Colonia Acqua di Parma 1916 Eau de Cologne

Colonia (Eau de Cologne) by Acqua di Parma

Bottle Design Adolf Loos

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Designer Edition 2011 von Luca Scacchetti

Colonia (Eau de Cologne) (Acqua di Parma)

8.0 / 10610 Ratings

Colonia (Eau de Cologne) is a popular perfume by Acqua di Parma for men and was released in 1916. The scent is citrusy-fresh. It is being marketed by LVMH. Pronunciation

Scent goes well with Molecule 01

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Top Notes	Lemon Orange Calabrian bergamot
Heart Notes	Lavender Bulgarian rose Vervain Rosemary
Base Notes	Vetiver Sandalwood Patchouli

Ratings

Scent

8.0610 Ratings

Longevity

6.4462 Ratings

Sillage

5.9440 Ratings

Bottle

8.0440 Ratings

Value for money

7.159 Ratings

Submitted by DonVanVliet, last update on 19.07.2021.

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Reviews

07/06/2021

9
Scent 6
Longevity 5
Sillage

Jas0N

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Jas0N

Top Review 14

Timeless elegance

Tastes change all the time. In my humble opinion, every generation has that so-called "something" that it particularly likes, perhaps also distinguishes it. This is not only the case with perfume, rather this image stands out in many things. Music would be there among other things to call.
In my opinion, one should always be open to new things, but at the same time also have the tolerance to recognize outstanding from the past as what it is. Namely outstanding.

Colonia succeeds in this extremely well. Undeniably we have here a masterpiece and classic of its time before us. Nevertheless, AdP has succeeded in transporting temporal elegance in the modern age, so that this smells by no means old-fashioned or is arrested his generation. Quite the opposite. This classic still shines today, although it stands for a perfection from the past.

I have been to Italy quite often. And the flair that this bottle has captured leaves me speechless. This at once simple yet strikingly classy interpretation, captures for me the kind of scent I associate with gentle colognes. A quiet, gentle attitude. Inconspicuous and only close, but decidedly elegant.

Colonia is characterized by a thoroughly very tangy lemon attack. Subliminally, bergamot mixes in. Especially on extremely hot days I love such a fresh prelude especially.
Immediately joins lavender and verbena mixes in the ensemble.
Towards the end, it becomes woodier in my opinion, but still presents itself very clean and fresh. A really great Cologne.

The shelf life is expectedly low or less. But does not matter, since usual for the genre of fragrance.

The projection takes place rather close to the skin, but nestles against the skin like a gentle companion. I find that really great.

All in all, a quite great, timeless fragrance. A fragrance of the then, as well as today, and in the future will find appeal.

8 Replies

05/08/2021

10
Scent 7
Longevity 8
Sillage 10
Bottle

Gandix

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Gandix

Top Review 37

Suddenly the sun winks

You know that feeling when you can't help,
but smile?
The corners of the mouth pull up as if by itself?
So it went to me the other day, when I fluttered this sample in the house
and I sprayed it on.
The weather, grey dreariness and freezing cold,
for days.
The mood minus 50° Fahrenheit,
but, you know how it is at the moment.
And then I take this sample to hand,
spray...
...and suddenly the sun blinks through the gloomy grey,
sends its warming, citrusy rays into my face,
and I begin to smile....

It's a wonderful citrus,
more creamy,
as it spreads across my skin.
Underlying it all are gently herbaceous notes,
that I can't make out individually.
Nature pure.
The base - do I even want to call it a base? -
It's more like a flickering,
always fluttering up gentle wood notes.
They give stability,
embrace the citrus.
The fragrance is classic and modern in one,
wonderfully light and pleasant to wear.
And I can't stop smiling.
It happens all by itself....

31 Replies

04/14/2021

10
Scent 7
Longevity 8
Sillage 10
Bottle

Bastian

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Bastian

Top Review 34

The forefather of citrus fragrances

It's that time again
I write today a somewhat smaller commentary on the brand
ACQUA DI PARMA which was founded in 1916 in the old town of Parma.

