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…
Santa Maria Novella Acqua di Cuba ~ fragrance review
Queue the Omara Portuondo and read on!
Over the last decade, Santa Maria Novella seems to have less and less of a presence in the U.S. Do you, perfume fanatics, anxiously await a new Santa Maria Novella fragrance? I was not even aware of the latest Santa Maria Novella release: Cinquanta. Out of smell…out of mind?
After wearing a slew of dull new releases, I realized I’ve forgotten to review some old favorites, like Santa Maria Novella Acqua di Cuba. I first bought Acqua di Cuba in Florence at the old Officina Profumo Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella near the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella. Want to discover the LUSH of the 17th century? Visit that aromatic shop…
Holiday fragrance gifts 2015, part 6
Our annual series of holiday gift posts continues with scented bath & body products. Still to come: cheap thrills, followed by luxury.
From Oriza L Legrand, bar soap trios (“L. Legrand soaps, enriched with organic Shea butter, won their universal reputation for their soothing qualities and absolute purity. Heralded in the first issue of Art and Fashion (circa 1890); the soaps from Oriza L. Legrand are so delicate you cannot be afraid to use them on the face.”) in two fragrances, Verveine de Vénus and Mimosa Doré. Three 125g bars for $39.50 at Twisted Lily…
Santa Maria Novella Cinquanta ~ new perfume
Earlier this summer, Italian niche line Santa Maria Novella introduced Cinquanta, a new fragrance celebrating the 50th anniversary of the twin city relationship between Florence and Kyoto. (See also: Città di Kyoto)…