Sunday Meeting with Casaroma at Soffittoviola

Last Sunday I went to Iseo, along with Adjiumi and Diakranis in the beautiful Soffittoviola shop, for an introduction to the fragrances in the Casaroma line and to talk about perfume. The star of the day was Ornella Pastorelli, founder of the brand Casaroma: the soul behind all the pout pourri, the essence burners, the scented linen animals, but also administrator, promoter, author of the blends everything else, since Casaroma is basically ... herself! The day was very different from how I expected, because people got in the store throughout the day instead of at the hours written in the invitation, and this has a little upset our plans. But as usual, when something goes differently from what was planned it means that Fate has found a way to make me discover different and sometime more valuable things. First, this allowed me time to learn more about Ornella as a person, and finally I was intoduced to her whole line of home fragrances. She explained that she uses only the purest, high quality oils (and you can smell it), and I was told of the many tests necessary to put together the "right" ones to get to the result of persistence, stability, freshness she wants. There are many, including a citrus lemon-orange-grapefruit, bitter and very invigorating, a sensual ylang ylang, and an aromatic with rosemary and lavender which are those which impressed me most. They are to be put directly into the essence burner, in pot pourris or into the linen animals: kittens, teddybears and ducks of different sizes to be put drawers or on the sofa, to scent the room for months. I enjoyed a lot smelling all of those wonderful essences! Ornella is a delight to hear: lay and quiet, almost shy of the rising success, she strikes for enthusiasm and simplicity.

Then I met the store owner Rossella, with whom I found in great harmony. She welcomed us in a refined store, displaying for the occasion delicious fruit cakes and plenty of fresh roses. As a perfect hostess she left us smell testers and bottles, leaving us free to experiment, always near enought to drop something more about the fragrance in the conversation. I let the moorings towards Nasomatto. Now I know it: with Duro and Absinth it's true love, and in the end I had to take them home with me (I'm enjoying them and a review will follow very soon). Then she introduced me to the three fragrances by the lebanese coutourier Georges Feghaly, which even if not particularly complex or sophisticated, I found really nice; summery, playful, definitely to be tested if you haven't done so yet. Especialy Atom Crochus and Coup de Foudre. Then we had lunch on the lake and chatted for several hours of perfume-related topics: distribution, trading strategies, etc., very interesting topics for me, mainly because they are crucial to better understand some things regarding perfumery as a trade.
Then we were joined by Alessandro, whose interest in deepening perfume leads him to be always present, and this is a good thing, because his views and his bright humor make him a great sniffa-companion. We spent the afternoon between us, with Adjiumi and Diakranis sniffing and chattering. For me, a nice and energetic day: finally time just for us to stay relaxed and chat with friends, exchange comments, tips, encouragement. Maybe it was just this, that I needed and in fact at the end of the day I was tired but very happy.
And I want to thank everyone: Ornella because she does what she does, Rossella who was the surprise of my day, Ale because he drove two hours to be there, and especially Marinella and Cristian: the best travel companions I could find.