Violetta di Parma

The Duchess Maria Luigia of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla second wife of Napoleon Bonaparte had an immense passion for Parma violets, she personally cultivated them in her wonderful and luxuriant botanical garden, she loved their intense aroma and lively color. The violet element of Parma was recurrent in his daily life, embroidered on his sumptuous clothes, often depicted on precious porcelain as plates or provisions. An absolute love. Once she became Duchess of Parma, she wanted the exclusive on perfume at all costs, ordering the friars of the Annunciata convent to extract the scent of flowers and create it for them. The perfume recipe remained secret until 1870, when Ludovico Borsari managed to get his hands on the recipe and reproduce it for a wider audience and not just for the noble elite of the time. Naturally, from the nineteenth-century version it has undergone some predictable reformulations. In the Dry phase, violet dominates a very delicate wet turf, evoking its freshness and liveliness. Melodious and perceptible accords of hyacinth and iris on a background that becomes powdery with the complicity of heliotrope, musk and vanilla. It evokes the freshness of the linen linen in grandma's cedar drawers, it has a vintage allure more in the fascinating history that characterizes it than in its actual fresh Sillage that stands out. The delicate and powdery persistence makes it pleasant over time.

This is beautiful, sweet violet with none of the "licorice" that I sometimes smell with other violet scents (Lush Tuca Tuca for example). I do not know why the description says this perfume is "too simple compared with modern fragrances," as I think it is perfect (can a perfume ever be "too simple"? A singular scent done well can many times eclipse more "complex" perfumes in my opinion). Violette di Parma is soft and innocent without being too sweet or overbearing. Though it is an old fragrance, it never feels stuffy, powdery, or out-dated in an "old-lady" sort of way (which is what I feel about Guerlain's Apres l' Ondee). Like the other reviewers said, it does not last long, but it's low price means you can re-apply it often. It is very clean and gentle, exuding femininity without having to resort to a blatant display of sexuality. A winner in my book.

If African Violet is just the flowers, ma’am, and Devon Violets is flowers + green leaves, Violetta di Parma is the whole thing. Green leafy notes, sweet but somehow un-powdery violet, and just a bit of woodsiness at the base. It reminds me of one of those botanist’s drawings of the violet plant, showcasing each part of the plant in turn, including the stems and roots. It is very natural-smelling, which makes it seem very modern, since the current trend in scent is “non-perfumey.” I sometimes think we can blame the boomers for that, too, or at least the hippies. I always liked perfume in all its forms, but I grew up amidst classmates who wore “just the natural oils, man.” All cultural analysis aside, VdP is a brilliant depiction of violet, and the first thing I would recommend to any lover of that note.

This is one of my all time favorite violet scents. Definitely in my top 3 (and the most affordable of the three). It's simple but not boring. It's a warm violet. Not candied and not powdery. Behind the violet is a nice mixed bouquet with hyacinth, lily and helitrope among others. The heart has more of the Iris in the bouquet than the opening and there is also some vetiver and cedar in the heart too. the violet is still the star though. The drydown still has violet as the main star but the mixed bouquet gives way to the cedar and vetiver more. I truly love this scent. The longevity is about 9-10 hours and it's sillage is personal but someone standing next to you will smell it. Definitely something every girl should have in her wardrobe.

For about fifteen years I have been in possession of a Borsari miniature collection which contains about 20 scents but somehow after my divorce it got put away. Last night I opened it once it got back in my hands. Et voila! The violet that I sought to layer under my Prada Infusion d'Iris exists in a now slightly concentrated dab-on little bottle named Violetta di Parma, wafting of a perfect violet-iris balance which is not too candy and not too cold. The blind searching online is over. The twain shall meet and become one for the beautiful month of April and beyond. May the soft and lovely violet of this joining bloom forever, or at least until the little vial is gone. Ciao, bella!