i Profumi di Firenze Frangipane e Cocco

I have been a devotee of i Profumi di Firenze's fragrances for a long time - I love them all. Even so, I was not prepared for Frangipane e Cocco ($99, 50 ml), one of the most delicious of them all. I have received more compliments while wearing Frangipane e Cocco than any other fragrance in my collection. Amazingly, it's one of the least expensive.

Escape to a tropical island this winter with i Profumi di Firenze's new gorgeous frangipani perfume. A relaxed earthy elegance exudes with meditative base notes of frankincense and the playfulness of coconut and blood orange top notes. A perfect beachy scent even in cool weather.

One day this year, I wore it when I went to get a shot of cortisone in my back (aka epidural). At the hospital, they bring you into the room with the fluoroscope (used by the physician to see where he has placed the needle) and get you and everything else ready for the doctor. My doctor walked into the room and immediately said, "Someone in here smells fabulous." The female assistant quickly said, "Not me." The male chuckled and said, "It's sure not me." Then I sheepishly said, "I think it's me," while wondering if I had applied too much. I remembered it was only three spritzes. That was the day I realized Frangipane e Coco has sillage. After I admitted it was my fragrance, he wanted to know all about it. If I can describe it to my interventional radiologist, I should tell you too, right? Since then, I have received many compliments - from men and women - while wearing it.

It's hard to put this fragrance into a category. To me, it has a gourmand character, but with notes of frangipani (tropical floral), coconut (gourmand, but also beachy - think suntan oil), blood orange (citrus), and frankincense (an aromatic resin obtained from trees), it refuses to be categorized. It's definitely not a floral, and it certainly isn't tropical, despite the coconut. It has a warm scent, comfy, and clearly appealing. It makes me think of a French bakery right after the almond croissants come out of the oven - but there are no nuts listed in the ingredients. It offers fabulous longevity, so once I apply it, I know it will stay with me for hours.

If you are not familiar with i Profumi di Firenze, here's a little history. Inspired by original 16^th century secret formulas commissioned by Catherine de Medici, i Profumi di Firenze fragrances are meticulously handcrafted in small batches with the finest selections of floral and botanical essences from Italy and around the world. The collection of perfumes originated with the discovery of Catherine de Medici’s perfume formulas, unearthed in a Renaissance manuscript after the Florentine flood of 1966.

While sorting through the watery mess, Dr. Massimo found buried deep in his apothecary’s ancient basement a 16^th century manuscript containing the secret formulas. Remarkably, not only had the document survived the deluge, it remained intact despite all the centuries it had spent undetected. Legend has it that in the Middle Ages, the apothecary had been a renowned purveyor of exotic spices and aromatic elixirs. Later, during the Renaissance, the Medici Palace was just across the square, and the Medicis commissioned fragrances from the shop.

At that time in history, when synthetic perfumes were all the rage, renowned Florentine apothecary and perfumer, Dr. Giovanni di Massimo, carefully recreated these Renaissance fragrances using only all-natural ingredients and his exclusive methods of essence extraction. New fragrances continue to be created by i Profumi di Firenze, inspired by the period’s high-caliber techniques of Florentine perfumery. I'm pretty sure that Frangipane e Cocco is one of the newly created fragrances.

It used to be that i Profumi di Firenze fragrances were relatively hard to find. I've purchased all of mine from Beautyhabit. Now, the fragrances are also available at MiN New York. I can't wait to order whatever comes next.

Do you wear any of i Profumi di Firenze's fragrances? I'd love to know which ones.

Photos courtesy of iProfumi di Firenze