Colonia Essenza Acqua di Parma (2010)Eau de Cologne

Colonia Essenza (Eau de Cologne) by Acqua di Parma

Bottle Design Acqua di Parma

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Colonia Essenza (Eau de Cologne) (Acqua di Parma)

Where to buy

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7.8 / 10 331 Ratings

Colonia Essenza (Eau de Cologne) is a popular perfume by Acqua di Parma for men and was released in 2010. The scent is citrusy-fresh. It is being marketed by LVMH.

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Perfumer

Michel Almairac

Fragrance Notes

Top Notes	Lemon, Orange, Bergamot, Mandarin, Grapefruit, Neroli, Petitgrain
Heart Notes	Rosemary, Lily-of-the-valley, Rose, Jasmine, Clove
Base Notes	Vetiver, Patchouli, White musk, Amber

Ratings

Scent

7.8 (331 Ratings)

Longevity

7.0 (257 Ratings)

Sillage

6.3 (252 Ratings)

Bottle

8.1 (253 Ratings)

Submitted by Kankuro, last update on 15.02.2020.

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Reviews

02/14/2020

GewoonBB
33 Reviews

GewoonBB

Colonia Essenza (@Nose.Knows.No.Notes)

• ACQUA DI PARMA COLONIA ESSENZA •

I recently tried Colonia Oud as my first Acqua Di Parma, I went in with high expectations and left a bit dissappointed. This time around my expectations were lowered and I had a much better time with Colonia Essenza.

Essenza opens with a very bright and sharp citrus accord. There's a distinct neroli and orange scent, but it has a tartness closer to lemon. That initial sharpness does fade away quickly and almost instantly this does what I expected it to do; become a fresh, masculine, aftershave/cologne style fragrance. It's incredibly smooth and I'd say more classy than the Colonia Oud.
As expected, the citrus becomes more of a background accord in the drydown, where a musky and soapy vetiver scent becomes more prominent, giving this it's clean 'fresh out of the shower' connection. There's a hint of neroli and zestiness left to save it from becoming too bland, but the drydown isn't as nice as the opening. This is more the nature of the beast with the style of fragrance than it's a negative comment on Colonia Essenza.

Performance is good for a freshy. It doesn't blow my mind, but I'm pretty sure this is better value for your money than Tom Ford's Neroli Portefino is (although I haven't tried the Forte flanker). Colonia Essenza does not make me regret my purchase of Bvlgari's excellent Wood Neroli. Colonia Oud has a bit more depth and masculinity than Wood Neroli, where Wood Neroli tries to hold on to the citrus opening more than turning into an aftershave style fragrance. Performance on both are equally decent, so at the lower pricepoint the Bvlgari is a great alternative. I do recommend everyone trying Acqua Di Parma Colonia Essenza though, as it does exactly what it sets out to do, without any flaws I can detect •

Please follow my IG @Nose.Knows.No.Notes for more reviews and fragrance photography.

11/02/2019

8.0 8.0 8.0 8.5/10

MajorTom
0 Reviews

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MajorTom

Very helpful Review 8

Il Nobile

If you have a penchant for fragrances, you will inevitably come into contact with the Acqua di Parma brand - usually during a holiday in bella Italia at the latest. And then often the absolute classic, namely the Colonia, is the "entry drug" to further variants. That was the case with me, too, until I saw this black bottle sometime, which, however, with the inscription Colonia Essenza, suggested a stronger flanker than a complete independence. And so it happened that various representatives of the brown- and blue-colored bottles of the same brand first came to me before I paid even closer attention to the black one.

As I said, I only expected a higher tightness of the chained elements. But only 30 seconds after the start of the test it was clear that something was coming through the sprayer, which can't deny a vague relationship with the original Colonia, but in reality is quite different.

The start is incredibly fruity, at first almost a bit too much, which was the result of some tropical fruits pelting into me. I smell lemon, orange and mandarin, and I really smell the full program. After a few minutes this arrangement has settled and leaves a fresh fruity impression. So far so good. In contrast to the "normal" Colonia, I find that, starting with the heart note, the differences become greater. Quite positive, I think. The fruity carpet is given a soft shell, owed to the flowery echoes that blend in. Lily of the valley and rose, so it says in the pyramid, I also mean to hear a trace of Iris, but so be it.

But the momentum that fascinates me comes to the fore with the base note. For where the normal Colonia adds a few woody notes to its fruity base and ends rather cautiously, the Essenza becomes really exciting at first and puts in the highest gear to accelerate again. It draws a bow to the noble, to the noble, to the elegant. And I suspect that the addition of musk is what gives the Essenza that drive. A great dry down, long lasting and equally long lasting impression. This mix at the end has to be done first.

Find the fragrance incredibly successful, wearable basically all year round. Goes in the summer with 36 degrees just like in the winter by the somewhat heavier base. Due to his noble and elegant impression, which he leaves with me, a fragrance for just as fine occasions as I think, one for the opera, for dignified dinners, perfect for tuxedos or suits in general.
Sillage is neat, even in the late afternoon I was still asked which scent I wear. Shelf life loosely 12 hours. The bottle as such is analogous to all other AdP's, simple and beautiful, but the black colour emphasises its special position. Where the blu mediterraneo line is more like a summery attitude and the rich brown bottles are at home in the spicier segment, Colonia Essenza is an exotic, but a very fine one.

