Aqua di Parma - Collezione Barbiere - Splash

Matches the AdP shaving cream excellently. Expensive but you get what you pay for, especially scent-wise. Recommended.

You never really know about a product until you slap it on. For 70 clams a guy expects a lot from an aftershave, and not just smell good.

AdP Lotion is a splash. It does have a few extra this and that to it to make it more than cologne, but honestly not much. There is hardly any nourishment going on here. Less than Pink, less than SMN, and definately less than Speick. If your shave did not go well, and you cut too close using traditional gear you will scream like a 6 year old girl. It burns, but fades in minutes. It is a heavy alcohol based AS, what else did I expect?

On the bright side, it does smell amazing. I get compliments even.

So, I like it, but wear it as cologne splashed on the checks.

This is my first review here, and mind you, now that I write these lines I am new here - so I will be quite reserved in what I write as I have not done a 'test' or 'review' of grooming products before.

I would not say I have used a very wide range of aftershave lotions before, and most of it was fragrance brands aftershaves (mostly used is the Hugo Boss No. 1 because of the fragrance) and also products from other manufacturers that are kind of cheaper in price and more widely available (but I have stopped using those long time ago).

This Acqua di Parma aftershave has the following main characteristics, in my subjective opinion:

- does quite well in calming & nourishing, as an earlier review said (and considerably better than the Hugo Boss No. 1 I have been using for years);
- offers very low alcohol burn;
- fragrance is absolutely fantastic (if it matches your skin of course), though discreet;
- I have been told -but stand to be corrected- when I was at a Neiman Marcus store few years back and was debating buying their Iris female perfume, that the Acqua di Parma line is made differently than other well known perfumes (e.g. Chanel) and that it is much more natural. I was told that manufactures like Chanel use a lot of chemicals in their perfumes, but again, that was a saleswoman who told me so, therefore I treat this with a reservation. Admittedly, though, the Acqua di Parma scents stand out and you don't need to be a genius to realize that.
- I have not felt the moisturizing effect it leaves you with to be so strong, but yet again (a) it is stronger than Hugo Boss No. 1, (b) it is an aftershave and not a balm, and (b) I am a daily user of creme de La Mer, and believe me, after you've used this, all other moisturizing creams will look like substitutes to you.

Overall conclusion: Highly recommended.

Note: Please do not get worried by the 'low' marks I put. To me a '7' equals to a GPA of 3.8+, therefore we always have to leave room for something extraordinary that may come to the market in the years to come...