Serenissima

A typical Sunday afternoon in July in Rome. Piazzale Napoleone I is the place where Roman families dressed in Sunday clothes and of course tourists gather.
These are not only recognizable by the various cameras; Sunday does not play a role in their summery casual clothing. What a pity!
For Romans, this large terrace is also often a place where they celebrate their family celebrations. So a perfumista told me years ago that he once had the pleasure of experiencing a colourful and Mediterranean-sounding children's birthday party there.
Below this terrace on Monte Pincio is the Piazza del Popolo - the famous obelisk in the middle of it is not to be missed.
But from here, one also has the most famous and most beautiful view to the Peterskirche. A view that is unforgettable at sunrise and sunset!
But even in the midday sun, the city lies impressively at the feet of the many spectators. Big, loud and yet with so much beauty!

You walk in the shade of large old deciduous trees that cover the back of the terrace.
The tree population of the "Seven Hills" is always impressive; probably also because it is not expected in this abundance.
Numerous paths lead over the hill; nature is a pure feast for the eyes. It makes you forget the traffic of the big city, the dirt, the noise
One of these paths leads to Parco Borghese with the villa of the same name - actually my destination this Sunday. Along this path I discover an unexpected magic: lots of flowering acacia trees!
The small yellow spheres of the flowers emit an aroma that confirms the kinship with mimosa.
The nose is flattered by the tart, rich scent, which awakens the desire for more. Even the dark, lacquered foliage seems to smell.
I find myself strolling through this "scented path" over and over again: did I become addicted?
I just couldn't part with it.
This Sunday I did not come to Villa Borghese; that was only by the way.

Of course the mimosa, which blooms in spring, almost together with the camellias, is much more fragile and brighter in the foliage.
But yet the heavy clouds of scent that both plant species waste so generously reveal the great proximity between them.

In one of these hand-flattering flacons of Annick Goutal's "Le Mimosa", this Roman scent impression is captured for me: Sunshine, the tart, slightly earthy scent of mimosa/acacia and the spice of aniseed.
The noble iris, which ennobles the somewhat rustic fragrance mixture, goes very well with this!
The encounter with sun-ripened peaches is also particularly pleasing; thick ripe peaches whose juice almost resembles syrup and smells just as creamy.
Musk wraps this fragrance mixture very warmly. Who would have expected him here?
But just together with this somewhat down-to-earth kind of "Le Mimosa", it results in an enticing summer scent!
So that this fragrance painting does not vanish so quickly, it was "founded" on sandalwood.
This composition becomes completely round through this.
The otherwise known volatility of the Annick Goutal fragrances is made more durable and stabilized by sandalwood.
But that is no reason to refrain from repeated spraying.

"Le Mimosa" will never be the darling of the masses; it is too special for that. I think there is a reason why this fragrance is preferred in France.
In Germany it is therefore unfortunately only available in remainders.
That's a pity, because for me "Le Mimosa" is an all-round successful midsummer scent, which also carries a lot of memories!

The early evening of a grey day like today, when it has been raining for hours, is a good opportunity to comment on a summery scent of roses and let yourself be carried away by it.
So a little bit of summer hope comes to me: already longed for now!

Some fragrances from ID Parfums Paris/Isabel Derroisné have often attracted my attention.
The fact that they are only enjoyed by a relatively small circle of enthusiasts is probably due to the fact that, as far as I know, they are only marketed by the cosmetics company Dr. Pierre Ricaud.
So today they are doing the same thing as the very first fragrances by Yves Rocher did back then: they are only available by mail order.
Thus, they receive relatively little attention. Although many of them can easily keep up with some of the common fragrance creations found in drugstores.
Some of these fragrances are even very original and tell beautiful stories that are worth listening to.

A few days ago I received a sample of the new summer scent "Rosa Folia".
Leslie Girard created here a lovely bouquet of roses that would delight any woman in flower form.
Here, too, you can feel female creativity based on good, solid craftsmanship.
I mean this in a really positive way: everything that is created with love and devotion is simply beautiful!

"Rosa Folia" immediately enchants with its summery fruitiness: blackcurrants with their slightly bitter yet sweet spice meet delicately dosed pink pepper.
This introduction is underlined by a mixture of berries, which I can't exactly define (there might be a hint of raspberries in it) and the noble aroma of the rather rarely found rosewood.
Unfortunately, some tangerine peel (according to the brochure) was added again; with this, the usual synthetic note appears in the fragrance for a short time.
What a pity, in my opinion this is an addition that the perfumer could have done without.
Fortunately, this element that disturbs me loses itself quite quickly
For this an incredibly rich heart of roses opens up: immediately I think of the heavy flower heads of full-bloomed old-fashioned scented roses!
A walk in the sunlit rose garden, where this queen of flowers is still herself and not an artificial plant, appears in my imagination.
The memory of one of the paintings of Claude Monet's rose garden in its bright colors comes to my mind.
The impression of a midsummer afternoon, perhaps at the "hour of Pan", when thick contented bumblebees and many colourful butterflies stagger through this rose garden and the cicadas offer their loud adoration to their supposedly so mute women, seems almost perfect.
I'd like to be there right now! (Outside it's still raining!)
This so pleasing fragrance dream is based on probably light, pleasantly scented woods, which are embraced by a rich woody ambergris chord.
The small yet so fragrant violet fits very well into this final note: it sets the final, still missing accent on this symphony of scents.

