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!

This makes my heart sing, it is so special. When I wear it I can imagine I am walking through a forest in the early morning hours. It is just after dawn. There is a thick fog coloring the air in twilight. As I am walking I notice that there is the sweetest fragrance in the air coming from the forest floor. Upon closer inspection, I am enchanted by the lovely tiny purple violets sprinkled with pixie dust. Everyone tries to tell me it's just dewdrops...but I know better... Yes, Violetta di Parma is magical... The rose, heliotrope and iris make lovely appearances, but this is really all about violets, sweet and powdery. I love this little violet cloud!

Review No. 2. Just an observation. In 1972 in Sydney, Helena Rubenstein was quite a popular brand. Completely forgot about that brand and those products because they were not available in Sydney since the ‘80’s. That is, I had forgotten about them until now. Had a quick freshen up this evening after farewelling our dinner guests, and after a quick spritz of this fragrance, it immediately brought to mind that this is exactly what Helena Rubenstein foundation smelled like. Exactly. Fascinating how things come back to you, most unexpectedly. Looking for that vintage make up fragrance? This is it.

Beautiful bottle with pink atomizer puff! Whats inside the bottle is pure magical Parma violet flowers just waiting to be sprayed out. Dries down to a shy violet scent, not one of those perfumes that use violet leaf instead of the real flower. This is the real thing without hunting for elusive scented violet flowers. Springtime in a forest of fragrant violets. My bottle is pure floral. No green notes I can detect like some of the other reviewers. I know the vetiver is in there but I don't smell that-I prefer the sweet violets instead!

The best solliflore violet scent around. My first scent as a child. Brings back lots of memories. Later in my 20s, after years of heavy perfumes, I went back to it because of its simplicity and freshness. It is a green violet, the intensity of the leaf - and I recall as a child the fragrance was green too. So sad that it's been discontinued. I have tried to find substitutes (like Nicolaï's Violette in Love, or Verte Violette by L'Artisan Parfumeur) but none are quite so fresh and magical. I feel like Proust chasing those memories.

I love this scent, its like the violet candys you find in europe. twice now i have gotten this scent from amazon in the large size with the automizer that leaks when ever up side down, and i lost half of this perfume both times I've ordered it from leaking. As i used the last couple drops i found another great deal on amazon for the same bottle and happily purchased this. I love how this layers, it is simple and lovely. From now on i will just get the smaller version, without the leaky pretty pink puff!

Reserved for bedtime after a shower, it’s gorgeous and really smells like the old Lancôme lipsticks from the ‘70s...sadly, much as I would like to wear this during the day, there’s very poor sillage and zero longevity. I guess you could saturate a scarf or your clothing with it. I am not sure how this can be called EDP, it’s too light for that classification in my opinion.

First sniff, you are in a beautiful violet garden, morning dew. Green and fresh. Sun is rising and you are slightly chilled. After 2h you feel the dusty side. Morning energy turns into a calm mood.Sky is violet colour now. Sunset. Violets are living a day when you wear this perfume and you can smeel, isn't is beautiful?

I have the EDT version, and the bottle is really ugly,not like this one in the picture above, but the juice inside...mmm sweet violets mixed with some green notes and romantic powdery dry down. I really love it!!!

I am in the vintage, and there is nothing powdery about it. This is a rich, deep violet that has some sharpness, greenness, maybe a bit of oakmoss, musk and aldehyde that gets a tad soapy.

The most beautiful dark violets in a deep green forest. Soft, quiet and comforting. I cannot judge its lasting power; I apply VdP at bedtime and then sleep like a baby.

Beautiful clean powdery violet and not as sweet as I expected it to be. But probably not for the very young ladies, it is a more mature scent in my opinion.

