Acqua di Parma Archives - The Perfume Society

COLLAB – The Colonia Laboratory: book an artist to personalise your Acqua di Parmaperfume

Collab – The Colonia Laboratory An Exclusive Co-Creation Experience Turning Every Colonia Into A One-Of-A-Kind Collector’s Piece

Most of us (especially here!) can agree that perfumery is an art form – albeit one that’s invisibly conveyed. Usually, invisible, that is. But now, if we’re purchasing a favourite perfume or one that speaks to our souls in some way; more of us are seeking that extra-special something we can collect or keep forever, or give as a gift that we’ve really put some thought in to its choosing. Luckily for us, Acqua di Parma are now offering a unique artistic way to make your mark…

What is COLLAB?

‘A special Acqua di Parma initiative in partnership with one of the most important schools of fashion, design,visual arts and communication in Italy and internationally the Instituto Europeo di Design (IED), where six emerging Italian talents bring six different creative concepts of emotions and colours to life in a collection of 300 unique 180ml pieces from the Colonia Collection. An exclusive opportunity, available both in-store or online, to own collector’s pieces whether for self, or as bespoke gifts like no other.

The COLLAB project was conceived as a co-creation laboratory where together with the selected artist and theme, clients can customise their very own personal fragrance bottle from the Colonia Collection. With every theme, clients will have the opportunity to add a personal touch to the final product, be it a horoscope symbol with Sky Signs, a Roman number of choices with Animalia, or a bandana with a personal message by Paolo Moscheni. From start to the end, the clients will experience a one-on-one journey to owning a truly one-of-a-kind collector’s piece.

In the spirit of inclusivity and to offer clients across Italy and Europe the same engaging experience, the one-on-one appointments can also take place online through an integrated platform on Acqua di Parma’s website and the final personalised product will then be delivered to them.’

How does it work?

1. Select your Colonia and book an online or physical appointment* to customise the fragrance with your selected COLLAB artist

2. Collaborate with the artist during your 20min personalisation slot

3. At the end of the experience and after the payment, you will have your exclusive collectable Colonia ready to take home. If you have chosen online personalisation, the fragrance will be delivered to you with free shipping!

Link to book: acquadiparma.com

Now, your only problem is which of the fabulous Acqua di Parma fragrances to have personalised. Why not peruse our page dedicated to their history, with added descriptions of the perfumes, for your pondering delights…?

Acqua di Parma + La DoubleJ take us to the beach

Acqua di Parma, in collaboration with La DoubleJ, have dressed an entire beachfront with the new Blu Mediterraneo by La DoubleJ capsule collection for a summer of pure Italian style…

At PSHQ we’re literally salivating over these pictures of the Bocelli family’s bathing establishment, because although we may not be able to wiggle our toes in the sand and gawp at the azure waters, this stunning collab allows us to travel in spirit via the radiant fragrances and vibrant colours of the new capsule collection.

In the utterly stunning location of Alpemare Beach Club, Forte dei Marmi in Tuscany (which looks like it should be the set of a Wes Anderson film, don’t you think?) for the first time ever, Acqua di Parma have dressed the beachfront for the entire Summer season! And now, you can dress your home to transport you to the Med every time you see those so-happy pops of colour or catch a waft of the glorious scents.

Comprising fabulously luxurious body products such as the Shower Mousse (£37 for 150ml), lightly scented with the lemon, myrtle, jasmine and salty marine breeze notes of Mirto di Panarea, a Body Scrub (£50 for 200ml) fragranced with their Fico di Amalfi grapefruit, bergamot, lemon and fig (which is basically like sexy marmalade), and even a range of Travel Accessories (we have our eyes on the Confetti Blue Beach Towel, £255 – would it be a bit extra to say we dream of spritzing this with one of the Blu Mediterraneo collection (from £49) and ‘travelling’ with our noses as we sit in our back gardens?) we’re spoiled for choice!

