Acqua di Giò Essenza Giorgio Armani 2012

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7.9 / 10 325 Ratings

Acqua di Giò Essenza is a popular perfume by Giorgio Armani for men and was released in 2012. The scent is fresh-aquatic. It was last marketed by L'Oréal. Pronunciation

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Fragrance Notes

Top Notes	Bergamot Cascalone® Grapefruit
Heart Notes	Basil Jasmine Paradisone® Sage
Base Notes	Ambrox Atlas cedar Patchouli Vetiver

Perfumer

Alberto Morillas

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Ratings

Scent

7.9325 Ratings

Longevity

7.8263 Ratings

Sillage

7.1260 Ratings

Bottle

8.0286 Ratings

Value for money

7.747 Ratings

Submitted by Kankuro, last update on 29.11.2022.

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06/02/2018

10
Bottle 6
Sillage 8
Longevity 5.5
Scent

CD1810

Translated Show original

CD1810

Somehow arbitrary

Originally I had rated Acqua di Gio Essenza quite high. My beloved classic from the nineties finally with decent durability, great! When I bought it in 2013, I was even willing to pay the very steep prices for a mainstream fragrance. Meanwhile, Essenza has gone down in price, but so has my opinion of Essenza.

I still like Essenza. It gives me a nice, very fruity freshness, which indeed lasts a very long time. It is really possible to hardly change the original significantly, but only to significantly improve its durability and sillage. That's something. In addition, Essenza attracts many compliments, which is also gratifying.

I find it disturbing that I can hardly identify individual fragrances: Acqua di Gio Essenza is somehow fresh, fruity, but above all synthetic. And I don't think it's aquatic. If you want to smell a pure aquatic culture, you should try Acqua di Sale by Profumum Roma.

I already wonder whether the original was so synthetic back then or whether my perception today is mainly related to the increased age, but especially to increased demands.

Be that as it may, I wear Acqua di Gio Essenza when I don't really know what I find olfactory. It then seems to me like a slowly fading memory of the past. It accompanies me fruity - fresh through the day: Unfortunately increasingly artificial and somehow arbitrary. It will definitely not be re-bought.

04/05/2020

10
Bottle 8
Sillage 8
Longevity 8
Scent

MajorTom

Translated Show original

MajorTom

Classic reloaded

Giorgio Armani. Acqua di Gio. As it sounds. Giorgio Armani. It's music to my ears. Basically italophilically tinged, Giorgio Armani is for me the grandmaster when it comes to Italian nonchalance, but never negligence. No one else breathes so much style into a simple sweater, no one else manages to make suits look so formal and yet so casual at the same time. Often I am hung on the shop windows of the boutiques, but unfortunately, at least for me, the prices are out of reach.

So it is best to come to terms with it quickly and be content with what is financially presentable. In the case of Giorgio Armani, that's my fragrance creations.

In the last century and millennium, at the end of the 80s, beginning of the 90s, I always had a bottle of Eau pour homme above the sink. What a fantastic scent. And what a great bottle, with the corrugated black base. Some of you here may still remember it. For me, it was one of the best fragrances of all time, perfectly suited to Giorgio Armani, casual yet equally elegant, never intrusive yet always present. It's a shame that it no longer exists. The good old days.....
Then, at the end of the 90's, my legitimate successor, Acqua di Gio, moved in, a less citric but more aquatic fragrance, which felt at least as successful as its predecessor. Although there are so many manufacturers in the aquatic league, it simply had a unique selling point, you could always smell it among others. Unfortunately, from my point of view it became a real mass product and for me it became less and less interesting.

Then one day I was given Acqua di Gio Essenza as a gift. And so Giorgio Armani found me a sequel. The question, when such a Flaker comes on the market, is of course always what makes it different from the original. I would like to make a comparison with a car that some of you here may still remember, and this too is from the last millennium. We are talking about the Opel Kadett GSi. One of the most successful series of the manufacturer. In 1989 the Opel men decided to add a GSi 16V to this model, hoping to attract a little more attention - and sales, logically - with a pimped version. Here, too, the question first arose as to where the differences to the basic model lay.

Let's start with the exterior. Whereas on the Kadett GSi a thin exhaust pipe underneath the rear end bent down almost bashfully, on the 16V two arm-thick mufflers protruded horizontally to the rear, almost screaming the power of this vehicle. 16V insignia at the front and at the rear made clear to other road users that there is something special on four wheels. Similar to the appearance at Acqua di Gio. If the base is an unagitated flacon, the Essenza lies full in the hand, the makers gave it a heavy bottle, equipped with a cap that clicks into place with the help of a magnet, full and cheering.