It is about Colonia........

Acqua di Parma Colonia is the original fragrance of all AdP fragrances. Its basic DNA, I find mann can recognize in almost all AdP fragrances.

What makes this impressive summer fragrance so unique?
Who has ever been to Sicily or Sardinia, and there walked over a lemon plantation, knows what I'm talking about.

That citrus scent, as soft and elegant as it is in the air, that's exactly what the scent smells like.
Acqua di Parma has really made it,
this simple but noble, stylish and not too intrusive fragrance in the bottle to get.

It refreshes in a way of lightness that I don't know from any other citrus fragrance.

Yes and I must say, for me personally, it is the benchmark for refreshing citrus scents.

The flacon, which is available in 3 sizes, from 80 euros upwards, is designed simply but very noble. The spray head, is one if not the best in the perfume business.

The spray dispersion and dosage is perfectly in balance. It hardly gets any better.

I pay my utmost respect to this fragrance.

IN THIS BOTTLE, LIVES THE SUMMER.
HE'S JUST WAITING TO BE RELEASED.

MILLE GRAZIE ACQUA DI PARMA

29 Replies

03/23/2021

7.5
Scent 8
Longevity 5
Sillage 7
Bottle

Ovm

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Ovm

The FFP2 bath

Corona. And the masks came. I started with the textile masks, you could clean them with the desired detergent and banish the factory and chemical smell.
Then in the fall the FFP2 masks became popular and I was completely screwed the stank of a horrible chemical cocktail.
So I started dusting the masks with perfumes, Interlude Man I wore that day. Thought if I like it on my skin, why not off on the mask...that was a mistake. I sat there for my 5 hours in uni and got very nervous the scent was just too strong. Next test with about half the power (Terre d'Hermes), still too heavy for Monday morning. So now I take me times the lightest summer fragrance in the collection, Acqua di Parma Colonia.
Match Made in Heaven. The fragrance is nice on the mask and I'm looking forward now to go back to university despite the regulations and requirements.

The fragrance is a nice fresh scent of the eau de cologne concentration does not last too long but always smiles nice. The fresh lemon comes very handy to me after a liter of fresh orange juice. I only pick up the orange lightly. The lavender and rose notes always delight my girlfriend when I then come down for breakfast but until man is out the door is the scent in the sillage already very pulled back that I'm looking for a new layer.
The composition is very refreshing and super for Sunday brunch.

2 Replies

02/28/2021

10
Scent 6
Longevity 6
Sillage 8
Bottle

Salva

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Salva

Top Review 39

Simple can be so beautiful...

There are houses that stay true to their line.
Houses that stick to their principles.
Houses that stand for certain values.
Houses that are easily recognized by their uniqueness.
[...]

Parma, located in the region of Emilia-Romagna in the north of Italy; a university city, known among other things for its Parmesan cheese as well as ham. And this city offers just such a house mentioned at the beginning, namely Acqua di Parma.

This classic Italian house, which stands for Colonias or fresh citrus scents like no other brand, I discovered relatively late. About half a year after I was already registered here, I got then from Bastian a sample of Essenza. Thank you Bastian, you have brought me consequently this famose brand closer!

Tested I have then first some blue ADPs, which I found good, but not good enough to pull in a bottle (the brown / black bottles, in turn, I had paid little attention).
[...]

But for some time I had the need to get me a classic cologne, because such a one was missing in my collection. A cologne that carries this designation and just fits especially to very warm temperatures. In this context I remembered Acqua di Parma. I had a quick look at Colonia, which was released in 1916, and the Intensa version. From both a bottling ordered I let them against each other in the duel, so to speak.

The reason why my decision fell on this Colonia is simple: I find him incredibly noble and simple-beautiful. And the emphasis is on "simple".
[...]

