This year the Esxence took place for the first time in a Triennale di Milano, and it was bigger than ever. I was searching for something that would attract my attention. But that was like looking for a needle in a haystack. On my first Esxence in 2011 I wanted to see and try everything. That was so optimistically naive.

Underneath the bottles is dried cow shit

There was everything from Cowsheed cosmetics to cow shit (litteraly) in the concept of a perfume house Orto Parisi. Not as shitty as you would have expected. Perfumes Bergamask, Viride, Boccanera, Brutus and Stercus (listed from the lightest to the strongest) share the same base and all have animalic base and if you want – shitty. Nothing unbearable, just not for an average user.

I found some interesting perfumes from Mendittorosa - Odori d’Anima (Scents of the Soul). Alfa – rich in saffron and Omega, Id, North and South and the latest Le Mat. Quality perfumes for demanding customer. The meaning of the North and South are presented in perfumes, jus like I imagine them. North clean and chilled, South full of different herbs, soil, wind that carry the smell of bushes, sea and salt….

I was charmed by Le Mat immediately. Notes of nutmeg, pepper, geranium, patchouli are just so nicely distributed and balanced. All scents are  unique, I like the bottles and the whole picture of the brand.

Jul et Mad did it again with Aqua Sextius. After three very succesful perfumes: Stilettos on Lex, Amour de Palazzo, Terrasse a St-Germain. This is a refreshment bottled,  sparkling and uplifting. Higher concentration gives the perfume luxurious depth and lasting power. Perfect from the beginning to the end. And you can buy only one bottle for her and him. Ys Uzac managed to bottle the spring greenery and flowers. Perfume was or is not intended for mass production because of very expensive ingredients. I’m in high hopes they will manage to find a way to bring Sacre du Printemps to the production.

Ulili – The Moroccan Scents had on display candles made from natural ingredients with vegetable and  bees wax.  It was hard to decide which one is my favorite. Oum Rabie finally won the prize with intoxicating orange blossom, bay leaf and cardamom. It brought back my childhod memories of a sun tan lotion my mother used to use.  And if you didn’t know – I’m not a candle lover at all. But this might be love at first sight or better first sniff.

Of course I couldn’t skip visiting my friends at Osmotheque stand. This time I tried just few perfumes. I started with Joy from Jean Patou and ther was no joy really. I cannot like it, no matter what everyone else say. For me it is bunch of pungent flowers starting to decay.  So I moved on to 1000 also from Jean Patou, this is elegant and balanced floral perfume. Next was Deneuve from Catherine Deneuve and I liked it a lot. It has the 90 rich vibe and a celebrity scent that justifies the name on the bottle. Just to confirm nice thoughts of my dear blogging friend The Scented Hound i tried Parure from Guerlain, but I was left with nothing. Absolutely nothing! I don’t know what was that. Again I tried Chypre from Coty and Bandit from Robert Piguet. Nothing new. I love them both. All these vintage scents are recreated from original formulas by Osmotheque. Many of them don’t exist anymore, the others are so badly remastered and many don’t deserve to wear the name of the original.

There were too many new perfumes to check all of them and I’m still behind with previous years. It is hard work for sellers, creators, shop owners and especially sniffers like me.

The bonus of this trip was Klimt and Kandinsky exhibitions in Palazzo Reale. Now that was joy!

 You can find more pictures on my facebook page.