Caterina de' Medici

caterina de medici smells as if you are walking through a renaissance mansion in late spring. after a morning of heavy downpour, you walk to the out house of the palace to a surprise of flowers in the garden. you enter the outhouse and you're met with a delicately designed shared family room. soft floral colored space, adorned with lace appliqués and chiffon curtains. the powder room is plastered with floral print wallpaper custom made in India. sitting in the coffee table are imported Turkish delights and chamomile tea with a spritz of a citrus fruit rind. upstairs, in the outhouse, there is a studio embraced with walls of cedar. i stumbled into this perfumery on a walk through florence, italy, at 8 am. it was low season in europe, august 16th i believe. i walked through the store, in awe at their surplus collection of parfum, concentrates, delicate soaps, tea, and supplements. i was delighted to have been the first customer of the day, it was simply serene to be in there so early and alone. the shop attendant was kind and to herself - just what i needed. there was quite an array of fragrances, i went with the bottle pictured above. i was simply taken by this scent. i made the mistake of not buying the full size, because i have been dreaming of it since, and the bottle i purchased is not available to ship to the US. (other scents i liked from there were Asli, and the tuberose concentrate. i would like to try their skincare, as well.)

At long last I have found a fragrance that reads on my skin like the delicate first blooms of Spring. I have tried several the past couple of years and they just do not work for me. I would love to have a Bluebell one work for me but this is what I have searched for in reality, and it is truly heavenly. No powder. No spice. Just tiny flowers kissed by a gentle Spring mist of rain. Though gentle whispers waft past my nose it is enduring. It is the first weeks of October and first snow yesterday and 15 degrees early this morning. I told myself I was not ready for this so soon. Then I sprayed this gift of Spring, I received through Amazon, yesterday. Out into the chill before the crack of dawn and I was ready for the day. This is keeping the hop in my skip today. I had been wearing my Autumn fragrances for a month and was clueless as to how perfect this was going to be for me today.

Very nice. Green, light floral, and somehow mixed so that three very familiar notes have sparkle and depth. Wearable on many different skins. Good longevity--I put it on at 4pm and could still smell it at midnight. Sillage is was a few inches from my skn and the same on the other person I was with.

Bought this in Florence on a whim, and LOVED it. Simple yet completely unique floral with a hint of powder and spice. Great for daytime wear, gets compliments.

This is a fantastic Iris!!Clean, perfectly balanced with the rose which quits its natural soapyness... Absolutely celestial, despite its name!

hyacinth and oakmoss with a hint of LOTV and tuberose and some spice of carnation with a touch of peach; definitely a vintage chypre

Shampoo alla camomilla di Antica erboristeria. Fin troppo verde e noioso,saponoso,direi molesto. Avevo preso insieme a scatola chiusa questo e Tuberosa d'autunno perche mi sembrava che potessero essere qualcosa di nuovo e interessante. Ma la delusione è stata totale.

I tend to be somewhat partial to anything Italian and Caterina de Medici is certainly no exception. If this is any example of the superior quality of their line, I am sold! Sadly, I do not live in Florence where it would be sheer heaven to visit their shop and sniff every one of their perfumes. But I must also must admit that as much as I love this fragrance, I care very little for its somewhat harsh opening. I attribute this to the overpowering dissonance of the camphoraceous tuberose which seems to dominate and whose absence would greatly improve the trajectory of its otherwise lovely notes. Its omission would then allow the Springtime verdancy of the iris, lily of the valley and hyacinth to shine through and delicately introduce the gorgeous dry down of oakmoss, carnation, benzoin and vetiver. I am almost finished with my bottle and still can't decide if I want to buy another one and suffer through that tuberose in order to arrive at the beautiful finish.

I think the lay person's nose would interpret this the way many have here already; it's a very soapy clean floral, and I mean that in the best way. Very Spring-ish, happy/uplifting, and what most people would associate a floral with. As a man, I would wear this if I was in the mood for a clean high-quality soap scent that surely wouldn't offend people. Also has a nostalgic feel, the scent-memory trigger that we often look for in the scents we enjoy the most. This is my first try from this house, in a sample pack of about a dozen. Looking forward to the rest based on how this smells. I prefer naturals whenever possible, I believe this house uses at least high levels of naturals, ideally full naturals is what I will always lean towards.

Have definitely smelled this scent in many other perfumes. Vintage complex florals. Definitely not a young perfume, as it really reminds me of many 90s vintages (now vintages, but really they were the perfumes of my youth.) The oakmoss, the hyacinth, the carnation and lily...all these notes are very much present in 90s perfumery, add on the peaches and tuberose, and boom. I do enjoy picking this apart with my nose and the associations I am getting (I'm getting gres cabotine, Elizabeth Arden 5th avenue without the linden..) also a bit of a green herby vibe to it. But not one I could wear, even though I recognize the quality elements to it. ** 12 profumi sample pack up for swap uk only - pm me! **

This is beautiful! Opening is lily-of-the-valley and strong iris. I love the opening. (I purchased it right after spraying this on. Oh my!). Luckily for me this continued to develop in such a lovely way. I never got any of the fruit notes. The iris faded a bit and the lily, hyacinth and tuberose took over. They stayed around until some of the woody notes entered. As it settled in I still got the heavy floral, some spice and some wood. I really love this. Over all this is very floral forward. If you are a fan of heavy floral this is for you. It does not have a lot of silage once it starts to dry down. On me it is not very long lasting. But I love it none-the-less

Beautiful clean sweet floral. Like soap and fresh air, with just a touch of something spicy and green. Delicate. If I had a hundred useless dollars I would buy a bottle tonight.

caterina wasn't alive in 1194...and this parfum can't has been launched before her existence...il Rinascimento è del 1500