The latest from Italian niche line Eau d'Italie is Au Lac, a feminine floral developed by perfumer Alberto Morillas.
The inspiration: the secret 1916 love affair between Vittoria Colonna, Princess di Teano, and futurist artist Umberto Boccioni. The backdrop: the Isolino di San Giovanni on Lake Maggiore.
Nearly a century later, when the time arrived for Eau d’Italie to create its first feminine floral fragrance, there was no doubt: it had to be a real Italian floral with the qualities of a classic, but with an innovative contemporary twist: an avant-garde romantic floral...
This was the inspiration for “Au Lac” (“By the lake”): a fragrance that tells of a passionate love affair in a gorgeous Italian garden in the middle of summer, the air filled with the scent of flowers and surrounded by the peaceful waters of a lake.
To create these exquisitely beautiful notes Eau d’Italie has worked with legendary nose Alberto Morillas, to deliver a magnificent fragrance capable of blending the deep beauty of a truly feminine floral into the vibrant, dynamic frame of a Futurist painting.
The notes include water lily, bitter orange leaves, fig leaves, osmanthus, rose, jasmine, cedar, papyrus and amber.
Eau d'Italie Au Lac is available in 100 ml Eau de Toilette, and can be found now at First in Fragrance in Germany. (via first-in-fragrance)
Update: see a review of Eau d'Italie Au Lac.
Sounds really lovely and like the new bottle. My fav of their line is Pasteum Rose , Bois d’Ombrie, and Baume du Doge.
Paestum Rose — still my favorite! Do like several others.
Baume du Doge is a masterpiece.
I haven’t tried Bois d’Ombrie yet.
The bottle does zero for me….but their ad copy is sure sucking me right in! Hopefully TPC will get some in soon and then I can wrap my nostrils around a sample.
hmmm….Pasteum Rose was a little odd…..never sniffed Bois d’Ombrie….but thanks to the Wonderful Carlos ; I have a sample of Baume du Doge here somewhere…….to the sample drawer!!
The bottle isn’t very nice… But then, I was never fond of the EDI packaging!
They remind me of fancy laundry detergents!
I did not like their original packaging, but this does not seem an improvement.
What is really annoying to me about their packaging is that you can’t tell if you are about to run out — I’ve drained a couple of bottles (of Paestum Rose, my signature scent) a couple of times without realizing.
TR: I recently used the last drop of my Sienne l’Hiver without knowing I was so close to the bottom of the bottle, so I agree! I had to buy a decant to ensure I have a bit on hand.
Never smelled Bois d’Ombrie? I’ll have to rectify that for you. What about Sienne l’Hiver?
you little enabler you! Joe sent me some Sl’H.
Ya just gotta love perfumistas—we certainly take care of each other! 🙂
Eau d’Italie is one of the few niche Italian houses I love/admire/cherish….
But I think I loved BD hand more than the EDI brand. When BD wasn’t using all those fruits and tropical/exotic accents yet, and was creating haunting masterpieces… sniff…(well, not that I’d throw away amaranthine or Havana vanille if they fell into my lap, but..)
The notes for Au lac sound nice, I hope it is not watery, and I hope it doesn’t smell like a lake!
I hope so too!
BD? Having a mental block at the moment.
Duchaufour.
Ahhh! Thanks boo! 🙂
I kind of like Ed’I design because it’s very different and bold in a modern “Euro” way. I do like the new bottle shape a lot more than the old one, I think.
This sounds interesting — albeit possibly watery — and definitely worth a sample. But wasn’t Magnolia Romana their first “feminine floral” (assuming one disregards Paestum Rose as well, which was fairly unisex, I guess)? I guess it’s “feminine” only if the house labels it such. When will I learn?
Joe, I can’t remember how they marketed that one.
Okay, I think it sounds great, and as I dislike most of Duchaufour’s this might be right up my alley. Hoping for massive fig.
Massive fig would work for me too 🙂
Papyrus?! Is this a note found in other perfumes? It’s just that as a historian that deals with ancient manuscripts made of papyrus I find this intriguing… I guess it would smell green and oozy?
