by: Juliett Ptoyan
Farmacia SS Annunziata is one of those artisanal brands which, having no international distribution system and breathtaking advertising budget, are usually discovered by those who stay away from the main drag of Florence and intentionally get lost in the sleeves scattered around the Cathedral Square or get stuck at the tiny market next to the Santissima Annunziata. It's here where one can find either the snow white handcrafted ceramics and curved rings from the 60s or the cans with handmade confitures, hurriedly signed in leaky blue pen.
Farmacia SS Annunziata's old interior
This brand is not very well known by any particular product, but their styling is familiar to many (“oh, those with the round logo, sure”). When we take a closer look, it turns out that in addition to their face and body care line (mainly for men), this Florentine company releases also a notable perfume collection – and today we will talk about a part of it.
At this last Pitti Fragranze Expo, Farmacia SS Annunziata presented in their booth concentrated versions of four fragrances, which were released in the past as eaux de parfum (with 15% aroma compounds): Nero Incenso, Hyle, Chia and 450. Now, the concentration is raised to 25%, and the word “Concentrato” appeared on the bottles to distinguish them from the original editions.
EdP: Pure marine art, with that deep turquoise color of the waves, heavy skies, dry pine trees falling into pieces on the cliff, and the shore inhomogeneously covered with ginger colored needles – not a multicolored landscape but quite a complex one, created with some familiar ingredients.
Concentrato: The same pine wood scent, but much deeper – you can see no sea or sky or even land anymore; the bush is in keeping with the best traditions of David Lynch: go a little farther – and you will fall into the Black Lodge. The Little Red Riding Hood story without a happy ending – it is right in front of you so you don’t have to go far: smell the pine, some vetiver… come here, don’t be afraid, it won’t hurt.
Top notes: orange, bergamot
Middle notes: basil, coriander, incense
Base notes: rosewood, incense
EdP: The hyperbolized and widespread scent of clothes just brought back from the beach – hot wind in the towels, old sunglasses scratched by the sand, salty air with sun tan lotion. It hasn't the slightest hint of Italian heritage, somehow it speaks American English, and it's playing it cool, not going to extremes on the subject of “sea breeze” which is being so looked down upon by many other brands.
Concentrato: A shaky construction which is based on the same marine set as we found in the EdP version, but somehow it's covered with a smooth and solid liquorice layer. It melts away in a moment and disappears entirely in 5-7 minutes.
Top notes: lemon, bergamot
Middle notes: marine accord, lavender
Base notes: patchouli, musk
Farmacia SS Annunziata's modern interior
EdP: An interesting thing, from an academic point of view, which represents all desserts with alcohol in one creation, and particularly crème brulee comes to mind, with a crispy cognac crust. The liquorice at the bottom doesn’t seem to appear out of nowhere, it feels totally normal – its “medicinity” comes from wood and the nut shades of the dessert part.
Concentrato: This version has entirely nothing to do with the original fragrance: here we have extremely heavy crème, flavored with gentle, roundish black pepper, which eventually collapses, reporting to the skin an expressionless, almost papery scent with subtle grass notes. The question arises – why would an Italian brand with a semi-centennial history start speaking French (even properly and almost with no accent)?
Top notes: lemon, raspberry
Middle notes: rose, violet, jasmine
Base notes: vanilla, talcum, musk
EdP: A certain dark side of the new Italian perfumery was already represented by Gritti (the vetiver spinning in Delirium), Unum (black LAVS with pepper and incense) and now by Farmacia SS Annunziata, which decided to celebrate its 450th anniversary with cold, monotonous sage and sharp black pepper. They say you stop considering birthdays as a joyful holiday from a certain point on; here’s what that is about.
Concentrato: Unconventionally, the concentrated version in this case looks more airy (and bitter) than the EdP: sage acquires absinthe shades and the wind starts to howl in the imaginary ragged field. At some point the pepper just gets lost and recedes into the background.
Top notes: sage, incense, pepper, nutmeg
Middle notes: iris, musk accord
Base notes: vetiver, sandal
As I’ve mentioned above, all these fragrances were presented at Fragranze 13; two of them (Chia Concentrato and 450 Concentrato) were already available in the boutiques of the brand and the other two (Hyle Concentrato and Nero Incenso Concentrato) will hit the stores in the beginning of October.
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