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5 Best Acqua Di Parma Cologne For Men In 2023

Looking for the best Acqua Di Parma Cologne for men? Then you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we’ll be giving you the products of our research on every cologne Acqua Di Parma has to offer — as well as our picks for their best overall colognes.

Noteworthy for their primary role as a fragrance manufacturer, Acqua Di Parma has been successfully competing with giant European fashion houses for decades. Known for their wide range of unisex fragrances and complex traditional formulas, Acqua Di Parma is many a man’s go-to cologne.

Read on to discover more about our picks for the 5 best Acqua Di Parma colognes, with full breakdowns of their aromatic profiles as well as when might be best to wear them!

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5 Best Acqua Di Parma Cologne For Men In 2022

Though your final decision will come down to matters of personal taste, we’re confident that the following five colognes will offer every man something that they would love to wear.

Acqua Di Parma Colonia (Our Top Pick)

Described by one wearer as being like “a bespoke cocktail made from muddled herbs and citrus-infused liquor”, Acqua Di Parma Colonia is an outstandingly approachable cologne that’s gentle enough to be worn by both sexes. For its sheer versatility and pleasantness, we’ve chosen it as the best Acqua Di Parma cologne for men.

A re-envisioning of Acqua Di Parma’s original scents from the early 1900s, Colonia opens with a fresh blast of citrus peels. It’s immediately energizing, but quickly fades to a rich bouquet of herbs and flowers. Before long, you’ll notice the deep sandalwood, amber, and musk rise to the surface of your skin and give Colonia great longevity.

Colonia’s intensity is most concentrated at the initial application, and quickly mellows to a pleasant all-day linger. If you’re looking for a cologne for everyday wear, we can definitely recommend Colonia.

Notes: 

  • Top notes of Sicilian lemon, lime, and orange
  • Middle notes of rosemary, lemon verbena, rose, lavender, and vetiver
  • Base notes of white musk, jasmine, sandalwood, amber, and patchouli

Best For: 

  • Everyday wear
  • Perfect for wearing to work

Acqua Di Parma Colonia Assoluta

A natural extension of the ever-popular Colonia, Acqua Di Parma’s Colonia Assoluta expands on the citrus and herb tones of the original with exotic spices. It’s a decidedly warm-weather fragrance, and versatile enough in its composition to be worn by both men and women. If you like the idea of having a scent that your girlfriend will want to wear, give Assoluta a shot!

Complex orange peels and bergamot lead the way into Colonia Assoluta, where floral and intoxicating ylang ylang combines with vetiver, cardamom, and spicy paprika at its heart. Offset by oakmoss, patchouli, and musk, it’s a remarkably balanced scent that has a lot of depth of character.

Offering only moderate intensity and longevity, Acqua Di Parma’s Colonia Assoluta is best for daytime wear. Given the relatively delicate and bright nature of its core ingredients, it may not be the best choice for winter — but really shines in the spring and summer.

Notes: 

  • Top notes of bitter orange, sweet orange, bergamot, and lemon verbena
  • Middle notes of ylang ylang, vetiver, jasmine, cedarwood, pink peppercorns, green cardamom, and paprika
  • Base notes of oakmoss, white musk, resin, and patchouli

Best For: 

  • Daytime wear
  • Spring and summer wear

Acqua Di Parma Essenza

Designed to recall the “essence” of Acqua Di Parma’s original 1916 fragrance formulation, Essenza di Colonia is a stripped-down and simplified version of their signature style. Released in 2010, it has quickly become a favorite of men who appreciate minimalism and a clean, fresh scent.

Laundry-fresh neroli and citrus lead the way into an increasingly clean and pleasantly soapy cologne. With more citrus backed up by jasmine and vetiver, the heart of Essenza di Colonia is as bright and clean as the initial nosing. After 4 to 6 hours of wear, patchouli and oakmoss combine with sage and lily of the valley to extend this cologne’s richly textured base.

Offering excellent longevity with only a moderate intensity, Essenza di Colonia is one of Acqua Di Parma’s best value colognes. If you like the idea of a squeaky-clean and minimalist scent, it’s an excellent choice.

Notes: 

  • Top notes of neroli, bergamot, and grapefruit
  • Middle notes of jasmine, petitgrain, vetiver, and mandarin orange
  • Base notes of musk, oakmoss, amber, lily of the valley, sage, cloves, and patchouli

Best For: 

  • Men who love minimalist style
  • Anyone looking for a great value in their cologne

Mandorlo di Sicilia

Part of Acqua Di Parma’s “Blu Mediterraneo” line of unisex scents, Mandorlo di Sicilia is a sweet and powdery cologne that has only grown in popularity since its release in 1999. While popular trends in cologne have largely moved away from sweet scents, Mandorlo di Sicilia’s clean take on the style avoids the cloying and candied notes of over-sweet fragrances.

Almond, anise, and citrus combine on the initial application to give a faint reminiscence of sitting in an Italian bakery, complete with its fragrant confections. Central to this cologne’s appeal is the blending of peach and jasmine at its center, giving a juicy and rounded feel that is balanced by earthy musk and rich vanilla at its base.

