Acqua di Parma gave an aromatic reading of its 1916 Colonia in 2022: Colonia C.L.U.B., an eau de cologne built on eight raw materials. Bergamot, lemon and two peppers open, shiso and rosemary hold the heart, cedar and musk close. The initials spell out four words — Community, Life, Unique, Bond — and give the fragrance its subject.
Eight raw materials, three tiers, no flourish: the eau de Cologne rests on aromatics and citrus that the pepper comes to sting.
What the house declares
Acqua di Parma publishes its olfactory family in three words — aromatic, woody, musk — and its tiering without ambiguity: bergamot, lemon, pink pepper and black pepper in the top, shiso and rosemary in the heart, cedar wood and musk in the base.
Shiso
The perilla leaf is rare in Western perfumery and it is what gives the eau its signature: a green, mentholated freshness, halfway between mint and basil, which the rosemary extends as a dry aromatic.
What stays outside
American retailers publish a shorter ingredient list than the house does, without sunscreens or colorants. The list written here is the French one, which carries both.
What the label declares
Twelve declared allergens, two sunscreens and four colorants, under formula code 21478.