Arcipelago Donna Acqua dell'Elba Eau de Parfum

Did it ever cross your mind to sink into a bath of flowers, spritzed with sparkly citrus and sprinkled with a Mediterranean breeze, an undercurrent that's hard to define wrapping you in bliss while you lay your head to rest? Well, Acqua dell'Elba's eau de parfum version of Arcipelago Donna might just be exactly what you wish for. And what a joy it is sinking into it.
Unapologetically floral in the warm Italian sense of the term, Arcipelago almost literally washes over you, opening with a lemon-and-mandarin-orange lemonade spritz that punches in a good, fizzy sort of way. And – to my nose at least – knocks out the apricot listed in the pyramid. This, then, turns out to be the short-but-sweet overture to a high-summer wave of mainly jasmin coupled with immortelle and orange blossom brightness. Intoxicating to say the least.
There's just the slightest hint of something watery-salty which remains a bit of a mystery, giving the fragrance that typical airiness of the Mediterranean coast. As it develops, the wonderful bouquet, which in its fullest bloom is almost a choir of colours, fades all-too-quickly. What you're left with is an ever so light amberiness that sits really close to the skin, albeit for a certain period of time. This faint trace of amber might come from the arbutus in the base, who knows (I had to look up what it actually is). I don't pick up on the cedar in the base, which I find a pity.
Its relative longevity as a simplified skin scent notwithstanding, Arcipelago Donna after about two hours produces that particular urge in the perfume afficionado: to reach for the bottle and reapply, just to re-experience that opening and (in this case) first phase of the drydown. Because, well, who wouldn't for an hour or two want to sink into a bath of citrus-crowned, almost secretly sea-salted Mediterranean flowers?

This is a really lovely, unique perfume! My husband brought this back for me when he went to Italy. I don't get the citrus top notes, though he can smell them. What I do get is a creamy floral--it literally smells like clean (not indolic) jasmine and mimosa combined with the nicest, most perfect old-fashioned apothecary cream soda, not too sweet but with herbal undertones. That might sound strange, but it's just wonderful. I've never smelled anything like it. It's a good all-seasons scent, doing well in cool and warm weather. There is nothing harsh, spiky, or loud about this; it's just comforting, sweet, and beautiful.

The only other comment I have is that to my brain, the colour doesn't match the scent! When I see a blue fragrance I immediately think cool barber shop and aquatic notes, like Maison Margiela's Replica Sailing Day. This is more of a warm golden fragrance to me. I guess that's just the way my brain works :)

A November day like out of a fairy tale: The sun, it seems, is in a coma, doesn’t care a penny about the time of day that should be bright, radiant, awake.
At least out of courtesy, at half past twelve.
Dark murky gray when I look up, gray-green-brown leaves at my feet, dull, flat, even the rustling is now too much for it.
A cold wind from the north-northeast, sharp as a scalpel, stings and cuts my forehead and cheeks, drives through down, skin, and bones directly into my gut.
The few degrees above zero are hardly felt anymore - hands, feet, nose are almost as numb as my ear.

It was on this day that we met, "Arcipelago Donna" and I.
On this day, which was as far from the sun as no other, hardly another, it rolled into my hand.
A sample, filled with turquoise.
"Summer in a bottle" it was said, the glow of the south, the sun and the sea.
Hot sand underfoot, sunscreen, almost sweated away, palm trees, cocktails, gentle breeze.
A calendar that knows no November.
The bar was already set damn high.

A little bright, a little fresh in the opening, just secondary particles.
Sun, dense, compact, and warm.
Apricots, fully ripe, dried.
Water that runs together in my mouth.
"Bath & Beauty" comes to mind, Joop's "Le Bain", closely followed by "Roma", by "Laguna".
Dense, gentle scents, velvety, sun-heavy.
Per la Donna, surely.
Women like Ornella Muti, the young Sophia Loren, curvy, sensual, innocently lewd.
Forbidden fruits, more sweetness than juice, nestled in velvet, covered in vanilla.
Black-golden, candlelight in heavy night.
So warm, so soft, so akin to skin.
Golden-brown tanned, anointed, creamed in the bathhouse, the Turkish one, by strong, gentle hands.
No sea, no beach, no white sand - not on me, on my skin.

A scent that warms.
That indulges, that reconciles with all the gray, the dreariness outside the door.
That closes my eyes, lowers my shoulders, with which my breath flows more calmly.
A scent for November, for December - a little sun in long darkness.

PS: Leonessa - thank you!

A few days in the South with the firm intention of not buying any more fragrances. Is that a joke? It would be conceivable if one didn't stick their nose everywhere. Small shops with all sorts of regional specialties and......of course also fragrances. Not many, just those that are attributed to the region, the South, the vacation. Scents that allow you to take a piece of your holiday home and give you the feeling of wanting to come back. A true feel-good scent with holiday vibes. A fragrance that could not have captured the impressions of the region better. With every spray, you feel the urge to pack your bags again immediately.

I don't want to go into detail about the individual notes; rather, I want to describe the feeling this scent evokes in me and what exactly fascinates me about it.

Breakfast in the morning somewhere in the South by the sea. The first rays of sunshine warm the skin, but the air is still fresh. The first fruit juice of the morning with the fruits of the South. A hearty bite into the honey roll, I love honey, have I mentioned that, which lies so temptingly on the plate and emits a slightly spicy-honey scent that never becomes too sweet. Wonderful. Relaxed enjoyment. The sea breeze with a slightly salty dry note mixes with the delicacies on the table. The air becomes warmer and generously spreads the scents of the surroundings. Woods, blossoms. A moment one truly wants to hold onto. I think the fragrance has captured that excellently.

Not intrusive, but very pleasantly noticeable. The scent that has authentically captured the South in a bottle.

I come back again and again with the intention of not buying any more fragrances :)).

My former colleague came back from vacation smelling good. I said to her: "You smell good!" She replied: "I was on vacation in Elba, and I bought a perfume there. Smells great, right?"
I: "Yes, really!"
She: "Elba is absolutely beautiful; we immediately said we would go back next year. Should I bring you a bottle then?"
I: "Yes! Do it!"

And even though we were no longer colleagues and our contact was less than sporadic, she remembered and brought me a bottle the following summer. How nice!

Acqua dell'Elba is a small perfumery on Elba (who would have thought), whose few perfumes and body care products are sold only there and in a few shops on the Italian mainland. Color-wise, everything is themed around a clear, rich sea turquoise that characterizes the island in the Tuscan archipelago.

Arcipelago is the fresh-fruity-sensual scent from the range. To put it simply, it reminds me of a mix between Lolita Lempicka L and YSL (Baiser de) Cinéma. From Cinéma, Arcipelago takes the delicious (fruit) sweetness, and from L, it gets the salty element from the straw flower.

A zesty-fruity opening of lemon, mandarin, and apricot is followed by floral accents of jasmine, orange blossom, and acacia. The straw flower adds an exciting salty-dry impression. The whole is rounded off with a warm base of cedarwood, strawberry tree, and musk.

A powerful scent that smells incredibly delicious and pleasant. A warm, spicy sweetness with a hint of sea breeze, without being aquatic in the slightest. Very feminine, very carefree, and with all that delicious sweetness, somehow also fresh. Like Elba in summer: shimmering, fragrant, dry like the Mediterranean maquis, refreshingly roaring like the sea around it.