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Acqua di Sicilia Santa Maria Novella 1997

7.8 / 10 89 Ratings

A popular perfume by Santa Maria Novella for women and men, released in 1997. The scent is citrusy-fresh. It is still in production.
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Main accords

Citrus

Fresh

Green

Spicy

Fruity

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Sicilian lemon

Calabrian bergamot Neroli

Neroli

Heart Notes

Petitgrain

Rosemary

Base Notes

Sumatran benzoin

Ratings

Scent

7.889 Ratings

Longevity

5.974 Ratings

Sillage

5.772 Ratings

Bottle

7.658 Ratings

Value for money

6.729 Ratings

Submitted by Ripieno, last update on 11/09/2025.

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Reviews

5 in-depth fragrance descriptions

04/27/2025

6Scent 1Longevity 1Sillage

Akira1005
221 Reviews

Akira1005

3

It's best to use this scent at least after moisturizing

Even then, it fades within a few tens of seconds.I love Week Mode perfumes, but even so, it fades quickly.It's difficult for anyone to enjoy this scent unless they have a certain level of income.The opening is a mix of spices and citrus, similar to craft cola.And a faint "cola lemon" flavor lingers on the skin.
That's all. Room temperature is 22°C, humidity 28%.Dryness is the enemy of this scent. It's quite fleeting. It probably doesn't last even 30 minutes.
Edit: Lasted quite thinly for about 2 hours.

07/09/2020

9Scent 7Longevity 6Sillage

Yatagan
415 Reviews

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Yatagan

Top Review 75

Sun and Shadow

A few years ago, I visited Sicily for the first time and was captivated: by the beauty of the cities and the landscape, by the Roman ruins, and especially by the view of the sea. Our holiday home was situated on a hill, and every evening I watched the setting sun.
Santa Maria Novella's Acqua di Sicilia captures this mood. Almost perfectly.
Of course, for really hot days, only a cologne is suitable for me anyway, and in Sicily it can get so hot that, even with the proximity of water, one can nearly be grilled at noon in front of the cathedral of Noto or at the Fonte Aretusa in Siracusa. For this reason, a rather unecological custom of artificial mist has developed in Italy: from nozzles, usually above sun umbrellas, a fine mist of cool water emerges, making it wonderfully bearable to stay in hot places. When, as a light-skinned Central European, you have made it with your last strength from the amphitheater of Taormina down below Etna to the barely cooler streets of the old town, you might be grateful for such a typically Italian invention, which we hope we won’t need in Germany for a long time despite the dramatically advancing climate change.
Well-crafted colognes can convey exactly this impression on hot summer days: standing in the midst of a cool spray. Acqua di Sicilia can do that too, as Petitgrain, bergamot, lemon, and neroli do their part, a shady herbal nuance joins in, but at the same time, the subtle resinous note creates the impression of a sun-drenched landscape that begins to cool down slowly after the heat of midday.
Santa Maria Novella rarely disappoints me, but I am truly enthusiastic about this scent.
One must like colognes with a dark shadow. Then this one is just right.

12/05/2020

8Scent 4Longevity 5Sillage

FvSpee
323 Reviews

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FvSpee

Top Review 33

Neukölln 16: Sicilian Vespers

The Sicilian Vespers is, technically speaking, not a cozy evening snack or meal, but rather a massacre of the French occupiers in Palermo in the year 1282. It began on Easter Monday during the time of the Vespers prayer. However, there is no reason for bloody Boadicean concern regarding this commentary. It really only concerns the culinary impressions that this fragrance, which originates from Florence in Tuscany but is named after Sicily, evokes.

In my opinion, Acqua di Sicilia, although it can be recognized as a classic cologne and has a rather traditional fragrance pyramid, is quite a distance from the well-known Farina-4711 standard.

