Note Pyramid
Blu Mediterraneo Arancia di Capri
Acqua di Parma Blu Mediterraneo Arancia di Capri Eau de Toilette is one of the few citrus fragrances that manages to smell like the fruit rather than like a cleaning product, and the trick is in what sits underneath. The top is three oranges and a lemon's worth of sharpness. Orange itself is sweet and full, mandarin orange is softer and more peelish, and lemon cuts a clean line through both so the opening is bright without being sugary. It is as direct a start as perfumery offers and it lasts perhaps fifteen minutes at full strength.
Petitgrain is what keeps it honest. It is pressed from the leaves and twigs of the bitter orange, green, dry and distinctly bitter, and it drags the sweetness of the fruit back towards something more like a tree than a drink. Cardamom sits alongside, cool and slightly soapy with a resinous edge, and that pairing is what lifts this out of the ordinary. The base is small and very well judged. Caramel is used in trace amounts, just enough to give the fruit a cooked, faintly burnt sweetness rather than to make a dessert of it, and musk carries the whole thing softly into the skin. Seven materials, no clutter. It was launched in 1999. At eau de toilette strength it is moderate, clear for two or three hours and then quiet, which is what a citrus composition of this kind does regardless of how it is made. It reads as unisex, it belongs to summer and to daytime, and it is at its best applied generously after a shower.
The house was founded in Parma in 1916 by Baron Carlo Magnani, who wanted something lighter than the heavy perfumes then on sale. It still works in Italy, it makes candles and home fragrance alongside the bottles, its hat box packaging is instantly recognisable, and it is owned by LVMH.
Please note: images are a guide only. Packaging and bottle design may occasionally differ from those shown due to manufacturer updates or promotions.
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