File under "Things I don't need at a price I would not pay", but it's still fun to look at the pictures, right? From Santa Maria Novella, the "Leather Beauty Case Top Box Model", whatever that might mean. "Leather beauty-case naturally dressed and totally hand-made by Florentine artisans. The particular type of waterproof and stain-resistant leather makes this beauty-case aesthetically pleasing and practical for traveling." $348, and surely it would cart around enough decants and samples for your next trip.
The daily lemming
Why isn't there a bottle of this in my liquor cabinet already? Santa Maria Novella Elisir di Rose ("The Elixir of roses is a traditional liquor, based gallic rose syrup, which has digestive properties and vitamins through its petals. Ideal for flavour fruit salads, sherbet ice cream, tea, hot or cold. Great Aperitif: served with chilled white wine, preferably dry with sparkling wine or rum.") Yes, folks, vitamins! (Plus, 35% alcohol). And they also make Elisir di China, Elisir di Edimburgo, Cappuchino Liquore, Liquore Mediceo and several others (including a red one called Alkermes that is said to be an ancestor of Campari, and that probably would have cured my Lyme disease). Somebody pick me up a few next time you're in Florence, yes?
The daily lemming
I could do a month of lemmings from Santa Maria Novella, but here's just one for our Enchanted April Friday: Acqua di Fior d'Arancio / Orange Blossom Water. "Orange blossoms from the sun-soaked orchards of Sicily make this invigorating water a treatment for purifying and toning the skin. The Dominican Friars used this water centuries ago to obtain relief from the common cold by soaking a clean wash cloth and placing on chest or nose. Today, add a splash to your bath to soothe tired muscles or apply a touch to your body or to linens as a refreshing fragrance." Available in 250 ($35) and 500 ($60) ml.
Santa Maria Novella + Ballantyne Lana ~ new fragrance
Italian niche line Santa Maria Novella introduced Lana, a new fragrance being launched in conjunction with Scottish cashmere brand Ballantyne’s Sport Intarsia Capsule collection for winter 2017/2018…
Top 10 Summer Fragrances 2016
I didn’t realize how much I missed summer bugs (animals, not diseases) till I left Virginia as a teenager. Living on Manhattan, then Los Angeles and now Seattle doesn’t compare to the South when it comes to insect life. My childhood summers were filled with the sounds of crickets and cicadas. Butterflies put on a non-stop show in the flower gardens. Nighttime was when my grandmother and I would sit on the front porch (swatting mosquitoes, one bug I do NOT love) and watch the fireflies as we took in the heady scent of gardenias — whose white blossoms also lit up the darkness. I’d love to see a grasshopper or praying mantis, a big black-and-yellow garden spider shimmering in the sun, or a dragonfly flitting about my yard.
Here in Seattle I do get to see some beautiful moths, living their brief moments on earth holding fast to my deck screens or circling a light bulb. Tiny spiders are everywhere, inside and out, and I would never think to kill one — they work so long and hard to live and make a living. Right now in Seattle it’s the season for ten-lined June beetles (a type of scarab beetle); my cats (to my chagrin) love to chase, torment and kill June beetles, who, as they fight for their lives, raise up their antlers (yes, antlers) and make puffing sounds to ward off attacks. Here’s to bugs! (AND summer perfumes!)
Coqui Coqui Rosas Secas ~ This wonderful rose perfume smells of dried rosebuds mixing with a fresh rose bouquet; there’s also a pinch of tobacco leaf. Rosas Secas is a great rose perfume for men…