When I reviewed Lys Soleia back in 2012, I said I have something of a love-hate relationship with the Aqua Allegoria range from Guerlain. Aqua Allegoria started out as a youth-oriented line highlighting natural materials, but it’s evolved, over the years, to something better expressed by the tag line they now use on some of the advertising: “the collection of fresh fragrances”. And as “fresh”, likewise, has evolved over the years to mean synthetic clean notes instead of things that are naturally fresh, like sparkling citrus and light florals, so the Aqua Allegorias have followed suit. My main complaint with Lys Soleia, and Jasminora before it, was how close they came to smelling like scented laundry products.¹

In its favor, Limon Verde, the latest Aqua Allegoria, does not smell like laundry products. Its inspirations, expressed as the exhortation to “savour a Caipirinha under the lemon trees along the Amazon River”, fit well with this year’s emphasis on Brazil…

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