Well, the optical appearance is convincing in both cases, but, as they say, now comes the fiver for the phrase pig, it's all about the inner values :-) Let's start with the cadet here as well. The GSi 16V was not only visually a power, also the driving performance was exorbitant for those times. For the regulars' table it was important that the Thunderbolt had 11 hp more on paper than its eternal adversary Golf GTI 16V (irrelevant in practice), but the thing went like the proverbial hell and at 225 on the motorway, 7-series BMWs were in your way, whose drivers couldn't believe what they saw and experienced when looking in the rear-view mirror.
The Essenza also makes a powerful impression, starts a little less citric but no less fresh, but then takes a slightly different course than the "basic model". While the classic one is somewhere between fruity and aquatic-woody, the Essenza first becomes mountainous, then a bit softer from my point of view, I can hear my tea notes, only to end after hours in a mix of wood and patchouli. All in all, a fuller, more perfumed appearance of the Essenza.
In both cases, car and fragrance, you may like the upgrade versions or not. In either case, both are characterized by a certain independence, which is (or was) within reasonable limits in terms of price and which leaves everyone the choice between two good products.

If I take stock of the Essenza, we have the reinforcement of Acqua die Gio, which goes along with a clearly higher sillage and durability. An independent bottle underscores the independent character, but one that never leaves the base or even denies it. While Acqua di Gio is perhaps one of the most suitable everyday fragrances, Acqua di Gio Essenza is the refined version for the evening, more perfect for a summer dinner under the open sky, for a lounge on the beach or lake when the sun sinks glowing red on the horizon. A beautiful fragrance, 100% worthy of the name Armani.

Even though I will continue to reminisce about the Eau pour homme and the Opel Kadett GSi 16V...as Ben Zucker sang: What a great time...

09/16/2021

7
Pricing 10
Bottle 9
Sillage 10
Longevity 10
Scent

Micha1984

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Micha1984

A fragrance that I feel because it has changed me...

Acqua di Gio... What we have already heard and written about this fragrance. Along with Fahrenheit by Dior, it is one of the fragrances that I cherish more moments and memories with than any other fragrance to date. They are not only the scents of our fathers, but also bearers of thoughts of situations, experiences and special people in our lives. At this point I would also like to mention my dear Parfumo friend Salva in this review, who just like me, belongs to the 80's - 90's generation and also shares a lot of thoughts and memories with this fragrance. Acqua di Gio can be said to have brought us a bit closer together. Love greetings my dear. :)
Anyway, that's exactly why I can feel these scents so much. Because they bring me back after applying exactly to these said moments of the various facets and situations in my life. As an example: I met my first great love with Acqua di Gio. When I smell it, I am immediately back in that situation when I was sitting at the bus station with my heart pounding, bouncing and totally nervous waiting for the bus she came with from her village. I can still see her getting off the bus, with her adorable smile and her improbable stunning aura that surrounded her. But what really gives me goosebumps is the thought of the first time I kissed her. I don't think I need to explain to anyone how it feels to kiss someone you've fallen head over heels in love with for the first time. It's a great and very emotional feeling that words can't describe. That's exactly the kind of experience I associate with Acqua di Gio.
Essenza is a fragrance that passed me by when it came out. I'm still annoyed about that, because unfortunately it has been discontinued and is only available at horrendous prices. Still, I was lucky enough to snag a bottle here at the souk for a decent price, which I'm more than happy about. But why do I feel this fragrance so? Because just like the original, it reminds me of an experience that turned my life upside down and changed it. I'll just keep it short there, because the text would probably be too long...

I was this year with my better half on Thassos in Greece and wore this fragrance on the day when I broke two lumbar vertebrae in a swimming accident and the holiday thus became a horror trip.... I was taken to a Greek hospital and treated there for 3 days until the insurance company sent a medical airplane to fly me to Leipzig, where I had to undergo two serious operations and had my spine stiffened over three vertebrae with titanium screws etc., which will now remain so for the rest of my life, as the operation was final. This time was and still is the hardest in my life so far and I still have many hurdles to overcome until I can participate in normal life again. But all of that is secondary because I can still move my legs, which is not a given with this kind of injury and surgery. I thank God for not letting it get worse! Now I see life through a different lens and appreciate life even more than I did in my previous life before. Now Acqua di Gio Essenza will always remind me of this turning point in my life, even if it is not a positive one, it now belongs to me like all the other moments, memories and experiences of my life.

