Melograno

My first fragrance from Santa Maria Novella and I am in love. The spices and pomegranate make this fragrance fruity and earthy. For a cologne it lasts a long time on me. I am very happy with my purchase.

For starters the notes here are wrong, they are as follows: Bergamot Bitter Orange Spices Pomegranate Rose Ylang Ylang Oakmoss Labdanum Patchouli Musk Melograno is a very earthy scent with a hint of florals and spice. The fruits, Oakmoss, Labdanum and Patchouli really jump out at first spray which creates a vintage feel. The floral notes don’t really stand out much, aside from a brief appearance of Ylang Ylang on my skin, it settles to a fiery-warm, sweet, spicy and woody fragrance. Definitely only for Autumn and Winter because it would be way too heavy and cloying.

Melograno is a funny old thing. A spicy bitter orange opening which clears the sinuses before floating down through powdery layers to a woodsy aromatic base which I find hard to reconcile with any of the listed notes. (Ever smelled a pomegranate?) It comes at you all at once and hangs around for ages. Don’t get me wrong. I like it a lot. A true curiosity. If you have the opportunity to visit the magical Florence shop whose noses made it, it kinda makes more sense as an archaic quasi-medicinal fantasy.

The evolution on this is stunning. The opening is super fresh and mossy, natural and earthy. As it dries down, it becomes a little too sweet (the pomegranate coming in i suppose) for my liking. But the final stages, and the scent it leaves behind on clothes, it's all the notes combined but with this super soapy and clean twist, I'm actually addicted. Too bad I have to go through everything else before getting to the best part. Still a wonderful perfume (:

At first sniff it smelled like walking into the cold of a dusty old church on a summer day, a little bit of leftover incense mixing in with a damp cellar scent. After I wore it on my skin it just smells like if pani walewska met incense, or as if I bathed in imperial leather.