Oh I so wanted this to work for me. Alas! I bought this blind based on reviews and recommendations as I am currently in love with violets. On paper this sounded absolutely perfect for me and it was with great anticipation that I awaited the delivery of my parcel. When it arrived I was thrilled with the look, a pretty purple decorated box, with a square bottle inside, and a proper old fasioned atomiser puff thingy (I am using techincal jargon here!) and I was very excited about trying it. I unscrewed the top and there was a plastic stopper in place - I sniffed at this before opening and it smelled divine - a light, slightly green violet, not quite like parma violet sweets, more green than that and quite lively. I then spent about 10 minutes trying to prise open the stopper to insert the spray puff thingy. In the end, admitting defeat I handed it to my partner to do! With great anticipation I sprayed onto my forearm waited a few seconds and inhaled. Oh. Wax. Wax, and those old plastic my little pony toys that were so popular when I was young. I felt confused, cheated. In the bottle this was enchanting, in the air it was pretty, on my skin - waxy plastic kids toys. What happened?! So I decided to wait a few days and try again. Same response. I so wanted this to work that I decided to put it away for a couple of week before trying again - how I smell perfumes, and how they smell on me differs drastically at different times. A few days later I entered my bedroom and was surprised at the beautiful violet scent in the room. I decided to try this perfume again. Imagine my horror when I picked up the box to find it wet and the perfume cupboard full of violet scent. My newly opened 100ml bottle had only about 20mls left in!! It had been stored upright, in the box, with the atomising puff removed and screw cap firmly in place. How had this happened?! The metal of the cap was corroded and the box, bottle, and everything adjacent coated in the stuff. In a mild panic I set about cleaning up and popped the atomiser back in the bottle and put it on my dresser. Once the headache from inhaling about 80mls worth of perfume in a confined space subsided I had one more go with this on my skin - still the same, waxy my little pony models. So for me this is a no. Shame as it smelled nice in the bottle, and actually as a room spray is fairly pleasant but I cannot wear this and if it leaks so bad is a waste of money. Such a shame. I would recommend Molinard's Violette over this any day.

Violetta di Parma is a well-known familiar smell here. I still like it a lot after so many years, but I don't wear it. It was one of typical grandmother's scent. The smell is very pleasant and it smells more or less like natural violets. Not completely so, because violets are a very difficult kind of flower to take. If you smell real violets you will never be satisfied withj a violet perfume! This one is very pleasant to wear anyway and still after so many years one of the best out there for a reasonable price. It's not complicated, rather one of the best soliflore (as effect). I actually dislike so many violet-centered perfumes because IMO they don't catch the real vibe at all! Most of them smell like violet flavoured sugardrops and candies. Other smells very stiff woody. Violetta di Parma is exactly what it says to be. Apparently simple, but not meaningless. Also staying power is very strong but subtle. On my skin it stays for 4 hours with low close to the skin sillage. This is signature scent for a friend of mine (around 25yo) and she wears it so graciously! Violet is a very weird flower. Its smell appears and disappears with a pikaboo effect, so be careful! If you don't smell it anymore after a while don't overdo! Also my friend noticed that this effect happens with Violetta di Parma too. When she goes away from a place, after 1 hour or so people smells her perfume again in the air! This is why violets are often said to be the flower of memory ;-) PS. There a few eau de cologne made by Borsari (not listed in database, I think they are 4 alltogether. They are very faint, very light, but beware! They have a good lasting power! I think they are meant to strictly work together with your chemistry. My friend bought the orange blossom & ginger one, I bought the Rose&Pepper for 9 euro 100ml and I'm happy with it! Not a cheap perfume at all, rather a light aromatic cologne.

Speaking of violets, I picked up an adorable bottle of Borsari VIOLETTA DI PARMA recently, scent unsniffed, on the strength of the descriptive name alone, as I of course adore violets and rarely reject any perfume in which they play a central role. VIOLETTA DI PARMA pretty much says it all: this is a very light, low-key presentation of violets. E tutto! This fragrance could almost be called "violet water", on analogy to rose water, for it is as simple as a big bowl of violet petals and leaves floating in water. Unfortunately, though claiming to be an edp, this composition is so airy that even after liberally spritzing all over using the über-feminine pink bulb atomizer (which I love!), the scent of violets remains quite faint. Once the bottle has been drained, I intend to re-fill it with JOLIE MADAME (this must be why most nice bottles do not have screw tops!!!)... Don't get me wrong: I like VIOLETTA DI PARMA a lot. I only wish that it were double this strength!

This reminds me so much of Penhaligon's violetta. It's soft, fresh, green violets, with a hint of jasmine and dusting of rose petals on a powdery cloud. It stays close to the skin and on clothes I could still smell it albeit faintly after 8 hours. It's a clean and pretty scent, I would use it more for snooze time than awake time and let it send me away to a pretty countryside on a dewy morning when the sun is still not quite awake from it's slumber but sending soft rosy rays into the clouds above. Romantic scent, not as a come-hither scent but more Jane Austen. It's cheaper than Penhaligon's so I would recommend this if you're dithering between the two.