The fragrance starts with a classic, intense and fresh citrus note that smells very natural, pure and elegant. Right at the beginning you have the sun, the blue sky, lightly dressed and good-humored people in front of your eyes. The fragrance immediately exudes pure joie de vivre.

In the further course, I perceive slightly spicy-herbaceous nuances, which are probably due to the lavender or rosemary. But still the lemon shapes the character and holds back the other notes and actually remains until the base, where it then becomes a bit drier and woodier. I attribute this to the minimal woody accords that round out the fragrance towards the end.
[...]

In terms of longevity, I have found that it comes across much better on warm days and lasts longer. In fact, I have only had him on colder days to use, but in retrospect, this turned out to be not quite as suitable.
Because when I wore him several times in the past days at the significantly warmer temperatures, he suddenly held longer and smelled more intense.
Here I would say nehm I perceive him neat 5h on my skin, which is quite good for a cologne, I think.

So I know for me that I will use it almost exclusively for warm days, since I also
originally wanted to get for such.

He is also not a fragrance that pulls a larger cloud with him. But that is in this case also good, because anything else would not fit. He stands out namely by his stylish and classic aura.
[...]
Conclusion:
This Colonia stands for me as a symbol of the Italian attitude to life. A fragrance of simple beauty and elegance, which is endowed with timeless character. An incomparable, very high quality citrus freshness, which I did not know so far.

Just terrific that he has been on the market for so long and I can enjoy to know him and spray me with.

[...]
Grazie Parma!
And grazie to everyone for reading!

25 Replies

02/19/2021

9
Scent 7
Longevity 6
Sillage 8
Bottle

Scentastic08

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Scentastic08

Helpful Review 12

The entry into the niche world

For this comment I have to go further. I am still quite new in the perfume world and the old flagship of the Italian cult niche house Acqua di Parma takes a very special role in my perfume world. More about this later.
It had never been of great importance to me to smell particularly good and conspicuous. If times a party stood or with friends was met, then one has just made the perfume on it, which one has got sometime times as a gift. These were in my case, for example, Diesel only the brave or the classic CK One. These Eau de Toilettes have completely fulfilled their purpose. No more and no less. Looking back, I have to grin then but and be happy about the development of my Riechapperats.

On the idea that perfume could now be more than a companion for a particular occasion, I then came through my best friend. This has not dealt too much more with perfumes than I, however, he has become aware of the house of Creed at some point. Little by little he enlarged his collection and I was allowed to smell and try more and more with him, for which I am very grateful to him :-)
Also, it was he who has "taught" me a lot about perfume and so my interest has always grown and I also wanted to own a special fragrance that smells like more than just sweet party rasper.

Now this is where Acqua die Parma comes in. I tried many houses, designer or niche, expensive or cheap. However, I didn't want to spend a fortune on my first real fragrance either. And that's when I became aware of the Italian house, which has been capturing the beautiful spirit of Italy so beautifully for what feels like an eternity. High quality, super smell and a not too high price for a pure niche house have convinced me finally. Now, however, the question arose which fragrance it should be. I have tested many and also the Blu Mediterraneo series I found very interesting. Ultimately, however, I have decided for the classic: Colonia!
The since 1916 tingeln through the shops of the cash hit of the house has it me from the beginning, perhaps also because I smelled him for the first time in the summer and he fits so incredibly well to the season. But also because I was looking for a versitilen fragrance that is timeless, which I can wear on different occasions and especially the my nose also beautifully caresses.
Thus, the decision was made and at a time of year not quite suitable for this fragrance, he was then also taken as the first niche fragrance in my care.

