Acqua di Giò pour Homme
Giorgio Armani (1996)

Inoffensive and light, this is a pleasant aquatic fragrance that lives up to the name aqua, including the 'water-like' performance. I seriously can't get this thing to last for more than an hour or project at all on my skin.

Hard to hate, it's a nice out of the shower scent. Unfortunately terrible longevity.

Smell: 7/10
Performance: 1/10

Reviewing from a free sample, this is more of a fragrance to spray on after a shower to enhance that fresh and clean feeling if you're staying home rather than a fragrance with the longevity and projection to wear out. I personally think people should resist the urge to see this as an "overlooked old gem turned cheapie". Even if it is cheap, the value is still terrible.

It's nice for the whole hour it's around for.

Acqua di Gio is pleasant enough. It produces a cloud of lightly sweet, synthetic watermelon and cucumber. But I personally have no wish to live inside that cloud. I do not understand why anyone would pay the ridiculous price for something so banal. Btw the only marine connection I can think of is the whiff you sometimes get from a sunbather who has applied cheap sunscreen.

What an easy to like, easy to wear scent. Clean, fresh, and light. Like a sea breeze on open water. The way the fruit and marine notes blend together is masterful. Great for summer or the office. I do understand how this held it's popularity. Having smelled Profumo I would easily prefer that but the original is still very nice. I think this makes a great starter fragrance gift for a young man that doesn't have a clue what to get himself. Every time I smell this I realize it would smell good accompanied by a leather jacket. I'm grateful I wasn't overexposed to this in it's first decade so I have no bias. I feel like this is really tough to dislike unless it's from some Fragrance Overexposure Stress Disorder, which is a real thing, apparently. I understand that like A&F Fierce, for some this is the scent equivalent of hearing the song "Jack and Diane" for the god awful millionth and a half time. Luckily for me I'm still naive enough to enjoy this. I think this is magnitudes better than Eternity when it comes to reference fresh scents of the 1990's . Thumbs up.

I feel like this fragrance may have gone through reformulations because its performance is poor. I've only smelled batches from 2016 onwards. I would prefer to go for Profumo or even Perry Ellis 360 Red. My review is based on a 2020 sample.

I'm always surprised that AdG is so popular, given that it's so subtle. Quiet melon mixed with the smell of a beach, salty and subtly herbal.

There was a point around 2008 where it was considered a sign of perfume snob credibility to hate melon perfumes, because they were so common (and because Abercrombie piped Fierce into every mall, so melon perfumes were literally forced upon us against our will). Even so, I've always liked AdG. Somehow, its melon is understated and, dare I say, classy. And the salty sea air smell is pleasant.

Sure, the melon smells dated these days, but the real focus is on the beachfront atmosphere, so it doesn't matter. Thumbs up!