This "Rosa Folia" is a fragrance creation which at the moment even conveys a rather favourable summer mood.
Feminine, sensual, with a touch of sophistication and on the other hand as naturally unencumbered and dreamy as a woman just fallen in love in summer.
Here this summery, very charming rose scent was captured in a classic flacon.
It lies well in the hand and its straight lines wonderfully underline the opulence of the fragrant content; a little more than this almost-purism would have been too much here.

Rose scented friends should perhaps give this "Rosa Folia" a chance.
I'm pretty sure: she'll make it worth their while!

Perfumes and flacons should already form a unit.
Even if a little beautiful flacon can enclose a wonderful fragrance, the harmony between content and "suit" is the most beautiful thing we can encounter in this area.
Women are especially receptive to beautiful flacons; of course I am one of them.

While leafing through one of my books (it is well known that I have to clear a lot of things back and forth due to constant construction work at the moment and thus take books into my hands which are otherwise unfortunately almost forgotten), I found the following section which describes this quite female preference very appropriately and also fits wonderfully to my beloved "Boucheron".

"... And I could immerse myself for hours in the sight of the shapes of the beautiful perfume bottles. There was a time when the shape of the container was almost more important to me than the fragrance.
The most beautiful flacons that I capture once a year on a targeted raid (knowing full well that I shouldn't indulge in more consumerist addictions), I place them on my desk in my field of vision for a while before they become part of my perfume bottle collection.
There they are ready to support or drive away moods with their contents via nose. Depending on my mood, I select the fragrance of the day from this handsome battery.
If I can't make up my mind, I stick with "Boucheron", my signature fragrance, which combines everything my nose loves. It's that smell of make-up, powder and stage dust that wafts through a theater like it does before the big curtain rises. A smell that unites present and past in a brilliant way. ..." (see page 78, "Don't worry, be Oldie" by Margit Schönberger. Yes, that's the woman with the fire-red Pumuckl hair ;-)

With her description of "Boucheron", Mrs Schönberger speaks from my soul: I also love this fragrance very much. For a long time it was even my signature fragrance
We met about 28 years ago and since then we have lived together - with short interruptions.
So "Boucheron" is one of my most loyal "partners"

"Boucheron" (named after the jeweller on the Place Vêndome in Paris) is a thoroughly feminine fragrance: luminous and sensual, refined and alluring, floral and also oriental.
The Entrée takes us to the south: there we meet, among other things, tangerine, bergamot and orange blossom and - not to be forgotten - a touch of spicy basil!
In the heart, this fragrance contains many of my favourites: the large-flowered white jasmine, the luminosity of ylang-ylang and the magic of tuberose.
These are grafted onto a classic aromatic, partly woody base: ambergris, sandalwood, my "darling" patchouli and not to forget: the warm eroticism of vanilla.

The flacon is, how could it be otherwise with this name, a piece of jewellery: ring-shaped matt glass with a cap in Burma blue (deepest sapphire blue!).
He nestles wonderfully into the palm of my hand; sometimes it is difficult for me to let go of him.

As a woman, you have to be prepared to get completely involved with "Boucheron".
You may also have to accept that the affection remains one-sided and the scent refuses to be scented.
That's not so rare; to the sorrow of some women!

But if it opens up, then it is the beginning of a never ending love story!

Large-flowered white jasmine spreads a fragrance that can be experienced as a loving embrace, but also as a disgusting stinker.
So here, just like with lily of the valley and lilac, the opinions/perceptions of men and women generally differ.

For me, the typical sweet, a little austere scent that jasmine exudes in the evening hours brings back memories of big and small love stories.
Stories about love in private, but also stories about love that went down in history.

The extensive pergola overgrown with jasmine in the park of the Mirabell Palace in Salzburg was certainly witness to many such stories.
That's why it comes to my mind immediately when I first met "Jasmina" from April Aromatics.

At the end of the baroque park, where no fence or gate separates it from the city, but a wide footpath leads directly past the Mozarteum, we find this pergola.
Already on sunny, bright and warm days a shady and sought-after place, it is a popular meeting place for lovers in the evening hours.

The question of whether this jasmine was allowed to witness the great love between Prince Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau and the lady Salome Alt is not asked. But the thought that this scent could have accompanied the paths of the two, I like very much.

