Acqua di Giò Profondo, Where Armani Takes the Sea Down a Few Fathoms

Acqua di Giò arrived in 1996, created by perfumer Alberto Morillas and inspired by the Mediterranean, and for a lot of men it became the first grown-up fragrance they ever wore. Armani Beauty makes it under license with L'Oréal, and the original sold the idea of sun on water so well that a whole family of flankers followed. Acqua di Giò Profondo is the one where Morillas goes back to the same sea and heads down. Launched in 2020, this aquatic cologne opens with sea notes, an aquatic molecule called Aquozone, bergamot and green mandarin. The heart swaps beach softness for rosemary, lavender, cypress and mastic, and the base of patchouli, musk and a mineral amber feels like cold stone after a swim. Armani's own description talks about leaving the shallows for a new blue intensity, and that is fair. I read Profondo as a men's fragrance for people who found the original too sunny. Grid one is the family in four strengths, from Profondo to the Elixir with leather and bergamot.

Grid two is the everyday Armani shelf. The Eau de Toilette with Calabrian bergamot and cedarwood is the lightest way in, and the two-piece set gives you two sizes of it, so one can live in a bag. The deodorant stick carries the same scent, which is useful when I do not want to wear a full spray to the gym. Then there is Armani Code Eau de Parfum, the outsider here, with bergamot, tonka bean and nutmeg, and it is warmer and more evening than anything else nearby. If you are unsure between the fresh side and the warm side, my test is easy. Wear the Eau de Toilette to a morning meeting and Code to dinner, and note which one you catch on your collar the next day.

Grid three is other houses on the same coastline. Prada's Luna Rossa Ocean launched in 2021 from perfumers Anne Flipo and Carlos Benaim, part of a line named for Prada's America's Cup sailing team, and it reads as an aromatic fougère with bergamot and iris rather than a beach. Jo Malone London's Sea Salt & Bergamot is from the house Jo Malone started in 1994 on Walton Street in London, and it is the lightest thing here, closer to a splash of salt air than a cologne. Bleu de Chanel debuted in 2010, and the L'Exclusif Parfum takes that family toward sandalwood and cistus labdanum. Yves Saint Laurent's Y Eau de Parfum, composed by Dominique Ropion in 2018, is a fougère with sage, geranium and woods. What I would skip is spraying Profondo the way you would spray a bright citrus, with a cloud on the chest. It is denser than it smells, so two sprays is plenty.

Profondo works best when the day is cool and the room is a little quiet. The herbs and salt give it a clean edge, and the patchouli keeps that edge from feeling clinical. I would wear it to a long lunch, to a film, or on a walk near water. If you want the same sea in a lighter form, the Eau de Toilette is right there in grid two. Either way, apply it on skin, not on a shirt, and let the mineral part of the base come up through the afternoon.

Profondo is a deep-water scent, so the natural next step is to explore the darker corners of the Armani house and the other seas people wear. I would start with the Armani/Privé bottles: Santal Dan Sha, Oud Nacré and Bleu Turquoise. The Armani Code Parfum and Stronger With You Parfum from Emporio Armani are closer to evening. For fresher water, Bleu de Chanel Parfum, the Prada Luna Rossa Ocean Le Parfum and the Jo Malone London Lime Basil & Mandarin give three different ideas of a clean day. The XERJOFF Casamorati Tempio d'Acqua has water in its name, so it is a fair one to compare. Smell the sea ones before noon and the dark ones after dinner. What I would skip: the Armani Code Deodorant Stick if you want a fragrance to compare. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together Armani Code Parfum and the Armani Colognes Beside It and Summer Scents. For another take on Armani's aquatic side, I wrote about Acqua di Giò Parfum, with its incense and patchouli.