5 Best Buys From Australia’s First Santa Maria Di Novella Store
When you visit Florence, there are some places that you just have to include on your itinerary. There’s the Uffizi Gallery, for one. The Ponte Vecchio, for another. And, of course, the magnificent Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella, the world’s oldest pharmacy, an essential stop for lovers of fine fragrance. Since it was first established by monks in the 13th century, Santa Maria di Novella has been producing botanically-inspired beauty products, which these days include everything from perfumes and soaps to skin and body care.
Some of the company’s recipes date back hundreds of years, and it uses only the best ingredients – the iris essence which features in many of their products famously retails for 30,000 euros a litre.
Even the simplest products, such as their soaps, are handmade and aged for 30 days on ventilated clapboards, so they last much longer than most other soaps. No wonder that, pre-COVID, the shop used to attract 2000 visitors a day.
With visits to Florence off the cards for the foreseeable future, it is good news that Santa Maria di Novella has opened its first sweetly-scented shop in Paddington, Sydney. Here are five products to keep an eye out for should you go for a browse.
Fresia Scented Wax Tablets | These handcrafted wax tablets come in a range of scents that add a delicate fragrance to drawers and wardrobe. Alternatively, you could simply display them in your favourite room and let the aroma diffuse throughout the room, $45.
Relax Scented Candle | The hand-painted gold logo gives the finishing touch to these beautifully-crafted candles that come in a range of floral and fruity notes including iris, pomegranate and vanilla. When you want to chill out, a blend of cinnamon, orange, rosemary and lavender is particularly soothing, $51.
Tabacco Toscano After-Shave Lotion | This spicy scent – a blend of bergamot, tobacco, birch leaf, vanilla and malt – is my favourite fragrance in the entire range. It smells just as good on women as it does men; it also comes as a fragrance, a bubble bath and a body moisturiser, $99.
Rose Water | If you like a product that does double-duty, you will love this rose water, one of Santa Maria di Novella’s oldest recipes. With a light yet lush centifolia rose fragrance, it makes for a great summer spritz; a friend of mine swears by it to reduce facial flushing, $48.
Unscented Milk Soap | For anyone with allergies or dry skin, or who just doesn’t like scented products, this triple-milled hand-molded soap adds a touch of luxury to the daily shower. It is renowned not just for lathering properties and the way it doesn’t dry out your skin, but for how long it lasts, $25.
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