This love was just as great and full of children - 15 children came out of this relationship!, as forbidden.
For Wolf Dietrich, as "sovereign" of the prince archbishopric of Salzburg, was a son of the church and was subject to celibacy like all the others.
That he made his Salome believe that the Pope had given dispensation to this union is forgiven him.
It was one of those very "light grey lies" born of love.

Having reached this high office at only 28 years of age, the relative of the Medici family, who was distant from the family by his mother, felt accustomed to the generous and sunny city of Rome, on the one hand privileged and on the other hand very lonely in this old, then still very dark and winding city.
So it was fateful for both of them that he met his great and only love Salome at an official dinner of the Salzburg merchants.
Salome, daughter of the merchant and alderman Wilhelm Alt, was from a good, middle-class family. Her grandfather had already been mayor of this town.
Her life changed abruptly when she placed herself and her fate in the hands of her beloved man.
Her parents disowned her; her relatives turned away: she became "persona non grata".
Even the companions of her youth shunned her; they felt uncomfortable in the stately rooms that Salome initially occupied in the prince-archbishop's residence.
So she lived only this, not long secret love; lived for 22 years only for this man and their common children.

This love let Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau build the little castle Altenau, today Mirabell Castle, outside the city. He wished for his beloved wife and children an appropriate dwelling.
The political circumstances brought him down. The prince archbishop had lost out in one of the recurring quarrels with Bavaria over the valuable salt: as a result he was banished for life to the fortress Hohensalzburg
His nephew and successor Markus Sittikus prevented his release with his objection and the subsequent banishment of his uncle. He seemed to him, even from a distance, to be too strong a competitor.
The fact that this "so morally strict" nephew later had the Lustschlösschen Hellbrunn with its versatile and entertaining fountains built for his lover Ursula, wife of the captain of his bodyguard, is a rather piquant addition of fate.

"Dame Salome" was first arrested after the imprisonment of her beloved master, but was released after a short time and moved with her children to Wels.
There she was taken in by her cousin Felicitas, whose marriage with the Protestant merchant Christoph Weiß had supported her at the beginning of her relationship with Wolf Dietrich.
She even still attended the simple wedding party of the two, although she was already Wolf Dietrich's lover at that time.
It was thanks to him, however, that the couple were able to leave Salzburg with all of Christoph Weiß' possessions. At the time of the Huguenot persecution this was not usual!
She lived in Wels for 16 years after the death of her lover in 1617. In her heart his widow, from then on she only wore black clothes.
(By the way, the "Salome Old House" is still standing there)

"Jasmina" by April Aromatics tells me this story very vividly with its fragrance.
I almost see the loving couple strolling in the evening park of their little castle towards this strongly scented pergola. I wonder what they are talking about right now?
This strong aroma, so typical for white flowering plants, gains a special harmony through the lovable radiance of Ylang-Ylang: it makes this fragrance very loving and tender.
The bitter note of pink grapefruit gives this simple yet refined composition a lively effervescence.

The durability of this "naturally natural" fragrance is in good mediocrity for me; however, it also takes a little longer for this aromatic fragrance to reach its full development in my fish-flowered creature.

For me, this jasmine scent contains a lot of tenderness and love.
Therefore I kept it myself, although I passed on the rest of the rich sample cassette.
At this point I would like to thank Can777 once again, who gave me great pleasure with this collection.
But even this simple glass bottle, in which so much love and tenderness has been captured in fragrance, makes "Jasmina" very precious to me.

With the fragrances of Annick Goutal there are obviously only two opinions: One likes them or one does not like them!
I like them, but I also know which fragrances from the large collection do not suit me at all: I leave them alone!
Or I discover them at a later date with great astonishment!
But then I have changed and not the fragrance!

"I've loved L'Île au Thé from the beginning. Maybe it is also because I like osmanthus tea very much. Because this is the main ingredient of this fragrance.
How many cups of this wonderful flavored green tea I have already enjoyed: a drink for lovers of the special.

This Annick Goutal fragrance opens pleasantly light with several citrusy notes and a hint of recognizable fresh ripe mandarin.
(Where mandarin for me yes always smells a little bit synthetic.)
Immediately thereafter, the fragrance peculiar to the osmanthus flowers develops, which white musk supports a bit. Without him, this fragrance composition would be too light, too bodiless.
But so it is surprisingly alive: tangy and sparkling like a glass of champagne!
Or two? Or even more?

"L'Île au Thé" lifts my spirits, makes me a bit addicted to "more"!
That certain lightness of being - no problem: here it is!
Especially in early spring, when there is still a winter inertia in me, this addition is very welcome.

Since also this, like many Annick Goutal fragrances does not last very long, it is a pleasure to treat yourself again and again a little "more".
The glass flacon, which is very sensual in its shape, invites me anyway to the constant touch.
How tempting it is then to spray also immediately a little "more" ...

"L'Île au The" is like a little Schwipserl - only without a hangover!
Promise!