La Stanza Delle Bambole

matte doll skin gently powdered with clouds. smiling cheeks like pink baroque pearls. hans bellmer’s ‘la poupée’ book bound with lace-trimmed bloomers. rocaille shells. memories of a makeup bag stained with lipstick and stabbed by bobby pins. silk garters. surrealist etchings of ribbons. flapper vanities filled with lilac-colored compacts. white rabbit milk candy wrapped in rice paper. a doll imitating a child imitating a woman imitating a doll. fittingly named “the doll’s room” in italian, la stanza delle bambole embraces the uncanny by blurring the boundaries between assumed opposing forces: real and unreal, young and old, innocence and sin. the scent is disarming, welcoming the wearer with soft powder, like a newborn’s skin coated in talc and flowers: candied orange blossom, fluffy heliotrope, delicate tea rose. so soft, so creamy, like crying over milk spilled onto pink rouge. a waxen, plasticine aura rises as the fragrance unfolds, as if the scent develops a disturbing awareness of its own artifice as it grows, both frightened and allured by the wonders of the world in smooth porcelain, paper mache, painted bisque, and soft vinyl. the scent cradles me in fluffy dreams while spurring a nostalgic longing for the naïveté present in past mistakes, knowing that there is still so much of it left, so much more milk to spill. there is a note of sensual sandalwood which comes across as equal parts dusty dollhouse, vanilla, and play-doh all at once, its quaintness coalescing with animalic, sweaty musk emerging as the scent settles deeper into itself—a doll that has come to life giggling and taunting all who desperately seek to divide the pure from the impure. so close to flesh and blood, yet so close to kewpies and rocking horses! so close to childhood, yet so close to boudoir cosmetics! the scent culminates with a declaration of desire for the innocent, the erotic, and the uncanny all at once. it is neither innocent nor mature, but rather an otherworldly portrayal of a youthful longing for maturity juxtaposed with mature reminiscences of youth, revealing a hidden harmony behind the surface dissonance between these fantasies, with motifs of the real and unreal all strewn across a canopy bed. rubber-faced dolls, frozen charlottes, and cold cream—oh my! when i first met la stanza delle bambole, the fragrance evoked such vivid imagery in my mind's eye that the dark outfit i was wearing suddenly felt so out of place that i simply had to immediately rush to put on my 1920s cream-colored satin slip as soon as i smelled it. the fragrance was a gift to me, with the giver noting: “i associate la stanza delle bambole with you. dolls, lace, softness, angels.” that is, indeed, what comes to mind wearing the perfume, but i also find the fragrance to be an incredible homage to 20th century surrealism with its distended ball-jointed limbs, psychosexual cheekiness, and eagerness to unsettle the unconscious with adult perceptions of childhood memories. it's worth noting that the promotional image by nobile 1942 for la stanza delle bambole features a depiction of the firmament as first seen in camille flammarion's 1888 publication of "latmosphère: météorologie populaire (the atmosphere: popular meteorology)," which, along with other works by flammarion, went on to inspire many artists integral to the surrealist movement. the house is well-aware of what it is doing here, with its own tagline for the fragrance being "let's play pretending to be," and the advertisement blurb stating that playing dolls is "a projection of daily life placed in a fantasy world created ad hoc by a childish imagination," with the child building her personality though this play "by freely expressing of her unconscious thoughts, hidden visions, also exorcising her own inner monsters." songs for la stanza delle bambole: softness by dorothy, sooki's lullaby by john zorn, rococo girl by ammakasie noka, in a play room by deux filles, violence etc by christina schneider, lapin meimei by klimperei.

La Stanza Delle Bambole achieves exactly what it aims to be- what a baby doll’s bedroom would smell like. Powdery sugar, sweet milk and cookies and that coumarin-vanilla-plastic used for manufacturing dolls. There’s a faint powdery cherry note in the background, which is probably from the tonka bean. The opening is heavenly if you’re a childhood nostalgia lover. Eventually this veers into a sandalwood coconut- plastic ylang scent that I’m not as fond of. It’s still reminiscent of toys, but in a less palatable, rubbery kind of way. I don’t hate it, but I can see this becoming cloying in the wrong environment. It reminds me of beach balls and ylang-ylang scented sunscreen, but is probably not suited for summer weather. I don’t know why this wasn’t on my radar earlier. I am always on the hunt for doll head scents and this fits the profile perfectly. It’s likely the most artistic rendition of a doll scented perfume I’ve tried, of which I’ve smelled quite a few. I am obsessed with the opening stage of this, enough that I want a full bottle. I can see this eventually being discontinued since it’s not very crowd pleasing, so I may get a bottle while I can. Definitely not a safe blind buy, especially if plastic scents aren’t for you. Conversely, you’ll probably love this if you enjoy the scent of vanilla and vinyl.

Wow! I am inlove with this amazing and unique perfume. I have never smelt anything like it! It smells like you’re holding an almond cookie and a vanilla milkshake and you just walked into a very luxe toy store. Imagine a huge two story toy store that’s all pink and filled with bows and pretty vintage dolls and strawberry shortcake dolls and doll houses and those plastic kids dressing tables and heart shaped lipgloss sets with the sponge applicator we used to use when we were kids. Also the strawberry shortcake mini plastic dolls that you find delicious smelling lipgloss in when you open their hat, who remembers those?! This perfume is basically a girly 2000’s girl’s trip down memory lane in liquid form🍪🥛🎀 It gives me nostalgia in the best way possible. It has a sweet and milky, but also plasticy almond scent in the best way possible. If you love barbie plasticy girly scents then you will definitely LOVE this one. It’s so unique and special and it brings me back to the good old days.💗🩰 Also this stuff is extremely potent!!! One or two sprays will last you 2 whole days and it literally lingers to all of your clothes. I love it! It’s so underrated and if you get the chance to smell this beauty then definitely give it a try.

This is the smell of a Barbie's face in the 90s. The vanilla is blended with podwery notes in this. It often turns out to be milky too, really giving you the impression of childhood memories. The tonka note definitely is an important factor in this suggestion. It's not fresh to me but mostly powdery. I barely smell the bergamot in it, but it's still really easy to wear in spring and indoor in the summer too. You could basically wear it at any season but it's at his best when it's not too hot or humid. It doesn't last a lot but it definitely doesn't fade away even after 3 hours, just turning into a skin scent. This fragrance just makes you feel like a doll basically. It lifts up your mood in a very comforting way.

Although the dominant note in Fragrantica’s notes pyramid shows powdery, this really isn’t a powdery fragrance at all, not even in the dry down. This is a nostalgia hit for those of us who remember the European cake shops with their delicious vanilla creamy pastries, layered with orange blossoms and a new plastic doll smell (I don’t think plastic dolls smell that way any more). I think it’s a curiosity, albeit quite a pretty one, and although I like it, I wouldn’t want to smell this way all the time. Remarkable longevity, expect to get a good 6-8 hours.