Now to the fragrance itself, after the somewhat sprawling prehistory. As already addressed Colonia is for ages on the market and was also already in the 20s, 30s and 40s of famous actors gladly worn and attained so also worldwide fame. It is very classic and smells like it. However, in no bad way! You don't get an old men's fragrance here, but a timeless masterpiece. For me, this fragrance is also due to its beautiful citrus accord a captivating representative of the Chypre fragrances.
In the top note captivates the already mentioned lemon. A wonderful lemon! Here it smells not after sweet zusammengekleistertem citrus slap, but very noble, light and simply natural. Also, the lavender in the top note already comes to the fore, but is still very much pushed back by the lemon. This is an eau de cologne, as the name suggests, with the supposedly weakest perfume concentration. Since it should not surprise you that the top note lasts only about 30-45 minutes, which is perfectly fine, because otherwise it would also be too much lemon of the good.
The lavender then comes in the heart note so right into gear. Here he then fully drowns out the citrus notes and can so really shine! But even here the theme of fresh remains in focus. The lavender continues to be accompanied by a beautiful lemon bergamot accord, which gives it a perfect freshness and it therefore in no way smells like "old granny". Also, the lavender accompanies one significantly longer than the lemon and passes only after a very acceptable 4-5 hours.
Remains then the base note which continues to appear wonderfully fresh but now gets some warmth instilled thanks to one of my favorite notes: The sandalwood! This fits perfectly with the previously very fresh fragrance notes and now nestles against the skin ran and envelops one with a wonderful creaminess, which is still not heavy or oppressive, but rather light and still fresh.

It is with Colonia definitely an absolute freshness monster. The fragrance shines in summer and spring. From personal experience, however, I can say that he is wearable at any time of year and always fits. Of course, in colder temperatures, the durability suffers as well. The sillage is generally not very strong and is around 1-2 hours, depending on the weather. However, that's okay considering the cologne concentration. However, the Eau de Cologne concentration has a wonderful refreshing effect in the summer due to it's higher water content! On the skin, the scent is good and long to smell, 6-8 hours are there in any case.
The bottle is very simple and therefore perfect for this fragrance. The spray head is well made and also sprays a decent amount, so not too many sprayers are necessary.
The class of the fragrance and its age are often lumped together with associations such as "old man fragrance". But I must disagree. In my opinion, Colonia is to wear for almost any age group. (Here I exclude times under 20 year olds want to wear the fragrance at a village party).

Who is looking for a long-lasting sillage monster is absolutely wrong here. But who is looking for a classic non-fragrance, which smells high-quality and is not too intrusive, which is absolutely right here! Colonia just has that certain something extra and smells like it. And indeed, it also smells, owed to the bergamot and lemon, a bit of Italy for everyone's skin.

7 Replies

01/21/2021

9
Scent 8
Longevity 7
Sillage 10
Bottle 10
Pricing

Ischgelroi

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Ischgelroi

Very helpful Review 9

My Italy in a bottle

Acqua di Parma is simply Italy for me. I was allowed to get to know this brand first in Italy and was immediately blown away by this simplicity. The classic Colonia was always somehow for me something where I did not dare to go, somehow I always had the thought in my head that is only something for the more mature men and so I first bought other Colonias. 3 years later I bought my first Colonia bottle and I do not regret it a second, clearly Colonia is not necessarily modern perhaps also somewhat old-fashioned, but I love this perfume nevertheless. Colonia is a perfume that always fits it is never out of place or unpleasant. I also find the history of this masterpiece fascinating, not many perfumes can claim to have survived two world wars and still not belong to the old iron. Colonia is simply something special in its own way and I hope it stays that way for a very long time. I find this freshness with the lemons, oranges and bergamot notes just perfectly implemented. I have not yet found another brand which implements this combination so perfectly.

2 Replies

12/20/2020

9
Scent 7
Longevity 5
Sillage 10
Bottle

Jannik200999

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Jannik200999

Helpful Review 5

Summer in a bottle

I needed a scent for the summer. For the days when it's really hot. If you're looking for something like that, you probably can't get past the Colonia.
I had long thought about which fragrance I now get me. Ultimately, my choice is then fallen on this gem here.
Yes, there is the Essenza, there are longer lasting EdCs, there are cheaper and so on and immediately.

So why this one?

Because I was fascinated that this cologne has been around for over 100 years, and is still loved and appreciated.

