Acqua di Selva (Eau de Cologne) by Victor

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Acqua di Selva Victor 1949 Eau de Cologne

7.6 / 10 101 Ratings

A popular perfume by Victor for men, released in 1949. The scent is green-fresh. It is being marketed by Perfelena.
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Main accords

Green

Fresh

Citrus

Woody

Spicy

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Lemon

Rosemary

Basil

Bergamot

Lavender

Heart Notes

Pine

Thyme

Clary sage

Carnation

Geranium

Base Notes

Cedarwood

Moss

Vetiver

Musk

Tonka bean

Ratings

Scent

7.6101 Ratings

Longevity

5.580 Ratings

Sillage

5.376 Ratings

Bottle

6.180 Ratings

Value for money

8.030 Ratings

Submitted by Apicius · last update on 02/11/2026.

Source-backed & verified

Interesting Facts

This fragrance was distributed by the brand "Gi. Vi. Emme / Visconti di Modrone" as well.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Acqua di Selva After Shave Lotion

Agua Brava (1968) Eau de Cologne

Pino Silvestre Eau de Toilette

Silvestre Eau de Cologne

Knize Forest Toilet Water

Basile Uomo Forte Eau de Toilette

Reviews

17 in-depth fragrance descriptions

03/27/2013

9Scent 5Longevity 5Sillage

Gmmcnair
40 Reviews

Gmmcnair

Helpful Review 4

If You Like Evergreen Herbaceous Fragrances, Get This!

I love Acqua di Selva. It is now 64 years old, and does not smell dated to my nose. It opens with a tart lemon, fresh lavender, herbaceous pine. Smells clean and fresh in a non-laundry-musk or aquatic way.

After the fragrance settles a bit, touches of carnation, geranium make themselves known along with a wonderful musky cedar base. A bit of smoky vetiver makes it even more attractive. The final stages are a warm and gentle musk and the cedar. It is just an incredibly well-done fragrance.

Longevity from start to finish on my skin is about 4-5 hours, excellent for something that is an EDC. Sillage is light to moderate, so this fragrance is delightful and inoffensive to most people. You would have to douse yourself to overdo this one. A couple or three sprays in an office setting would give you a crisp, clean, and confident scent, that would last through most of the day.

Overall, I cannot speak highly enough of this excellent, yet inexpensive fragrance. Of course, it speaks for itself that it is 64 years old and is still highly regarded. I would rate this a solid 8 out of 10.

02/16/2021

10Scent 4Longevity 4Sillage

ChicoRoch1
163 Reviews

ChicoRoch1

1

A classic that i wished lasted longer

The 1st time I smelled Acqua di Selva was when will my cousin George sprayed it. The smell intoxicated me. This was back in 1987 when I was a teenager and I just had to find that fragrance. When I finally did it was a great buy at $20 a bottle the only problem was it didn't last very long on my skin. It is an eau de cologne concentration so i knew it wasn't gonna last very long but i don't even get 3 hours out of it. However I am in love with the smell just totally in love with it. I will never stop wearing it and the only time I do wear it is when the temperature outside is 90 degrees or above. If they ever come out with a parfum concentration I don't care if it costs $500 I'm buying that bottle! But I don't think that will happen as the cologne is very old since 1949.

05/28/2017

6.5Scent 7Longevity 6Sillage

loewenherz
920 Reviews

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loewenherz

Very helpful Review 22

Mi arricci i baffi

I own a great book for self-studying Italian that I bought many years ago at the Bonn Rhine Meadows flea market - and it dates back to the 1950s. Contemporary language textbooks focus on 'learning to speak quickly' based on common everyday situations, such as: 'Hello, my name is Betty Mason.' or 'Nicole est la sœur de Philippe.' In my Italian textbook from the 50s, however, the very first sentence is: 'Mi arricci i baffi', which translates to 'Twirl my mustache' - great to be able to say that.

Mi arricci i baffi - how wonderful it sounds! And I see the piazza of a small seaside town glowing in the early evening sunlight, where the locals slowly gather for the aperitivo. And something that you see in Italy - the further south you go, the more - much more often than here, is - wonderfully touching - the figure of the vain older gentleman, in a white suit or a pink polo shirt with a thin sweater draped over his shoulders and - if he can - with an expensive gold watch - as he makes 'bella figura' on the piazza with his best friend, whom he has known for seventy years.

Acqua di Selva has strength and grandfatherly dominance and a wonderfully 'not-present' (I consciously do not say 'outdated') character that probably makes it seem little interesting to younger - even southern - men - even if they do like traditionally Mediterranean arranged, coniferous herbal squads. However, Acqua di Selva is likely one of those fragrances that a man must discover and choose for himself as a young man - back in the 50s, in a seaside resort somewhere in Italy. And then they grow old together, the fragrance and the man - on the piazza, every evening, for a whole lifetime.

Conclusion: I see the older gentleman from the piazza in the afternoon at his barber - in a small side street, where his father and grandfather also came - sitting in front of the already blind mirror at the edges and strictly examining the bare spots on his head. And then he allows the barber (who is also nearly eighty) with a nod to apply a few spritzes of Acqua di Selva before he finally commands: 'Mi arricci i baffi!'

Updated on 05/30/2017

07/26/2019

9.5Scent 8Longevity 7Sillage

Tom27
39 Reviews

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Tom27

Top Review 12

The Color of the Bottle is the Program

for this unique, timeless water of the forest.

It starts off citrusy fresh, then quickly glides into green and spicy notes. Dry spicy notes like basil, thyme, rosemary, and geranium, underpinned by various woods, take command.

All of this is complemented by a very successful lavender-tonka bean-oak moss accord, which gives me the feeling of walking through a green summer forest.

In the base, oak moss and vetiver are very dominant. The vetiver has a completely blurred earthy quality that almost smells leathery to me.

H/S:

Acqua di Silva is certainly not a longevity or sillage monster, but I find 6-7 hours to be a very respectable value for an Eau de Cologne.

Conclusion:

Acqua di Silva is a classic fougère perfume that, like no other, captures the scent of the forest without smelling like a bath additive.

A must-have for fans of old school or green perfumes, but really only for those who love oak moss and vetiver.

Updated on 08/23/2019

09/21/2013

8Scent 7.5Longevity 5Sillage

Taurus
1189 Reviews

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Taurus

Very helpful Review 13

Yes, am I in the forest here?

I believe the term "Acqua di Selva" or "Water of the Forest" is a slight understatement. When I sniff my aged miniature bottle, I am rather greeted by the ethereal concentrate of an entire mountain forest.

Before my inner eye, I find myself in a densely overgrown dark green mega-vegetation full of firs, spruces, pines, and cedars, where a crystal-clear mountain stream meanders through the heavily moss-covered ground and cascades into a small lake via a high waterfall, at the shores of which various herbs like rosemary and thyme grow lushly towards the sun.

This fragrance is the embodiment of a true nature boy and embodies from the very beginning the aura of woody, resinous, and herbal tones. One simply wants to breathe it in and use it as aromatherapy. Rarely have I encountered a so-called "Acqua" that brought me the theme of "forest" so intensely.

As mentioned above, this unfortunately only applies to the older, unreformulated version, to which I would easily give 90%. The current version, on the other hand, is a bit diluted in the truest sense of the word, with less power and reduced longevity. I would consider it more of a 70% candidate. Nevertheless, it still has a classically fine scent that oscillates between stylish, extravagant, and close to nature, to which I thus give an overall rating of 80%.

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