We say: if you can’t be there in person, let perfume whisk you there right now. So spritz that sunshine-filled fragrance and light that candle, because the beach will wait until you can get there again, but your mood can be lifted in mere seconds by the magic of summer scents…

By Suzy Nightingale

#StayHome with Acqua di Parma: donating 100% of online revenue to charity

Acqua di Parma are launching a #StayHome charity campaign to support the fight against COVID-19. Throughout the month of April, 100% of e-commerce revenues generated by sales of the Home Collection, Barbiere and Personal Care products will be donated to support initiatives against the corona crisis.

In these stressful and uncertain times, how heartening it has been to see brands, both big and small, stepping up to provide support, making hand-santisisers, donating products and now, with Acqua di Parma’s #StayHome campaign donating an incredible 100% of their online profits to help their home country, which has been hit so hard by this pandemic.

Laura Burdese, CEO of Acqua di Parma comments that, ‘In these difficult times of suffering and strife that grip Italy so severely, it is natural and right for Acqua di Parma to make a strong gesture of solidarity. With the #StayHome campaign, we can do our part and demonstrate the love that the Maison has for our mother country.’

Explaining further why this campaign was so important to them, Laura continues: ‘Our solidarity campaign is a way to provide tangible support, be it emotional or economic, to Italy in this time of need so that in dealing with this emergency, we can preserve what we love most about our country: Italian art, nature and culture will continue to be given and shared across the globe’

Acqua di Parma invite you to help support this campaign by sharing social media posts – perhaps of cosy, scented spaces you have created? – and tagging @acquadiparma_official and #StayHome. What’s more, during this time, all Acqua di Parma online orders have FREE delivery, so even more excuse to indulge, delight and comfort yourself with scent at home…

By Suzy Nightingale

Acqua di Parma Barbiere – Selfridges open new male grooming experience

Acqua di Parma have long been known as the go-to for stylish gents who wish to be wonderfully fragranced, and now Selfridges add to the experience by opening a brand new Acqua di Parma Barbiere space, for an exquisitely scented grooming experience – and just in time for Christmas, too!

Located next to the Men’s Beauty Workshop in their Oxford Street store, Barbiere promises to be ‘…an intimate and refined yet relaxed space where the modern man can indulge in the ritual of a traditional Italian shave, pick up his grooming essentials, and discover the Acqua di Parma fragrant universe.’

Marrying the brand’s signature yellow in soft furnishings with luxurious woods and that innate Italian style – we think it looks distictly Wes Anderson in character – it’s a welcoming place to take a few minutes to unwind, be pampered and experience for yourself some of the wonderful (and heavenly scented) products they offer. Even better: to have someone else do all the hard work for you!

Services will include a proper Italian Traditional Shave (£45) which takes 30 minutes and involves cut-throat razors, hot towels and a soothing Colonia aftershave; a Prestige Shave (£59) for 50 minutes, with facial and eye massage, full consultation and double-shave (for ultra-smooth chops!); various hair-cutting / beard-wrangling options and any number of fabulously indulgent treat packages.

The perfect way to ease yourself into the festive season, have a pre-NYE spruce-up or to give as a thoughtful gift idea, the Acqua di Parma Barbiere experience will be open from 17 December 2018, at Selfridges, 400 Oxford Street, London.

Written by Suzy Nightingale

We go behind the scenes with Acqua di Parma's heart-melting ad

Acqua di Parma have been serving us stylish Colognes since 1916, their heritage leading us to beautiful city of Parma – famous for its violets, and strong cultural traditions. With their original Colonia, Acqua di Parma offer something crisp, subtle, utterly refreshing elegance – the sense of Italian style, bottled. Refined and wearable, Colonia became an instant – and now timeless – classic.
The fragrance was worn by stylish men, movie stars and those who understood luxury. (And borrowed, we’re sure, by many of the women in their lives – just as today.) The chic hand-made Art Deco bottle and vibrant yellow hat box style packaging graced many a smart bathroom shelf – and by the 1960s, it was a ‘best-kept secret’ shared by those-in-the-know. Rich in Sicilian citrus (bergamot, lemon, bitter and sweet oranges), this sparkling creation unfolds to a heart of lavender and Bulgarian rose, on warm, woody base notes – a formula that’s never changed…
But now, there’s a new Cologne in town, with Acqua di Parma launching Colonia Pura – a contemporary and highly refined interpretation of the Italian classic. Fresher still, balancing delicacy and boldness, the top notes of spicy coriander harmonise with the classic citrus burst, while in the heart we encounter sambac jasmine and petit-grain with the startling sensuality of the ultra-green narcissus absolute. In the base, musk and patchouli sink into the soothing woodiness of cedar, and all things said, this has to be one of the sexiest just-out-the-shower, gorgeous-man’s-skin scents we’ve sniffed for quite some time…

