Sensing Blue Water

This is Perfume Parlour's budget interpretation of Tom Ford Costa Azzurra Acqua, an airy, coastal reworking of the original. It opens with an invigorating burst of lemon and juniper berries, the myrtle adding a subtly green, slightly peppery nuance that lifts it above a plain aquatic. The heart is all Mediterranean greenery - resinous pine needles and cypress, cool and slightly sappy, evoking sun-warmed coastal scrub. The drydown settles into a clean, woody base of labdanum, green mastic and soft amber, that driftwood-on-the-shore feeling the original captures so well. Costa Azzurra Acqua is a moderate performer at 5-to-7 hours; the dupe keeps the fresh-green-woody shape but renders it thinner and more synthetic, with the resinous facets simplified and wear pulled in close. For an inexpensive, uplifting Mediterranean fresh for warm days, it captures the holiday mood for the money.