Quite long-lasting, but with only a moderate intensity, Mandorlo di Sicilia is a cologne that’s a joy to wear. If you’re not turned off by sweeter fragrances, we strongly recommend giving this one a go — it’s a classic from Acqua Di Parma, and not likely to go out of style any time soon.

Notes: 

  • Top notes of green almond, star anise, orange, and bergamot
  • Middle notes of white peach, ylang ylang, and jasmine
  • Base notes of vanilla, balsam, white musk, and cedarwood.

Best For: 

  • Four season wear
  • Wearing for special occasions, as a mood booster

Fico di Amalfi

Another outstanding scent from Acqua Di Parma’s “Blu Mediterraneo” line of unisex fragrances, Fico di Amalfi eschews modern cologne style to focus on ripe fruit aromas. First released in 2006, it has steadily gained a devoted group of wearers who swear by its intensely summery aromatics.

A heady and complex blend of citrus peels marks the entryway into Fico di Amalfi, where its heart of ripe fig and blooming jasmine is sure to draw you in. Cracked peppercorn quickly segues into fig leaf and wood resin, leaving an impression of a summertime walk through the gardens of Italy.

Featuring only moderate longevity and intensity, Fico di Amalfi is as fleeting as the summer sun: Here one minute, and gone the next. If you’re looking for a single warm-weather cologne to fill out your selection, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better one for 90 degree days than Fico di Amalfi.

Notes: 

  • Top notes of grapefruit, bergamot, citron, and lemon
  • Middle notes of fig nectar, jasmine, and pink peppercorn
  • Base notes of fig leaf, cedarwood, and benzoin

Best For: 

  • Wearing in the height of summer
  • Perfect for wearing to the beach

The History Of Acqua Di Parma Cologne

Founded in 1916, Acqua Di Parma has been a fragrance manufacturer since its very first days. With the release of its first fragrance, Colonia, it quickly became a symbol of good taste and Italian luxury — ultimately cementing its place among the rich and famous due to association with celebrities.

With the likes of Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn enthusiastically endorsing Colonia, it seemed that their success was assured. But not long after expanding their operations, demand for Acqua Di Parma fragrances steadily declined; it wasn’t until the early 90s that many of their famous recipes were revived.

Today, Acqua Di Parma has been brought back to life in service of the same spirit of craftsmanship that gave rise to it in the first place. Endorsed once again by a new generation of celebrities, it is once again establishing itself as a primary name amongst European perfumers.

Is Acqua Di Parma A Good Brand?

Many cologne brands spend a lot of money to portray their luxurious experience. Acqua Di Parma is one of them. However, is Acqua Di Parma truly as good as they like to portray?

The answer is yes! Acqua Di Parma consistently receives 4 and 5 star reviews, which not many cologne brands can match. Customers describe their scents to be amazing, long-lasting, fresh, elegant, and even gentlemanly.

Normally, fragrances can be a hard thing to measure because it is so subjective. But if what you’re looking for a cologne brand that sells high quality scents that will “wow” whoever happens to be around you, then then can’t go wrong Acqua Di Parma.

For fragrances as great as Acqua Di Parma, check out brands such as Salvatore Ferragamo, Bvlgari, and Byredo.

How Long Does Acqua Di Parma last?

To really understand how long an Acqua Di Parma lasts, you have to consider 3 main things.

The first is the concentration. For example, Parfum will last the longest due to its concentrated design. On the other hand, eau de toilette will last around half the time of Parfum. The second thing to consider is the size of the bottle because a 100mm bottle will last you longer than a bottle that is just 50mm. Lastly, you also have to consider that different colognes react differently to different skins. What may last for an entire day for one man may only last for a few hours for another man.

Either way, you can expect Acqua Di Parma to offer the bigger bottles and stronger concentrations you need to make your cologne last longer.

Which Acqua Di Parma Is Unisex?

It’s typically pretty rare to find a men’s cologne brand that contains unisex scents, much less one that considered unisex in its entirety. Yet, Acqua Di Parma does this flawlessly due to their wide range of unisex fragrances with complex formulas.

Mandorlo di Sicilia is one of their best unisex colognes due to its clean take on the sweet scents of yesteryear. Fico di Amalfi is also another popular unisex cologne from Acqua Di Parma due to its focus on ripe fruit aromas. The best unisex fragrance will come down to your own personal preference though.

Is Acqua Di Parma Vegan?

Generally speaking, most colognes will never mention whether they’re vegan or not. This makes it hard to really know if it’s a product vegans can proudly used. Luckily, we’ve done the research for you as we also believe this is an important topic to know about.

From what we can gather, Acqua Di Parma colognes will sometimes use animal-derived ingredients and animal by-products. So Acqua Di Parma is not vegan. Like always though, we recommend you learn about every product’s ingredients so that you can be sure the product you want really is vegan-friendly.

Brian has been fascinated with fragrances since his 8th birthday, when his Dad gifted him a bottle of Acqua di Gio. Since then, he has become a men's grooming & style aficionado who teaches men how to look sharp. Backed by personal experience, Brian's articles are known for his no-holds-barred style where he holds nothing back. You will get his real opinions on the latest men's grooming products and best practices where he reveals the best (and worst) style advice every man should know.