Marescialla

“If you are great, El Topo is a great picture. If you are limited, El Topo is limited.” ― Alejandro Jodorowsky Let me start by saying that Marescialla by Santa Maria Novella is a Masterpiece, and it fits perfectly with the above quote by Alejandro Jodorowsky. El Topo is a cult film and Marescialla fits in a category of cult fragrances for fragrance connoisseurs. Marescialla is alchemy in a bottle. It won’t turn lead into gold, nor will it prolong your life. What Marescialla will do however is act as an inner transformation on your skin and believe me this is a fragrance journey unlike anything you have ever experienced before. The opening of Marescialla which by the way means the Marshall’s wife is one that will knock your olfactory senses in either a pleasant way (like me) or have you running to the nearest tap water you can find to scrub it off. This is where the above quote comes into action, if you are limited to Marescialla there is no chance in ever discovering the beauty of this masterpiece. Yes, I admit the opening smells like somebody poured an antiseptic solution on a mediaeval stone floor, an actual smell I personally love but others might find repulsive, but this is just for the first 5 minutes. You don’t run on a treadmill for 30 minutes and expect to lose one kilogram after you finish one session of running. Everything has its own sacrifice, even the development of fragrance on your skin has its patience to be highly rewarded. Be patient! After the floor detergent opening has vanished the magic starts to unfold on your skin. I must strongly warn you to go very, very easy on spraying this. Do not use more than one spray on each arm and I will explain why. I have never so far experienced a fragrance that moves backwards. Usually, you spray a fragrance and as time goes by it naturally becomes a skin scent. Marescialla works the opposite way! When I sprayed this for the first time, I went quite heavy, thinking I would get the most of it. And boy did I! It started heavy and I was very glad about the performance, then it mellowed to a skin scent after about 4 hours...but... it then suddenly became very, very creamy, and powdery becoming more powerful than when it started! Luckily, I was outdoors as I could honestly feel a slight shortness of breath indoors with it. I cannot handle powdery scents very well as they tend to choke me a bit. Although I personally wouldn’t categorize Marescialla as a powdery fragrance it does elevate its powder power towards its final stages. So, if that bothers you use the fragrance very sparingly. If you have made it this far in my review I thank you as I needed to explain a bit in detail. You might be asking yourself but what does Marescialla smell like? Marescialla smells very manly. It’s labelled as a unisex fragrance and has a name that is feminine. But as I have always said fragrance is liquid and has no gender so wear what makes you feel comfortable. Shalimar on my skin smells like smoked burnt tyres sprinkled with vanilla. Go figure! As time passes by Marescialla becomes like a fougere and boy is it incredible! Fans of Manuel Cross will dig this in spades as it is on the same wavelength as Mousse Illuminee and Bon Monsieur. However, Marescialla becomes more and more crowd pleasing and although it’s staying power on skin is 24 hours it never cloys nor does it intrude other people’s space. The opening notes of watercress and citrus play an important factor towards the development of the fragrance. Its dominating spicy opening that will make some people sneeze will linger softly towards the dry down as it reaches the oakmoss and sandalwood notes. I personally have not yet got the rose note which is a middle note, perhaps the patchouli and Virginia cedar is overriding it. Towards its final stages I get a very posh creamy drydown that is incredibly elegant making it feel unique and special that puts me in a very nostalgic mood. ( on a side note, Santa Maria Novella please re-release Nostalgia, there is a market for it! ) Marescialla is not an easy fragrance to describe as it’s an experience but once you do test and try it out and fall in love with it you will be reaching out for it multiple times. It’s a fragrance that can be worn any season and any time. I think that this fragrance is one of the most special fragrances from Santa Maria Novella. It's quietly hidden away among the more commercial ones, and it takes a bit of bravery to take the plunge and discover it. Don’t be afraid to stand out from the crowd, don’t be limited and be patient and let Marescialla work its magic on your skin and personality. There is nothing like Marescialla, it's a potent fragrance without being overpowering, creating a magical aura around you all day. A 195-year-old beautiful classic Masterpiece from the year 1828 that will haunt your imagination and soul. Once it is properly experienced, it will never be forgotten. Eloquent, enigmatic, mysterious and addictive. Marescialla is hands down my best discovery of 2023.