This is primarily because it comes across as very lemony (despite the orange ingredients doubled with neroli and petitgrain). However, this should not lead to the assumption that anything here is sour or would cause one's features to contort. There is also no hint of a pale yellow, almost white, cold, and crystalline sharpness. On the contrary, we are talking about such juicy, dark yellow, meaty lemons that they have become almost sweet in their ripeness. Whether that is botanically possible, I do not know; in any case, it is my olfapoetic impression. If we want to move on less shaky scientific ground, we can also conjure up the image of lavishly candied lemons from a Sicilian confectionery, perhaps to be enjoyed with a glass of cold water and a bitter caffè, or to be baked into a Christmas panettone. It is as if the orange notes are not perceptible on their own (nothing here smells of mandarin or orange), but (probably in conjunction with the Sumatra benzoin, which is attributed a "creamy-sweet" aroma) the bergamot only wondrously transforms into sweetness and fullness.

The second prominent feature of the fragrance is the impression of shadowy, woody, bushy, almost misty coolness, which Yatagan has already perfectly described in his commentary and cannot be further supplemented, no matter how the (business) descendants of the monks of S.M. Novella have managed to evoke this scent impression.

Although I greatly enjoy this midsummer picnic with candied lemons in a shady Sicilian grove, the fragrance ultimately misses out on top ratings for me. Because while I have nothing to remember against the sweet aspect of the benzoin here, I am put off by the slightly vanillic-creamy note that characterizes the fragrance not only in the base. Perhaps it is time for me to come to the realization that I prefer the cool-crystalline variants in colognes.

Additionally, and I hesitate and tremble to say it, there is once again a case where (albeit in an extremely weak variant) my enjoyment of a cologne is marred by a subtly resonating, background sausage note. This is now the fourth or fifth time I have come to this conclusion (always only with citrus colognes), and I cannot explain it. Perhaps it is just a genetically determined individual misperception (like color blindness) regarding some ingredient that is often used in colognes, and not a negative quality characteristic. Therefore, readers should perhaps not be deterred by this aspect. However, since I can only describe the fragrance as I perceive it, I want to give honesty its due and not sweep this Salsiccia misperception under the monastery carpet.

The longevity in the test was about two to three hours. I can remain silent about the highly interesting brand, as many reviewers have already written about SMN fragrances, including myself in my review of Colonia Russa. It should be noted that the packaging in the beautiful bottles is somewhat confusing, as sometimes those labeled "Acqua di Sicilia" are used, while at other times, those marked only "Acqua di Colonia" are used; these are likely universally usable containers (for several colognes from the company).

09/19/2020

9Scent

Susan
138 Reviews

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Susan

Top Review 25

The Nose Says: WOW..!!!

Actually, the beginning of autumn is not necessarily the right season to approach a citrus scent.....but as luck would have it, it came under my nose today.....

And the nose says: WOW..!!! Those who think that "Eau de Cologne" is just "Eau de Cologne" will be pleasantly surprised :-)....

Like my predecessors, I am also overwhelmed by this juicy, rich, lush, and fully ripe lemon, which stimulates the salivary glands just by smelling it......one could almost think that the refreshing juice is literally dripping out of it......but without being sticky..!!

I find the softly herbal accompanying melody to be truly special and exceptionally pleasant.....Yatagan has already aptly described this sensation with the term "shade-giving".....I completely agree with that......

I am particularly taken with the resinous and very subtly sweet base......while at the beginning you could still hear the "ice cubes" clinking, they have now melted.....the shimmering heat of the day gently glides into the pleasant warmth of the late afternoon and early evening.....

Among the many citrus scents that exist, Acqua di Sicilia is truly something special :-)......

05/29/2012

7Scent 5Longevity 2.5Sillage

Florblanca
1168 Reviews

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Florblanca

Very helpful Review 11

Delicious Limoncello

Santa Maria Novella was completely unknown to me until yesterday, and after I commented on the rose yesterday, I wasn't really taken with it either.

But today I got to try "Acqua di Colonia Acqua di Sicilia" and I am just blown away.

These are juicy, fresh, tree-ripened Sicilian lemons, wonderfully fragrant and appetizing - I can almost taste them! It smells and refreshes like a delicious limoncello on ice, simply delightful.

Even though it is "only" an Eau de Cologne, it lasts a very long time - I have been wearing it all day. The scent does become weaker, but not musty or sweet; it remains fresh and lively.

Anyone who likes citrus scents should not pass by this Acqua di Sicilia without at least testing it. I was - very pleasantly - surprised!