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Laboratorio Olfattivo, a niche fragrance house from Rome, Italy piqued my interest a few years ago but I haven’t really explored the brand until now. They started creating perfumes since 2010 but they are very understated, you won’t find them on major commercial niche fragrances websites nor high street department stores. You’d need to hear about them and search for them. I quite like that aspect, to be honest, feels a little exclusive. One of the things that I learnt about the philosophy behind Laboratorio Olfattivo was the perfumers were given creative freedom like artists to create their vision of beauty.
Rosamunda
Elegant in the sunlight, passionate when the night comes down. A Rose difficult to be imprisoned in just one definition. Provocative and carnal like the Roses on the hair of the feminine characters of Gabriel Garçia Marquez but, at the same time, sumptuous, wrapped in a neoclassical brightness.
Laboratorio Olfattivo
Rosamunda, a floral oriental fragrance for women opens up with a moderate projection of rose, a little warm sweet and spicy notes with woods. The opening is elegant, inviting and classy. The rose, patchouli and woody notes are prominent opening notes. The peculiar thing is that when I sprayed it on my wrist, I got mostly rose; when around my neck, patchouli and woods seemed to come through more.
Top notes: Saffron, Rose Petals
Heart notes: Bulgarian Rose essence, Absolute of Turkish Rose, Patchouli
Base notes: Oud, Cedar, Sandal, Amber, Musk
The different roses create such a feminine, sensual and sweet experience while oud, cedarwood and sandalwood give a soft, rich and creamy base. Oud isn’t very prominent to my nose. It’s just a hint. So if you usually shy away from anything with oud, I’d say this is a safe one to try out. Saffron is there to give a gentle leathery kick. The musk and amber are support notes and while they seat a few steps behind the rose and woods, but in the dry down, I got that earthy, animalistic, and intoxicating musk along with the warm resinous amber coming through, turning this potentially cold scent into something warm and cosy. I think this fragrance can be good all year round.
The fragrance isn’t overly complex, you can detect the different notes and yet it’s not linear either. It’s intriguing. The projection is moderate approximately 1m, sillage is also moderate but longevity is very good. One night I put this one a few hours before going to bed, the next day I could still smell it on my skin.
The perfumer behind Rosamunda is Marie Duchene. She’s also responsible for a few other popular fragrances for the House including Cozumel, Alkemi and Noblige etc.
Overall, it feels modern, comforting, refined, elegant, inviting, mature and very pleasant. The composition of the notes might not be the most groundbreaking but they are high-quality and nicely blended. This Italian perfume is not Versace, but more like a well-tailored Armani suit, it’s not loud or flashy, just very well constructed and skilled creation. Laboratorio Olfattivo encapsulates that Italian style of both luxury and quality with sensibility and grace with both the packaging and the fragrance inside. A little hidden gem!
Available: EDP £90/100ml at Pulse of Perfumery
Do you have a favourite Laboratorio Olfattivo perfume? 💕