Clear test recommendation. I turned the test into a purchase.

5 Replies

10/09/2019

7.0 5.0 6.0 3.5/10

Prinzmustang
0 Reviews

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Prinzmustang

Less helpful Review 1

Citric fresh cloth

Even if I only have one tester of it, unfortunately nothing for me. unfortunately the smell reminds me of when I go somewhere to eat and I get a fresh cloth to clean myself. It is already quite fresh but not mine, I put more value on other scents of acqua the Parma

06/08/2019

Gndias
8 Reviews

Gndias

very solid

A solid cologne that’s ideal for office and formal scenarios, and also works well in summer casual setting,very classy ,versatile .Maybe not suited for a young guy,maybe above 30. But its very solid and a good daily driver for spring or autumn

09/14/2017

6.0 7.0 7.0 10.0/10

Toreter
6 Reviews

Toreter

Helpful Review 3

Clean-soapy-fresh happy acid fragance

I love this scent. Non intrusive, smells like a clean, soapy, fresh fragance, but in an ellegant way. More masculine than Colonia as it is not sweet due to its citrus notes.
Comparisons to Neroli Portofino, Mugler Cologne, 4711 KölnischWasser and all those citrus fragrances is just not quite accurate. Essenza is stronger, lasts longer and evolves much better than the others.
Some people say that reminds os shaving foam, old soap.......I dont see the negative part of that, starts fresh and changes to a barbershop fragance. I can not think of a more masculine such thing.
Excellent for an everyday use and on Spring or summer.

11/12/2015

GMK
30 Reviews

GMK

Less helpful Review

Boring overrated detergent

Absolutely boring and headache inducing in the name of freshness , I don't know what you call it but I can immediately relate it with a lot of detergents in the industry with this sharp pungent and disturbing freshness.

Neroli Portofino is lot better than this imo.

12/27/2012

7.5 5.0 2.5 9.0/10

Drseid
695 Reviews

Drseid

The Under-appreciated Sibling...

Essenza opens with a familiar take on the heavenly opening of AdP Colonia, while throwing in a bit more orange (tangerine in this case). At this point Essenza and the original are very similar. Where Essenza diverges slightly from Colonia is in the heart notes... Essenza tones down the floral aspects and replaces most of the rose of the original with a quite noticeable rosemary herb note (among others). This swap makes the scent verge slightly more towards the "masculine" side of the spectrum (even though it still is very unisex). This is an incredible flanker to Colonia, but its longevity is way too brief, so prepare to have to top up frequently. Superb, and highly recommended. 4.5 stars out of 5.

1 Replies

05/09/2012

5.0 7.5 6.0/10

Missk
1165 Reviews

Missk

Helpful Review 4

More masculine than Colonia

Essenza di Colonia is indeed an obvious Colonia flanker, however I feel that this fragrance is a lot richer and more masculine than its predecessor. I had considered wearing the original Colonia myself in the past, yet with Essenza di Colonia I wouldn't dare.

The scent opens with highly concentrated lemon top notes and zesty hints of orange blossom. It's essentially the scent of a classic cologne; citrusy and fresh. The sweetness apparent in the original is not present in this fragrance, nor are the floral accords. Earthy and grounded herbaceous notes are what makes up most of the heart.

For the first few hours, Essenza di Colonia struck me as being a rather intensified citrus cologne. It refused to be shy, adopting instead a rather biting and rough quality. I find it very intriguing to say the least. I particularly like how it can smell classy one minute, and fierce and rude the next.

The drydown does tend to develop into something soapy and clean, however the masculine qualities remain. Essenza di Colonia is quite a strict, 'no messing around' kind of fragrance, that exudes a lot of distinction and sophistication. The sillage can be strong at times, but it's mostly inoffensive, while the longevity is very powerful, especially on clothes.

While it does appear to be a warm weather scent, I think it could also work well in moderately cool weather, like those in-between seasons before the heat sets in. All in all, I'm impressed.

01/25/2012

7.5 7.5 6.0/10

Sherapop
1239 Reviews

Sherapop

Greatly helpful Review 2

A Sensible Flanker

I love the bracing citrus opening of COLONIA ESSENZA: bright and juicy. Shortly thereafter, ESSENZA returns to its roots, paying an unmistakeable tribute to its namesake, COLONIA. Unlike ASSOLUTA and INTENSA, ESSENZA really seems like a sensible flanker to me (one that commences from and builds on but modifies its source of inspiration) and so is appropriately named.

Like COLONIA, ESSENZA boasts a large dose of herbal aromaticity which comes through quite strongly as the citrus dissipates. In this case, rosemary pairs with sage to produce a complementary effect to that of the rosemary and lavender in COLONIA. Predictably enough, I find this composition, like its namesake, too masculine for me to wear. I wish in this case that the citrus played a greater role rather than disappearing so quickly to make way for the herbs. But I suspect that most people who like COLONIA will appreciate this composition as well.

As for myself, it appears that, when all is said and sniffed, I'm not really a COLONIA kind of gal. I prefer the floral perfumes of this house.