As for the ad campaign (see the video, above) – oh it’s just heart-meltingly lovely, and not only for the fact it stars model Will Chalker (whom we’d be happy to look at under any circumstances) but because his adorable family star alongside him. Shot by photographer Josh Olins, we’re loving this modern take on ‘masculinity’ focusing on a man’s contemporary life – and one that very much that includes the model’s wife, Chloe, and son, Arthur.

Will Chalker says: ‘I have known about Acqua di Parma for a long time, it’s a brand you kind of associate with Italy and the sun, elegance and style. It is one of my favourite campaigns, just because I get to shoot with my wife and son. It makes it feel more about us just having fun as a family and creating these little moments that, you know, we can capture in photos.’

Talking of capturing the mood, we were thrilled to get a sneak peek at what happened behind-the-scenes during the shoot, and share it with you, below…

A shot of sunshine and warm feelings is exactly what we need right now, seeing as autumn has arrived way before we were ready for it. Watching the campaign videos and spritzing Colonia Pura could be the only way we get through the grey-er months at TPS Towers, frankly. And yes, we’re ‘borrowing’ this, too. (He totally nicks our luxe beauty products, so share and share alike, right?)
Acqua di Parma Colonia Pura from £66 for 50ml eau de Cologne
Buy it at John Lewis
Written by Suzy Nightingale

Did someone say summer? 2nd-8th June: Acqua di Parma gelato at Harvey Nichols!

When the words ‘luxury gelato’ and ‘Acqua di Parma’ are combined in an email’s subject line, you can be sure we’re clicking on that within a nanosecond – and of course we couldn’t wait to share the news with you…

At Harvey Nichols, a brand new pop-up space is being created in order to celebrate the launch of the Acqua di Parma La Collezione travel set. Surely one of the fragrance houses we most associate with summer, Acqua di Parma have gone full-steam ahead with the sunshine vibes by commissioning luxury gelato brand Snowflake to invent three unique flavours –Bergamotto di Calabria, Arancia di Capri & Fico di Amalfi – all of which have been inspired by their Blu Mediterraneo range of easy-breezy scents to see you through the sultriest of days in the city.

As if the ice-cream wasn’t enough of a draw, On 2^nd & 8^th June Acqua di Parma’s in-house artist will also be on hand for on-site bottle painting and personalisation, and customers will be offered complementary customisation of their bottle with any Blu Mediterraneo purchase. What’s more, all customers purchasing Blu Meditteraneo between 2^nd & 8^th June will receive a Majolica tile of their choice scented with their favourite fragrance.

We’re just in love with these beautifully evocative drawings by Michalis Christodoulou, also specially commissioned for their pop-up shop, and we don’t know about you, but we’ve definitely been inspired to hot-foot it down the Harvey Nichols to cool off in style…

Acqua di Parma La Collezione travel set: Bergamotto di Calabria, Arancia di Capri & Fico di Amalfi £99 for 3 x 30ml

Buy it at Harvey Nichols

Written by Suzy Nightingale

Acqua di Parma serves sun-seekers a dose of Italian luxury in new Miami boutique

Jet-setters chasing the sun in Miami – and those lucky enough to live there – can now revel in the luxurious surroundings of Acqua di Parma’s newely opened boutique. Designed to evoke the spacious elegance of a stylish Italian home, the 1,000 square foot space boasts a sleekly luxurious interior outfitted with the brand’s signature style – Calacatta marble contrasts with dark Wenge wood to highlight the famous Acqua di Parma yellow of the walls. At the heart of the store, a huge leather-covered pyramid showcases bottles of the brand’s most famous and timeless Colonia fragrances.

