You hear a lot about “aquatic fragrances” this time of year but what does that actually mean?
It’s the height of the summer and those most fortunate who have access to the seaside, ocean, lake (or even a kiddy pool) can get a good whiff of cool, watery scents. Whether they’re briny or soft, aquatic notes are varied but are equally employed to create many modern perfumes.

When we arrived in Italy last spring we were so overwhelmed by the countless local botanicals that it inspired us to start this Scent Journal. One of the early entries was of Irises. The Iris Palida, native to the Tuscan hills surrounding Florence and legendary perfumery ingredient, grows spontaneously since before recorded history, eventually becoming the symbol of the Italian city. Now, we’ve visited a historic grower of the famed iris to learn about its cultivation and place in perfumery.

A new sweet, soft scent sweeps across the Tuscan hills as chilly spring morphs towards warmer temps. Acacia trees, or more correctly, Robinia, grow spontaneously and abundant here. Their elegant flowers make for a graceful entrance for the more dramatically flamboyant blossoms that will soon take center stage. The conical clusters of off-white flowers dance gracefully in the sea breeze and, as they mature, land to create a fragrant petal ground cover.

Puffy, muppet-like yellow pompoms, covering tall trees with its feather shaped leaves, swaying in the coastal breeze coaxes us out of winter slumber. There’s nothing frivolous about the fragrance they emit. No matter how whimsical their appearance, the scent is very sophisticated and a precious perfume ingredient.

The leaves of the lentisco plant are beautifully scented when you break them. The first thing that dominates are fresh, green woodsy notes, not unlike galbanum; an important ingredient in perfumery (and another “favorite”) that has similar intense green and woodsy notes.

Upcycled ingredients are among the more recent trends to emerge in modern perfumery creation. To reuse an otherwise discarded material to extract essential oils is technology at its best and a welcomed manufacturing practice for the environment.

Winter season scents. Fresh and clean. A perfect way to describe one of our most loved evergreens, Juniper (Juniperus Communis). This tall shrub produces wonderful essential oils from its needles and branches as well as its cones (aka, “berries”).

Nespole’s white flower clusters are bewitching. They form the pinnacle of large, pointed, leathery leaves. The underside of which have a red-brown fuzz that makes the leaves look dusty. The flowers’ spicy (nutmeg, clove, allspice) scent has a complementary sweet, heady, carnal facet. It’s part of the rose family so maybe it’s the indole that adds an animalic quality and subconsciously seductive?

Flowering ivy (hedera helix) reawakens our nose with its sweet scent. The common ivy plants that we walk by without noticing (or appreciating) fill the air with an intoxicating fragrance. Honey! Rich, velvety honey like something you’d expect to find from a more showy flower in the early summer. Creeping on the shoulders of its hosts, the quiet, pervasive ivy is all around you.

Fig is one of the most popular scents in perfumery although are always an interpretation of what fig smells like since there is no fig essential oil to use in its pure form. It’s a glorious scent with a rich history that we couldn’t help but create our own interpretation of. For us, the Roman mythology and Italian culture became an equal to the powerful notes of the leaves and fruit…