Il Giglio di Firenze
From: € 44.00
The noblest perfume for the noblest city of Italy, this is “Il Giglio di Firenze”. Continue …
| 3 ml. Eau de Parfum | In Stock | € 44.00 | |
| 15,5 ml. (0.52 fl. oz.) Eau de Parfum | In Stock | € 224.00 | |
| 33 ml. (1.11 fl. oz.) Eau de Parfum | In Stock | € 485.00 | |
| 50 ml. (1.6 fl.oz.) Eau de Parfum | In Stock | € 716.00 |
Description
The main ingredients are Iris, concrete and absolute, Ambergris tincture, Mimosa, Frangipani.
The symbol of the city of Florence is the Lilly, “il Giglio,” which grows spontaneously in the valley of the Arno river and in the hills around the city. It is, in reality, Iris. From its dried roots is extracted the most expensive of all perfumery materials, concrete, and the absolute of “Orris.” It is worth four times its weight in gold.
Iris is the noblest of all botanical essences; its extract is to botanical essences what Muskdeer is to animal scents: the noblest and most precious.
As often happens with precious essences, they have a complexity that makes them similar to pheromones. Iris is the tender smell that small babies produce on the top of their heads during the first days of their lives, a scent meant to foster the maternal tie. This is the scent that “Grenouille” was lacking as a baby in the book The Perfume, the reason why his mother abandoned him, and the scent that he would have been searching for all his life.
Florence is, for me, the noblest of all Italian cities, if not the most beautiful. It has had a major role in shaping the culture of our civilization and has been the cradle of European spiritual, cultural, and scientific “Rinascimento” (the Renaissance).
It is the city of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raffaello.
The heart of ” ll Giglio di Firenze ” is a blend of “Orris” absolute and concrete. Ambergris, Frangipani, and Mimosa join in but never challenge the soul of Iris, which remains the main theme for the perfume of Florence.
The noblest perfume for the noblest city of Italy, this is “Il Giglio di Firenze”.
3 reviews for Il Giglio di Firenze
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Reiu –
Iris is one of the raw materials I have not smelled by itself, so I was very curious. On top of that, there have been two iris perfumes I really liked, Serge Lutens Iris Silver Mist and Parfum Satori Iris Homme, and after seeing a reviewer compare Il Giglio di Firenze to the former I had to try it out, so I got myself a 3ml.
The initial few minutes is a delicate milky marzipan, before the curtains are drawn back for the main actress to take the stage: Florentine iris. I really love the interplay of warm-coolness of the iris, warm violets above cool dry powdery-woodsiness. I don’t feel that the adjectives do it justice; the smell of iris is definitely a unique smell unmatched by any synthetic “iris” perfume out there that might check those boxes (violet-like, powder, etc) but nonetheless doesn’t smell quite anything like the way this does. To me it’s also nothing like Iris Silver Mist, where the cooler aspect is highlighted and amped up with synthetic materials to create a very specific effect.
(Funnily what Il Giglio di Firenze does remind me of is a bottle of Florentine iris liqueur I stock for my home bar, which suggests to me it must use more of the real stuff than most modern perfumes do these days!)
Since Salaam likes to write about the effects perfume has on people I’ll add the note: my partner kept coming in for hugs, more than usual, and yes I asked and this was why. I offered to share some but my partner preferred to smell it on me and got very flustered. Haha. Apparently it’s very “healing.”
On my first wear I applied it at 10:30 AM and lasted well into the evening. By around 6~7 PM it had become fainter, but was still detectible at 9 PM. Projection-wise, it’s definitely a skin scent for most of the duration.
My pet bird was also all over it. I normally keep her away from fragrances and dabbed in another room, but she immediately swiveled her head and stretched her neck to look at me when I opened the bottle, and made clear she was very enamored with the scent with a happy dance, and wanted to nestle over where I had dabbed it. Possibly coincidentally or not, Il Giglio di Firenze actually reminds me a bit of her natural scent as well (the bird’s).
I’m definitely convinced enough to get a bottle. At the price point it won’t be any time soon but I think it would be worth it. Some day! Perhaps I’ll add a mignon of it to my next mignon set order?
First seen on Basenotes
Isaie –
If you ever wondered what Florentine noble men and women smelled like in the 16th century : there you have it. Orris root is certainly the “hit” ingredient of the year, it is everywhere, in every form…but the real one. Forget the violet, forget the powder, forget the suede : here you have white florentine orris in all its glory.
It is a kick in the face as you take a whiff. The grey earthiness of the orris root is here, far away from anything one could smell in the market. It is raw, it is brutal, it is indeed pure luxury. One can smell the time it took to extract this orris, one can smell the seculary history of Firenze, its grandeur, its pride with the grey facet of the iris underlined by that of ambergris. One can also smell the fire and stern face of Savonarole and the warring countryside.
Of an other time, slightly medicinal, not at all classical, definitely collectible, this orris is the promise of authenticity, historicity as with all of AbdesSalaam’s creations. Orris has now become à la mode, although I say to those who would pay 1500€ for an orris recreation : all that glitters is not of gold.
Giglio di Firenze might not be looking like it, but it IS gold in a bottle. Whether you are into orris or not, you should definitely try it at least to know what true white florentine iris smells like.
Claire –
Il Giglio di Firenze – wow, now this is pure luxury.
The opening is like putting your nose into a snifter of cognac. It is surprisingly brandy-like!
Then almost immediately, I get the chilly, damp earthiness of the Florentine orris. It reminds me a bit of the cold iris in Iris Silver Mist, but while ISM places its iris in a synthetic, modern structure, this one is like a holistic of dose of pure iris on the skin; attar-like. I imagine I am dabbing on a 16th century form of medicine.
Never smelled an iris so pure, actually, and it’s interesting to take a look at it without any distraction. It is grey, silvery, and smooth suede-like (not green). There is a fluffy, dusty aspect to it that makes me think of something nice from my past – preparing to get into bed with my infant daughter or son when they were very little.
The nostalgic, innocent nuance I pick up on must be coming from the mimosa? There is something milky or floral but it is barely discernible. It is luxe, but also drowsy, feather beds stacked 20 deep for the princess from the fairy tale.
I think this must be one of the instances when white ambergris oil/tincture has been used to try and fix the properties of the orris on the skin, and to amplify its scent, rather than leave any trace of its own smell. It disappears into the blend as it should. I have trouble smelling the iris after a few minutes. I will try layering it over some an ambergris attar I have from ASAQ to see if it will extend the presence of that gorgeous but shy iris.