Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Happy Valentine's Day from The Perfume Bee!!!

Dance at Bougiva

I want to wish all of you a happy and well-scented Valentine's Day! In honor of this romantic day, I will be breaking from tradition and reviewing a .... pomegranate. Specifically, I am referring to Santa Maria Novella's Terra Cotta Pomegranate. As you may know, the pomegranate was used as a symbol of fertility in ancient times. To me, it symbolizes infinite possibility as represented by the scores of ruby-red seeds contained within.

SMN Terra Cotta Pomegranate
This fist-sized clay orb is carefully made by hand and then fired in a kiln until it is half-baked. Then it is immersed in a tub of pomegranate oil essence for a full week, and then fired to completion. This process seals the fragrance inside the pomegranate with the scent lasting 9-12 months.

I had no idea pomegranate oil was so sweet and powdery. The terra cotta pomegranate emits a soft, fruity smell redolent of an autumn day in the country. It is sitting on my desk now, not unlike a pet rock, quietly releasing its fragrance. I like the fact it requires no maintenance and no candles, matches or electricity. It's refreshingly low tech and quite pleasant to look at.

The SMN Terra Cotta Pomegranate costs $55 and can be purchased in the Santa Maria Novella Los Angeles store (a Sniffa LA destination where we received the royal treatment) and SMN New York City store or online.
Top image: Dance at Bougiva (1883) by Pierre-Auguste Renoir; The Museum of Fine Arts at Boston; source: ibiblio.org.

Bottom image: Photo of terra cotta pomegranate © The Perfume Bee.

4 comments:

IrisLA said...

Happy Valentines Day, Christine! My scent for the day is S-Perfume 100% Love. The scent is much more sophisticated than the sappy name. The notes are rose petals, incense and chocolate.

christine said...

Thank you, IrisLA! Same to you!

Chocolate and roses and incense: That sounds like the perfect fragrance for this day! Thank you for sharing.

Christine

Anonymous said...

A belated Happy V-Day.

Love that terra cotta pomander. It is lovely looking!

christine said...

Hi Katie,

Thank you!

It was good to hear from you!

Chris