But now for the fragrance... Acqua die Gio Essenza is for me the offshoot that probably comes closest to the original. The prelude is very strongly characterized by the grapefruit and metallic aquatic notes. This is joined by slightly spicy nuances that round it out nicely alongside the dominantly acidic metallic aquatic. The base that is reached after hours, is then this typical brackish water smell that I have already heard the original so and very much appreciate.
The durability is brutal with 6 sprays, at least with my batch.... The fragrance lasts from morning to morning the next day.... For an Aquaten probably an absolute exception and definitely not of this world.... Will probably be due to the synthetic Paradisone/Cascalone!? Whereas I also have to say that my skin is good with such fragrances and they stick to it for a long time. The sillage is, at least with me also incredibly good and I take the fragrance even the next morning still discreet.
Subsequently, it remains to say ... write that Acqua di Gio Essenza for me is a masterpiece and I can not understand why one sets such a grandiose fragrance? Anyone who loves and appreciates Acqua di Gio will definitely love this one too. Should you have the chance to get it "relatively" cheap or to test it, then do it, you won't regret it. For me, it is a new life scent that is tainted with a memory that will define me for the rest of my life. Please cherish every day, every hour, every minute and every second of your existence and enjoy your health and enjoy life with all its colors, with every breath you take. Life is too precious and the time we have is only on loan. So make something of it and strip away all negative and be interpersonal and full of life. Especially in this time we should stand together.

Thanks for reading... Yours Micha :)

07/10/2016

8
Bottle 7
Sillage 7
Longevity 7
Scent

Rickbr
190 Reviews

Rickbr

Helpful Review

Without surprises but delivers what is promised

It is certain that being among the first to explore an olfactory trend is a risky thing - especially because what we imagine might fall in public taste may be something very innovative at the time it was released. However, if the bet is right you gain the advantage of working in new lands and develop something that will become the model to be followed/ copied. It happened with the scent Acqua di Giò, which although was not the first aquatic fragrance was one that explored the trend early on hit very well the combination of aquatic freshness with a fruity fresh touch and a transparent musky base, a lightness that had a satisfactory performance for the genre and a lot of consistency from the beginning to the end.

After 16 years of success of what become one of the pillars of the aquatic family, the eau de parfum version comes at a time where the masculine market is not only less prejudiced with eau concentrations parfum, previously seen as feminine, but also demanding perfumes that have better duration and projection, thus able to stand out more. There is not much to reinvent or change in the aquatic trend and Essenza is not because of that a paradigm shift or a radical change from the original. Instead it is, as proposed by the brand, a refined and deeper version of the original, lowering the acquatic aspect but without doing it in order to compromise the original identity.

As a long lasting version, Acqua di Giò Essenza decreases the focus on water and fruity aspect of the output to put more emphasis in conveying the oceanic freshness in a mineral and slightly woody base of good duration. Thus, it opens with the aquatic and fruity departure from the original, less evident in the marine and metallic aroma. As it evolves one perceives another fresh aromatic chord, slightly floral, that gradually leads to the aforementioned mineral and woody base. Sometimes you can see flashes after all the evolution of the aquatic aroma of the opening in contact with the mineral aroma of the base, passing a very serene and refreshing feeling.

Essenza shown even without any surprises to be an acquatic more mature and better worked from beginning to end, with a good technical performance of sillage and longevity, which makes it an excellent candidate for daily use or even as a night perfume, with a good performance for summer nights or hot and stuffy night environments.

06/24/2013

5
Bottle 7.5
Longevity 7.5
Scent

JManDave
10 Reviews

JManDave

Fine but uninspiring

AdG Essenza is a good example of a cologne that has been done many times over: aquatic woods, with adornments added for a small twist. Nothing particularly wrong with it, but its been done somewhat better, and at a more economical price point in many cases. It also suffers collateral damage from being the sibling of the original, over-exposed, AdG, despite the fact that it stands on its own as a separate fragrance.

The fact that it ships in an EDP concentration is one of the few things that make it stand apart from the crowded field of aquatic/woody fragrances. The strength is as expected for an EDP, and it lasts accordingly. This at least gives it real viability as an all-day work fragrance. I get full day wears out of it, with no touch-ups.

As for the fragrance itself, it opens with aquatic, slight citrus and woody notes. This transitions to a stage where the woody notes come to the fore and it remains pretty linear from that point to conclusion. Thankfully, it maintains a nice dryness throughout, nothing sweet or gourmandish sneaks in late on the game.

It is work-safe, flexible enough (read that: mainstream) to function "ok" in a number of scenarios.

I'll continue to rotate it with my other fragrances, mostly for work-wear, but won't buy again. Alternatives at a much more favorable price point, with similar scents include Polo Blue, various Issey Miyakes and Nautica Voyage. Between them all, I'll only re-buy the Nautica again.

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