And yes, it is a great cologne. I have never smelled something so citrus-fresh. THE candidate No.1 for the high summer. Later, the freshness is indeed partially displaced by the lavender, verbena and rose, but it never goes away.

The durability is considerable for an EdC, I perceive it 7-8 hours on me with decent sillage. The bottles of Acqua di Parma are for me anyway the most beautiful on the entire market.

A literally timeless fragrance, which hopefully still has a long time.
Oh man, now I have a desire for the.

1 Replies

05/04/2020

8.5
Scent 6
Longevity 7
Sillage 9
Bottle

Skills0401

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Skills0401

Top Review 17

The Barber of Emilia-Romagna

In my almost two years here at Parfumo, writing comments is something I haven't necessarily indulged in - writing a good comment takes time and reflection, so I reserve the right to write about fragrances that awaken something special in me. All the more respect for all those who comment much more often and for a longer time!

But today it's time again - it's about 20 degrees in New York and after a rainy spring, which is overshadowed by COVID-19, it's finally sunny for a longer time. The air on these early summer days always has a special energy for me and on such days AdP Colonia is a fragrance that underlines this energy but at the same time reminds me that it doesn't take much to enjoy life

The energy is expressed here in particular by the tangy and lemon-dominated opening, which is at the same time pleasantly cool. Accompanied by a light bergamot, Colonia makes a self-confident but very natural appearance here and brings a kick of freshness that lifts and energizes the mood. This prelude is a rather short pleasure, because after about 20-30 minutes the citrus fruits embed themselves very harmoniously into the base of the fragrance, which makes a lot out of little. Lemon and lavender are carried here by other herbs and a fresh, slightly soapy note, which evokes associations with the south, with sun, but also with down-to-earthness. There is no need for a protruding pyramid of scents here, just a few natural ingredients - you won't find any synthetics here.

A few weeks ago, I had a very similar scent in the nose of a barber in a Mexican city, and there was nothing superimposed on it either: a chair, wonderfully aged wooden furniture and a barber and apprentice who did their work. Simple, but efficient, and proud of what you are and what you do - I have the same feeling with this classic from Acqua di Parma. And perhaps it is this association that makes me think of Colonia as a so-called "barbershop" fragrance, or rather a precursor of it.

Shelf life and sillage are not the most important things with Colonia. 4-5 hours one has a pleasure with it, whereby the sillage is stronger than expected at the beginning, but then quickly recedes, leaving the wearer almost alone with his pleasures.

All in all, Colonia is a wonderful companion for warm days, reminding me that less can often be more - an important lesson especially in Corona times

8 Replies

04/26/2020

8.5
Scent 7
Longevity 6
Sillage 7
Bottle

FvSpee

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FvSpee

Top Review 32

Colonia instead of Corona. No. 4: Parma per sempre!

With "Parma" everyone has his own associations. Gourmets think of Parma ham and Parma cheese (a.k.a. Parmesan), my friend Miro, who works at the EU Commission (no, he's not responsible for the allergen rules on perfumes), probably thinks of EFSA, the EU agency for food safety based in Parma, historians may think of the house of Bourbon-Parma (Parma was for a long time Austrian or French before the foundation of the Italian nation state), and literature lovers think of Stendhal's novel "The Charterhouse of Parma", which, however, is not about Carthusian monks but about love and politics. Perfume lovers think, of course, of Acqua di Parma, perhaps THE best-known Italian fragrance brand, at least in the men's segment.

One of them is the "blue series" of AdP with a wide variety of mostly quite successful summer waters: I think the house has succeeded very well in occupying the modern niche segment and earning a lot of money. I'm no expert, but could I imagine that this series appeals to a similar (perhaps not quite as prestige-conscious and rip-off-resistant) segment of buyers as the equally blue one by Tom Ford.

The other is: This scent here (and its flankers): THE ORIGINAL.

