Acqua Fiorentina 
Creed (2009)

Acqua Fiorentina (2009) is one of the few exclusive feminine scents to the modern lineup of Creed, a house that seemingly focuses on clout-chasing upwardly-mobile males looking to upgrade their strut with the biggest peacock feathers, but they do know how to play a tune in the key of relevant tastes for mainstream women. Acqua Fiorintina is a fruity floral, which puts it right in the running with the modern offerings of houses like Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Lancôme, and Chanel, but seeks to feel more opulent than most things like a bottle of J'Adore (1999). I'm not the biggest fan of this genre, but I'll admit when something oozes quality enough to pass muster. The smell of Acqua Fiorintina feels effortless, bright, happy, and simple compared to some Creed blends, and comes across as more casual than many feminine-market Creeds I've encountered. Creed seems to know their way around citric floral accords and this is no different, but the sheer amount of fruit present distances this from the classic floral vibe most of such scents they make tend to have.

Acqua Fiorintina opens with zingy apple and pear notes woven in with bergamot, grapefruit, lemon, and plum. It's a veritable fruit fest at this point, and so luscious you almost wish you had a pear to bite into, thanks to the transparency of the fruit salad opening delivering a convincing freshness. Rose, geranium, and carnation bring in the floral charge of the heart, and the geraniol theme of the flower selection helps tamp down the sweeter elements of that fruit into something a bit crisper. A light dusting of sandalwood and cedar follow in next, with the famous Creed ambergris note being the final destination of the scent, providing warmth on skin without getting in the way of what's playing out above. Execution is simple, balanced, and effective even if also a bit boring and nondescript. Wear time is appreciable at 8+ hours with median projection, and in case it wasn't obvious, this is very much a summer day fragrance through and through. I'd even venture that warmer evenings could also make appropriate use of Acqua Fiorintina as well.

There isn't much unisex appeal in Acqua Fiorintina unless you're a lover of fruity florals overall, but ladies used to this genre will find good material quality, performance, and affable character in Acqua Fiorintina, but they'll have to address the elephant in the room that is Creed's typical MSRP. If the price feels too unjustifiably high, Calvin Klein would put out a remarkably similar unisex perfume in the cK One (1994) range called cK One Gold (2016), which uses fig in place of plum, guaiac wood replacing the higher-quality sandalwood, and a faux peach accord flittering between violet and sage to keep more of a unisex balance. Performance is a bit weaker and the more obviously-synthetic ambrox base reminds you it is a Calvin Klein and not a Creed, but there you have it. Props for effortless quality and execution, I'll have to sway towards neutral for Acqua Fiorintina because it does little for me and fails to really stand out otherwise, especially when you can smell virtually just like this for a quarter of the cost from any number of competing designer fruity florals with a negligible downgrade in quality.

It's a pleasant fragrance. What I get out of the top accord is a very clean, clear, rich-ish version of D&G's Light blue. It's almost as if this is not a Creed but a Bond No. 9 version of Light Blue. Acqua Fiorentina has the same effect on me that most Bond No. 9s do: I appreciate the mechanical precision of making a smoothened version of a another perfumer's creation, but it lacks poignancy because of its lack of originality.

This is a pleasant fragrance… the aquatic tenor in it is probably the best “aquatic” accord I've smelled. But since I'm not enchanted by aquatic notes, “the best aquatic” doesn't mean very much to me. The purpose of the rest of the fragrance seems to be that of avoiding anything that interferes with the aquatic note or the cleaned-up Light Blue accord.

In business, imitation isn't flattery - it's cheating, and Creed should know better because they have been stolen from too often. To me, imitation isn't very exciting… I prefer the vintage Light Blue, so Acqua Fiorentina becomes for me somewhat of a bore… But I do understand anyone's enjoyment of this fragrance because it's a very well made and enjoyable; and it is a top-of-its-class aquatic.