Acqua Colonia: My New Scent of Style

1:47 PM

It was the last Saturday of October, a usual busy weekend for someone like me, who just went through a couple of meetings and decided to skip Philippine fashion week again. All day's work ended in such a sweet note the moment I entered my room and found a basket with some flowers lying on my bed.

My heart skipped a beat. Being in a relationship for three years, it's been quite a while since I last received flowers from my boyfriend! And by saying that, I feel the need to explain now, haha. You see, flowers and teddy bears are not my thing. Life has taught me to be practical and frugal and the same principles apply to my romantic relationship. We (my boyfriend and I) are big on moments, not gifts. Naks.

Anyway, I rushed in to take a closer look at the flowers and found out that it was a gift sent over by the generous people from Prestige Brands Philippines. If you think I got disappointed because it wasn't from my boyfriend, you are totally wrong, haha. It was a funny scenario and I was caught laughing at myself.

Took some so-so photos so I edited it like this! Got this idea from Paul Jatayna's blog :)

The only reason I thought otherwise was because of the charming packaging. The flowers came with a 170ml bottle of Acqua Colonia perfume. It is a new fragrance line created by 4711 'Traditionhaus', a brand of eau de cologne (simply put, cologne) by Mäurer and Wirtz, a manufacturer of fragrance products based in Germany. If you google 4711, you'll learn that this brand has a long (early as 1990s) history of success and expertise in perfumery. Its new offering, Acqua Colonia (ACQ) perfume, is said to be inspired by the beauty of nature's scent.

Of the five ACQ fragrances, I got the Melissa and Verbena variant which is reminiscent of soothing gardens and healing herbs. It's my current fragrance and I've been using it for a week now.

Here's what I like about ACQ's Melissa and Verbena:

Usually, perfumes are overpowering but this one is so mild that I use to think it's baby cologne which is something that I find great because it's an everyday fragrance that I can use; not just on special occasions.
Its mild scent doesn't hurt or sting my nose no matter how much I apply.
The smell reminds me of leaves, morning dew and meadows with a powdery touch to it.
I applaud the fact that the smell is genderless! With this variant, you can't exactly pinpoint if it's for a male or female because it's mild and minty. It can be for both actually.
I love the bottle which is nostalgic of a vintage alcoholic drink with a modern twist (think Godfather movie), haha.

I really like the perfume overall but if I have to nitpick one tiny detail, haha, I'd have to say that I find it hard to tell whether the fragrance is long-lasting because it's mildness makes it difficult for me to actually "smell" myself. However, during the Accessorize event, towards the end, I got compliments from some bloggers who find the scent interesting. And so, if I have to base it on what other people have said, apparently the scent lasts! Still, just to make sure, I recommend re-applying after about four to five hours.

Also, ACQ has four other nature-inspired fragrances that you may want to try:

Lemon and Ginger - a composition of lemon and ginger that embodies the ease of summer and depicts a picture of the ripe, lemon tree-covered hillsides of Sicily.
Vetyver and Bergamot - a relaxing fragrance that took inspiration from the Asian tropics, rain forests and the earthy perennial grasses.
Royal Riesling - the cheerful scent of a vineyard growing white wine grapes (Check out Ava's review on this)
Lavender and Thyme - a Mediterranean composition of relaxing lavender and thyme, a spicy medicinal herb that is suggestive of the beautiful violet-colored fields of the countryside of Provence in France. (source: press kit)

Each 170ml bottle costs Php 2,500.00 and is available at Rustan's nationwide.

Special thanks to Prestige Brands Philippines' Ms. Marcela Pabellano (Group Brand Manager), Mr. Brian O'Hara (Brand Manager) and Ms. Marla Cabahug (Brand Assistant) for this gift of scent for my style and for making me feel like it's high school all over again as I imagine that I have a random secret admirer who happened to send me flowers, haha!