In "Colonia" by Acqua di Parma we encounter (historically certainly not correct, but in the sense of a felt truth) something like the Italian Ur-Cologne, the ultra-montane counterpart of 4711 and Farina Gegenüber. Especially in the opening phase, the relationship to the German and French colognes and colognes in the tradition of the Cologne houses, but also, for example, of Guerlain's Impérial, is clearly noticeable: A tradition is being continued, which is why there are nine points for the well fitting name "Colonia".

The attack is perfectly lemony; and this lemon holds exactly the middle ground between creamy soft veiling and sharp, hard or sharp prickiness. It is a wonderfully strong, medium to dark yellow, round, solidly built, soft and yet strong lemon, with slightly green and bitter-fresh citric companions (I would have guessed bergamot and bitter orange here and was close).

After about 20 minutes, stronger floral impressions become visible, I would not have suspected rose, a decided (even heavy) rose scent is also missing, it is more an unspecific, but very beautiful floral aspiration. I don't think that rosemary and verbena were separate either, but I assume that they provide the stable, pithy and masculine bass underlay, even without smelling them specifically. In this phase Colonia changes miraculously between a floral-soft lemon and a crisp lemon sorbet, possibly with pistanzias on it.

Here I think, wow, this is such a stand-alone fragrance that is just as difficult to optimize as a Parmesan loaf, a cypress or the cathedral of Parma. The thing just stands in the world and you hope, forever, or at least for a few thousand years. After about an hour, however, there is a development that irritates me a bit, because the lavender enters the stage noticeably and fills it for about an hour. Lavender in eau de cologne is classic at most, it is also in 4711; but I find this too dominant here; for my nose the citric is (temporarily) too much displaced here. But that may have a very subjective touch. I actually like lavender very much, but for the last few months I seem to have been noticing it very strongly, perhaps more strongly than it is there.

From the third hour onwards, the citric regains lost ground, lavender remains moderately present, and at the same time the base, first woody, then wonderfully classic, fades into soapy, tender sweetness. Great, incredibly harmonious finish! br />
Apart from my lavender irritation, I like colonia very much, but I perceive it as almost overclassic. So classic that I find it almost a bit old-fashioned, which is saying something for me, because I'm not twenty-five anymore either and usually get rather curious about labels like "Opaduft". But my opinion doesn't seem to be a general opinion: If I look at this: 385 owners, and many of them with rather hip and club-suited nicknames, which rather less remind of educated citizens in retirement. It's nice that this fragrance seems to have kept its youthful freshness; I indulge and wish it at least another hundred years. Parma per sempre!

Two further remarks:

A friendly perfumer has left a note under No 1 of this small series saying that hard times are good for light fragrances. There seems to be something to that. The No. 3 of this series was launched in 1938, during the time of the annexation of Austria, the Munich Agreement and the late phase of the Spanish Civil War. This one actually dates from 1916. What "Verdun" is for Germans and French, the Isonzo River was for the Italians and Austrians, where the bloom of Italian youth died in mud, hail of grenades and machine gun fire during several years of war in succession, including 1916. It was a stalemate that lasted for years, ironically "won" in the end, in 1918 the Austrians: the Italian front collapsed and the way through northern Italy to Rome was open. But at this very moment the Spanish flu and the political disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire caused the Austrian army to collapse. And so everything remained as it was: a big draw, military situation as it had been four years before, only with infinite mass graves in addition, such as Northern Italy had last seen, if at all, in ancient times. And in the middle of this mess, a few dozen kilometres behind the front, in 1916, this light, cheerful little summer water was created, which is still a good mood bringer today. Crazy, right?

AdP's Parma occupies an intermediate position for me: it clearly shows its affinity to the Franco-German tradition of light, fleeting, citric-cool colognes. At the same time, with its good performance, differentiated fragrance development and a shelf life of five to six hours, which puts many a modern 300-euro-supplier-niche EdP in the shade, it can unhesitatingly claim ambitions to play a role in the world of "real perfumes".

23 Replies

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