is that I like about the smell, I can't name you the exact notes, and I'm just not sure what algae smells like (or for that matter why so many people know what algae smells like). I have noticed a common theme in some of the negative reviews. It looks like people who have smelled or worn similar fragrances do not like ADS. This might have something to do with the expensive price. But I have not worn an ocean-like scent before and I find it quite pleasant. Lasts on me around 8-9 hours. The downside to this fragrance is that it's absurdly expensive, over 200$ or so for a bottle. And that may be justice enough to rate this negatively.

8th November, 2011.

Mediocre scent despite the caos that in Italy turns it as a cult among the ignorant members of the middle class guided by the great joystick. This is the expensive version of Fiore dell'onda by l'Erbolario (about € 15 for a 100 ml). This fragrance is nothing but seaweeds, ozonic elements and salt couteracted by a sweet soft ingredient in order to play the game of contrasts end exalt the unsteady salt of the wake. No trace of texture. The note of myrtle adds its particular kind of woodsy and fruity  sweet-bitter taste of the coast and the role of the salt in the game of opposites produces a sort of animal or human whiff. The seaweeds combined with some obscure element produce that sort of licorice-cucumber effect many talk about and which turns out as a sort of rubbery and synthetic candy smell. The astringent cedarwood exalts the roar of the salt. It's exaggerated to talk about scrubbing off immediately but this is boring and shallow in my opinion.

2nd June, 2011.

I can not say why I like it, but I do. It is not your typical "marine" scent as it is a little "dirty" but it does smell like the ocean as you approach it from the inland valleys. It is pleasant to smell, have decent projection and lasts a good while. I know it has gotten poor reviews but I give it a thumbs up.

20th March, 2011.

In italy this is a cult scent for all the snob-ish ladies without class but with a biiiiiig credit card. A scent that litterally makes me laughing so hard I cant' breathe. You can easly buy Demeter's Rain for 10 bucks and tell everybody it's acqua di sale, no one will notice. Actually they're not really similar, but no one will notice, anyway! ahahahahahah, sorry I was talking about acqua di sale and couldn't stop laughing...

if you really like acquatic scents go for Tirrenico by I Profumi Del Forte, here follows I review I just made:

I had a sample of Tirrenico a few monthes ago and, as I'm generally not into aquatic scents, I forgot it in a box. One day I was removing a few books from a shelf and I found the decant again so I gave it a try and I totally got suprised. Tirrenico is litterally amazing and stunning. No ozone bull***t here, but a real oceanic fragrance. IMO the only one really recalling the wet sand, marine wet woods and shells giving you the feeling of an exclusive, paradisiac beach. Longevity is super, great sillage and last but not least, lasting power is absolutely unique for an aquatic fragrance (10-12 hours). Another good point is the drydown as most of the marine scents often turn into something else that is sometimes soapy, sometimes fruity etc etc...this one stays fresh, vibratin and aquatic...It's like to have a fresh water fountain followiong you for the whole day! Amazing!

Obviously I immediately decided I had to have a bottle...and I got it!

6th March, 2011. (Last Edited: 4th April, 2011.)

Another fragrance I'm surprised doesn't go down better with the basenotes crowd!

I thought I was spending a lot of money for 100 ml of basically very concentrated seawater and wondered whether I might try to part with some of it to mitigate the expenditure. After strapping her on awhile, though, it's camphor that I get as the main event with a realistic marine thing sort dancing about on the periphery like the monkeys around the black door thing in 2001. This fragrance is strange - decidedly magical in its strange way. In "feeling" (not in scent) has an affinity, I think, with patchouli in its overtones of something not terribly clean (which is an interesting take on "ocean" "ozone" etc, antithetical to the usual conceptions) if not downright unsanitary down by the water. A freshly varnished pier or ... the floor of a sauna with the steam off (saying this I reveal to myself a certain connection to Tann Roka is it Shisu, only the Tann Roka has the steam on, leans towards the feminine whereas this fragrance is leaning if not to the masculine side than to the ascetic/conceptual side that says anything but girly ladylike matronly or dread "old lady". Thinking about how there is fundamentally a comme des garcons aesthetic to this creation also brings to mind Hinok - a not too terribly distant relative (I should sniff Hinoki again to feel sure this is correct though).

I went to dinner with a friend tonight who appeared to be quite allergic to it though, he was sneezing the entire time. We were separated for a time towards the end of the visit and I do think he stopped sneezing when he got away from me.

I'd give it two thumbs up if we were allowed to use both hands!

31st January, 2011.

Licorice anyone? That, and a bit of cucumber are honestly all I get from Acqua di Sale. A big disappointment.

22nd December, 2009.