I came across this fragrance by chance, because I smelled a beautiful mossy scent on a couple of people in Japan. I wasn't sure if this earthy mossy scent came from perfume or from temples where incense sticks are burned and people take a whiff of this scent with them. From this point of view, I interpreted this scent as that of unlit incense sticks containing oud/jinko. (And i think it’s interesting point, at first reviewed perfume not from selfperspective but smelling it on others) If I smelled it at first in a different context and knew that the smell came from the SNM, I would certainly move within the interpretive framework of a medieval monastery. However, I do not smell the historical smell of the building, such as can be found in Ambra Aurea by Profumum roma, nor can I smell the earthy "moldy" smell that can be found in Tundra by Profumum roma despite the comparsion in section reminds me of. Medieval hospital with smell of gaze come to my mind or herbal ancient cola soda, but its so soft and well blended that is not exactly smells like this or that. I can smell the earthiness of unlit incense sticks, as if I were smelling Jinkoh from Nippon Kodo with a mossy earthiness, “soapy” cleanness, vintage ”powderness” with limoncello citruses and slightly bitter cloves. I agree with another user's opinion that the scent has an antiseptic quality, I know one disinfectant that smells almost like moss, despite this comparison it doesn't smell chemical at all, it's a nice earthy natural herbal scent. I also agree with another user that the powdery part of this fragrance increases over time (sometimes), I think that this powdery hint is created by the moss itself. Despite the fact that it can be called challenging, it doesn't affect me that much, because it's exactly the type of scent I like. The advantage is that it does not have a very strong projection and does not act unobtrusively. When you smell it on a person, you can't be sure whether it's perfume, fabric softener, body cream or soap. I need this one in pure perfume oil concentration! Even the low concentration its longlasting, im not smelling it after 6 hours, but some people tell me they can smell it even after 10 hours. The projection is not so strong, but its going to long distance in very inconspicuous way, people always noticing me, i have lot of stronger fragrances, but this type of “noticing” is happening to me only with Marescialla, ifs that happening due to projection or because of the unconventional and atypical nature of this fragrance is not clear to me. The quality in this price range category is absolutely stunning! Love it! Final update after half of bottle: If it will be less powdery/dry, little bit more wet and earthy it will be my lifetime favorite scent. I like to combine it with tobacco toscano body creme and patchouli perfume and aftershave together, the combination is soapy velvety, it will make it less powdery and more earthy, really classy elegant vintage scent. It reminds good old times when the perfumes were not about synthetics, but about diy tinctures from old dusty books.

Opens camphorous and medicinal -- the first moments are unique, strong & I would imagine harsh to some noses. Next comes an herbal, somewhat bitter note that is soon joined by patchouli (the herbal, rough kind, not the rich, chocolaty type so popular these days). As some of the sting of the opening and middle fade, a delightful woody rose and moss accord emerges. These base notes are rich and creamy and they weave in and among the astringent herbs of the earlier parts of the fragrance, which never completely disappear, to create something magical. The long-lasting final phase of this utterly unique gem smells simultaneously ancient, perhaps a perception influenced by the mythology of the house, and also completely contemporary. I love this mysteriously appealing bled of mostly unappealing scents. Making something beautiful from so many 'challenging' components strikes me as real artistry. If not obvious from the foregoing comments, this fragrance is emphatically NOT for everyone. Try first if you can. For lovers of unusual sharp fragrances with exceptional blending like Roberto Greco's tragically underappreciated Œillers L'Objet Parfumant, or more well known fragrances like Gucci Guilty Absolute, Oriza L. Legrande's Chypre Mousse or even, in a way, Clinique's Aromatics Elixr or Boss Bottled Oud Aromatic -- that is, fragrances that are admittedly outside of the mainstream or even the stream next to the mainstream -- scents that work because of their challenging, odd elements, not in spite of them -- Marescialla is something you need to experience (even at the risk, dare I suggest it, of a blind buy). Recommended for lovers of the artistic, timeless and off-beat.

@Makeupmaven: I will attempt to answer your question below, as to how those of us who have experienced the fragrance, could describe it as smelling like a time in history without having lived through it. Marescialla is one of those incredibly evocative scents that DEFIES description by notes. So here goes. The best way to conjure the scent for you is to refer to it as a medieval floorwash. How do women clean their houses in ancient times? They would probably mix a bunch of wild herbs in a bucket of water for their cleansing properties. I too, have done it. Armed with my “Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs”, I attempted to recreate a medieval concoction of herbs to wash/cleanse my house with. Throwing in a bunch of sage, thyme, rosemary, oregano, lemon rind, essential oils of patchouli, etc etc. A hotchpotch cauldron of natural energies macerating together. Imagine what a medieval housewife would do to protect her family from fiendish natural spirits always lurking outside the threshold of the home after dark? She would hang sprigs of juniper, yarrow, gorse, twigs of oak and birch, around the homestead. The idea is, Marescialla does not smell like a perfume at all. It smells like a force of nature. It smells like what we imagine a medieval homestead would smell like. Herbaceous, earthy, rooty, full of medicinal and sharp bitter greens, not necessarily pleasant but exceedingly benign and protective. Like white pagan magic. Unfortunately, this is one you have to actually smell to understand.

I went into the SMN shop and the shopkeeper gave me this to try on my wrist - perhaps my 3kg New Rock boots made the impression I liked strange fragrances! Well, he was right. Needless to say, after already buying Mughetto on Thursday, I bought Marescialla on the Sunday - this stuff is divine and rich... wish I could say the same about my wallet, but I have zero regrets! Reminds me of my grandma's medicinal cupboard full of Chinese medicine and herbal ointments/tinctures she would rub on my skin. Then it dries down into something heartwarmingly nostalgic and clean. A chaotic comparison, but if you've ever smelt Liz Earle's discontinued "Spot On" roller ball for bites and blemishes... it lowkey smells like that for the first 10 minutes. Surprisingly, an easy-to-wear fragrance that lasted for a good few hours, and I only had one spritz! P.s: I had the opportunity to buy their "old frosted bottle" version of this, and I can see that the fluid was a bit darker than the stuff in their clear/new bottles with the sticker label - can anyone confirm if this one has been reformulated? I went for the new bottle because that was what I tried on and loved, but curious to see if the scent had changed. The shopkeeper said it hasn't been reformulated, but I swear they're trained to say that.