An old love found in an unexpected place: Fresh's Fleurs de Chocolat Lucia and Boots Botanics Organic Facial Oil

When I was in college one of my first forays into the world of gourmand fragrances was Fresh's Fleurs de Chocolat Lucia, a now long discontinued scent. The scent of it was coco powder, milk chocolate, orange, and almond milk. Strangely no patchouli.

 I had not thought about the scent in years until yesterday when I put on my Boots Botanics Organic Facial Oil and suddenly I realized what I was smelling, Fleurs de Chocolat Lucia. And like that the scent of the facial oil sent me down my olfactory memory to my trip to Italy where I had sprayed Lucia happily on myself, how appropriate I had felt at the time taking Lucia with me to Italy, and still think that it was an excellent choice. The culinary joy of Italy fitting well with the scent of Lucia.

 In some ways Lucia was my foray into niche, at the time Fresh was consider an indie company, and gourmands had not become quite so ubiquitous. Lucia will always be associated with that moment in my early twenties of first love, Italy, and my burgeoning interest of seeing perfume as an art and something to be collected and admired. I am glad I now have a way of visiting that discontinued scent and my Italy trip.

image Alphonse Mucha

SOTD: Ambre et Vanille

Today I am wearing E. Coudray's Ambre et Vanille, the weather has cooled, and well after this week I am treating myself to an autumnal delight. It reminds me of Noire Vanille du Mexique by La Maison de la Vanille, but what really intrigues is the Ambre et Vanille's heart of ylang ylang, it seems so rare to encounter ylang ylang as a prominent note, but here it shows it's lovely beauty.

On to a different subject now:

I suspect I have always been fascinated by Italy, about 4 years ago I took a trip there and remember it fondly, and I would say my cooking repetoire features the most influence from Italian cuisine. Lately I have found myself reading about Italy in the most varied ways. Years before this I had read Susan Vreeland's The Passion of Artemisia and in my youth had an utter obsession with the Roman Empire. It began last year with A Venetian Affair by Andrea di Robilant, preceeded by Sarah Dunant's In the Company of the Courtesan (taking place in Venice also), followed up by Sarah Dunant's The Birth of Venus (taking place in Florence), a brief break and then I was back to Venice with John Berendt's The City of Falling Angels, and then last night in one sitting I read Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi's The Monster of Florence and well to put it this I don't know what frightened me more after reading this the Kafkaesque Italian legal system or the serial killer known as The Monster of Florence, I will say this now that true crime stories art not my usual forte but this was riveting. I suspected I read it because of the comparison to The City of Falling Angels. The irony is I was ready to fall in love with Florence when I went to Italy only to find myself kind've annoyed with it, instead I ironically ended up loving its renaissance rival Sienna.

image provided by artnet.com
image: Il Doni della Terra by Luciano Ventrone 2008