Well, I recently sampled Baume du Doge – great! – and am now running off to find my Paestum Rose sample to try tonight.
Check the recent Parfumerie Generale launch: Papyrus de Ciane.
Also see here: http://www.fragrantica.com/notes/Papyrus-206.html
Thanks, I had no idea it was so widely used. When I think “papyrus” I think “Oxyrhynchus” and not “perfume.”
Exactly! Dusty, inky, dry, fragile, not green, watery, reedy, leafy!
It is a grass (similar to vetiver), also listed sometimes as nagarmotha or cypriol.
…”water lily, bitter orange leaves, osmanthus, rose, jasmine, cedar, papyrus and amber.” Nice. Might try.
“Fig leaves.” Uh, I guess I won’t, then. Fig leaf just about kills me.
I admit to only having tried Paestum Rose, and was surprised that I didn’t care much for it. All the notes are up my alley, but I found that I wanted it to be either less rose, more myrrh, or the opposite.
I’ve also tried PR, because of the enthusiastic comments here on NST, on my skin it does a disappearing act after a couple of minutes, so I just can’t judge it. I am however really curious about this new one, I happen to know the Lago Maggiore area quite well – but not the Isolino mentioned, will have to check it out the next time:-)
PR was interesting, but struck me as very heavy and manly, with way too many things going on. This one sounds right up my alley, aquatic in a good way.
Paestum Rose smells very masculine to me – I think it is a great woody rose – but it smells waay to manly for me. Some masculine’s I can wear, this one, I wish for my husband or my dad to wear.
I felt that way about C&S No. 88, which I think smells GREAT – but I wanted to smell it on someone who has chest hair. The CEO flatly refused, even though I told him it was a man’s scent. “Smells girly,” he said. (??)
BTW, I’m testing that Rose d’Homme today. I’m thinking it’s a no; I’m looking around for Burt Lancaster.
Burt Lancaster is good. I prefer Clark Gable, and he would definitely smell good in either PR or no 88!! I can sense you are a Tom Selleck kind of gal?
No. No Tom Selleck… at about the time Magnum PI was on, I was watching Air Wolf and drooling over Jan-Michael Vincent.
A, hem. Yes, didn’t I tell you that I live in his cabin on Tahoe? Sorry to share the bad news.
This is very exciting. I really like the Eau d’Italie line…
I adore Paestum Rose, admire the rest of the line, and have always hated the EdI bottles. I think the square is an improvement–a little less like hairspray! Look forward to sniffing this.
Notes sound good, esp fig, as long as it’s not too “watery.” I don’t mind the bottle. I do find it strange that their marketing copy is all about being Italian (“it had to be a real Italian floral”) and they gave it a French name? Does “Lago” not sound romantic enough, lol?
Haven’t met an Eau d’Italie I haven’t really, really liked, and love a couple (Baume de Doge, Bois d’Ombrie, Paestum Rose. This new one sounds like it has potential.
Just looked at the lineup of all Alberto Morillas’ fragrances over the years. Wow. The guy is nothing if not prolific. The list is lonnng. And he’s had some commercial hits. I wonder if he gets royalties for every bottle of Daisy sold? 😉
I love the PRose, have it and use it a lot.
This one sounds great, tho the story is
a little disappointing, for me, the bad art boy should not be so enamoured of the princess- symbol of traditional establishment glamour. But it’s the typical fairy story, that’s for sure…
Wow, I didn’t know Alberto Morillas was working for Eau d’Italie. He’s the “father” of my guilty pleasure: Lancôme Miracle.
“Au Lac” might be a lovely fragrance, according to the official notes.
This does sound lovely, and the copy made me wistful for a garden by the lake in the summer! I haven’t tried many of these, but should, I think, get ’round to it soon.
I like this line, my favorites being Sienne l’Hiver and Magnolia Romana (big Duchaufour fan here). I will definitely try this. I agree with those of you who find the bottles unattractive. These fragrances deserve some style in their packaging!
Hmmmm…. I do believe I should beg a sample of Magnolia from you if you’re so inclined (or equipped). 😀
My sample is long emptied. Sorry! If I buy a bottle, I’d love to share some. It’s on my wish list.