Fans of the brand need not confine themselves to trying the Colognes and body products, as the much-ancipated barbershop provides gentlemen with original barber’s chairs in a devoted area that evokes all the traditional charm of a classical Italian barbershop, of course finished with the flawless contemporary touches for which the brand are known. Shaving and skincare products from their Collezione Barbiere have been created to accompany each phase of this ritual performed – you will be glad to hear – by an expert barber for a truly hands-on Acqua di Parma experience.
Located in the prestigious Brickell City Centre – right in the heart of Miami and one of the city’s most desirable zipcodes – it’s sure to become a must-visit for fragrance fanatics and style-seekers. And of course Acqua di Parma offer the perfect cooling scents to spritz if the temperature gets too steamy.

‘We selected Miami as our first city due to its international recognition in art, design and culture which are values that define the essence of Acqua di Parma,’ explained Giovanni Lepori, President North America. ‘With events such as Art Basel and Design Miami we knew this was a city we wanted to be a part of.’
We rather see ourselves wafting about in a silk maxi dress while wearing their Arancia di Capri – an aromatically uplifting blend of orange, mandarin, and lemon essential oils with the sparkle of petit grain infused by cardamon and resting on a base of sweetly smooth musk. In fact, yes, book us the plane tickets now, please!

Acqua di Parma Arancia di Capri from £64 for 75ml
Buy it at Acqua di Parma

Happy Birthday, Acqua di Parma: three new Colognes celebrate their centenary

Can you hear the sound of corks popping all the way from Parma…? Really ought to be able to, because the celebrations for heritage perfumery Acqua di Parma have been going on all year.
With a focus on artisan creation – from the scents to hand-crafting of leather goods via the so -distinctive butter yellow packaging (did you realise that every label is applied by hand?) – Acqua di Parma manages perfectly to walk the tightrope between heritage and modernity. (And as a result will probably be around in another 100 years…)
We’ve looked in-depth at the story of this extraordinary perfume house in the Travelicious edition of The Scented Letter – get a sneak peek, here. ( VIP Subscribers can read it when logged in to the site by clicking here.)

To mark the anniversary there’ve been all sorts of events and creations – from a chased metal bottle of Cologne to arts happenings and, most accessibly for those of us in the UK, the unveiling of a trio of new fragrances, exclusively available at Harrods (you might want to take your nostrils on a little pilgrimage to Knightsbridge).
As ever composed of notes and harmonies, it turns out these are actually inspired by the world of Italian opera…
Note di Colonia I – a stunningly sparkling composition, full of light and life and (we’re told) ‘inspired by Verdi’s La Traviata and its much-loved ‘”Libiamo ne’ lieti calici”‘. (We’re planning on downloading it on iTunes so we can listen-while-we-spritz, in-store.) Citrus-rich, with lavish quantities of neroli and bergamot, it has an aromatic heart fresh with lavender, warmed by rose and violet – and with a woodsy finale of patchouli and cedarwood.
Note di Colonia II – has its creative roots in ‘Nessun Dorma’ from Puccini’s famous ‘Turandot’: yet more citrus (this being a Cologne), radiantly fusing grapefruit, orange and bergamot. In the heart, you might make out basil and cardamom – but it’s the deep base that promises intrigue here, lingering on the skin to deliver guaiac, vetiver, sandalwood and musk.
Note di Colonia III – Verdi’s ‘Marcia Trionfale’, from Aida, was the springboard for unquestionably the richest of the trio: an overture of uplifting mandarin and ginger, a dry and woody vetiver heart, with frankincense (olibanum) contrasted with jasmine, then underpinned with exotic elements of tonic bean, cistus labdanum and myrrh.
With relatively few of these specially-designed collectible bottles produced, the price-tag’s accordingly rather higher than most Acqua di Parma creations – but then there’s always Christmas…
Acqua di Note di Colonia Collection £280 each for 150ml
Buy them at Harrods or online at acquadiparma.com

Tag: Acqua di Parma