Lisboa Zara

Zara is now notorious for their seemingly endless flood of fragrances that spring up like mushrooms, with what feels like arbitrary naming and wonderfully colorful sounding descriptions of all sorts of scents on the boxes. Just as quickly, however, these releases then peter out again, so that one does not really get behind with the testing. Then again, the fragrances are priced very attractively compared to what you're used to, I'll call it, so you hardly dare write anything negative about them because you'd feel kind of ungrateful doing so. I'll just try now to forget the incredible 10.95 €, which cost me the 100 ml Lisboa, for the rest of the review and only evaluate the performance received for it.

First, about the bottle. It is simple, lies well in the hand and, that really excited me, equipped with a wonderful atomizer, which is far ahead of my Armani Acqua di Gio Profumo with its fine nebulization. Since I am then also the thin plastic cap does not matter, which somehow reminds me of the measuring cups, which have stuck on the cough syrup bottles from my childhood, only not round.

Now that we're on the subject of the AdG range, I can say right away that, contrary to what I often read, Zara's Lisboa is not an adequate substitute for the original Acqua di Gio pour Homme EdT, at least not to my nose. There's definitely a strong resemblance, especially right after spraying it on, I thought, "Yup, this is the perfect inexpensive replacement!" But the AdG smells cleaner to me, cooler, has more depth somehow. There's a slightly synthetic, citrusy, scratchy warmth that resonates in Lisboa, which incidentally I also detect in Vibrant Leather Cologne, which I bought at the same time and whose review is still on the docket. Even after all the reformulations (or should I say waterings down?) of the AdG, it still has a leg up on the Lisboa in terms of H+S. If Acqua di Gio is a record, then Lisboa is a digitized version of it, but at a slightly too low sampling rate and from a less than perfect analog-to-digital converter. But hey, maybe you don't notice that unless it's completely silent around you?

I'm going to try my hand at the scent pyramid, er, the scent notes, because the whole thing is, to my mind, very linear from the time the alcohol has evaporated. Citrusy notes carry the scent, both lemon and orange I can relate to. The green, somewhat woody notes make me think of the peel and branches rather than the fruit juice. Orange blossom is, after all, also a note in the original AdG, presumably it is it along with the green components that is mainly responsible for the similarity. I don't think so much of jasmine in Lisboa, but rather of musk. Probably that is the previously described, warming accord, which lays like a cloudy veil over the fresh fruitiness and takes away its sharpness, so to speak.

The sillage is average for me, slightly below that of the AdG Profumo (note: EdP concentration) and even slightly further below that of the normal AdG (EdT). The longevity is also average, you get a good sense of it from 1.5m away for 1-2 hours, after which the sphere quickly shrinks. After 4-5 hours, the scent is very skin tight on me. At this price (ok, I must mention it yet), I like to treat myself in between a few sprays to refresh, the flat format of the bottle makes it fortunately very portable.

The fragrance gets at warmer temperatures (> 25 ° C) a slightly better sillage, however, I then also perceive this synthetic component more strongly, so this is a double-edged sword. But even at 15-20 ° C you can wear it well and noticeable. Ultimately, it is just a citrus fragrance with the associated advantages and disadvantages, so somewhere will be reached temperature-wise a limit.

All in all, I quite like Zara's Lisboa. It's a bargain for lovers of citrusy aquatic scents, and I highly recommend trying it on yourself. One should simply not approach with the wrong expectations and expect a 1:1 copy of Acqua di Gio, then you can have a lot of fun with this bottle.