In Florence, even buying scents can be an art.
Let’s start our shopping tour at the stunning Officina Profumo Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella, a real feast for the eyes and the nose. They have been producing and selling remedies and fragrances for 400 years, so you can expect great taste and experience.
Best selling products are the fabulous pot-pourri, the cologne and the face creams. The classic packaging design is part of the charm, and a soap from the OPFSMN can be a perfect gift. It is found in via della Scala, a few steps from the train station and Santa Maria Novella, the square it’s named after.
Not far from the Duomo, in via Ginori, we find another historic shop, not properly Florentine but a famous resident nonetheless. It’s the famous Profumeria Inglese (English Perfumerie) founded in 1843 by Henry Roberts, an English chemist, where one could always find prestigious brands of perfumes and liquors. The establishment became famous for its outstanding quality, and here Henry Roberts invented a product which was to become known worldwide – talcum powder. Today you can find prestigious brands and modern beauty treatments.
Now we continue towards via Tornabuoni for another olfactory immersion, the Olfattorio or “perfume-bar” with its modern concept and niche brands, where you can taste elegant scents and admire a collection of porta cipria.
If you aren’t tired yet, a visit to Dr. Vranjes Perfume Shop in Borgo la Croce is definitely worthwhile, a place of beauty and elegance, where emotions are translated into scents. Apart from top quality beauty products, they have an amazing collection of home fragrances and candles, the “lamparfume” being the highlight.
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