Milano Fragranze Naviglio: fragrance review

 Finding one's perfect soapy fragrance is a question of defining the scent of soap in the first place. Will it be the classic Camay and Lux soap of yesteryear, which smelled of roses and aldehydes? Will it be the original Dove with its iris-musk aura or its newer iterations with fruits and coconut? Are we talking about chamomile and the botanical smells of pine and lavender, perhaps of jasmine and flowers, allied to powerful powdery aspects, or are we concentrating on fatty aldehydes known from Aleppo and Marseilles soap which smell like clean laundry on a line? I'm personally quite fond of the latter, to be honest.

The promise of Marseilles soap, in its own particular way both sweetish and fatty-acrid, is strikingly fulfilled in Naviglio by Italian niche brand Milano Fragranze. It does smell soapy, really soapy-smelling! The perfect scent for capturing summer cleanliness, but also great for year-round, when you want to project that pristine white, bright impression that is deliriously happy, like lily of the valley bells peaking through the grass on a warm day.

Although we're prepared by the brand for a marine fragrance, with the mention of the canals outside Milan, the aquatic notes here are not the sort met at the seafront, salty and/or with whiffs of organic matter decomposing. In Naviglio, they instead recall the clean ambiance of a humidifier, the lovely sweetish scent of water ponds, and dewiness on a climbing ivy. This effect reminds me of two quirky little scents, Rem by Reminiscence and Ivy by the Fragrance Library (Demeter). It's captured perfectly here, and alongside the soap, it creates a charming, easy-to-wear fragrance. 

Bonus points for its incredibly long-lasting quality. It radiated on my skin for the full 12-hour mark!

Bulgari Petits et Mamans: fragrance review

The top of a baby's head. The milky breath. The soft, soothing chamomile note of a baby soporific infusion. The talcum powdered bottom. The peachy smooth skin of small kid's short and squishy limbs. The intense tenderness of cradling one's own child in their arms. How could anyone capture all those glorious moments in a single scent?

via Pinterest

One simply can't.

They come with their own avalanche of overwrought anxiety, triumphant elation, sleepless nights and the relief of seeing the small ones grow day by day. But if you concentrate on getting the impression, rather than the actual kaleidoscope of the wild mix of feelings one gets upon having a baby, you can't go wrong by opting for Petits et Mamans by Italian jewelers Bulgari (or rather spelled in the Latinized pavements style Bvlgari)

This downy soft and comforting blend of vanilla powder, chamomile and iris starchiness replicates the feathery light feel of kids' natural scent and projects as inconspicuously as its realistic equivalent. Before they start scratching their knees falling off the bike or having their own free will imposed on you whereupon they become boys and girls rather than asexual "kids". If there is a Platonic idea of how kids smell, all innocent and cherubic, it's Bvlgari's Petits et Mamans. Like the name says on the label, moms can borrow it as well. For remembrance's sake or for partaking in the joy.