Profumum- Ichnusa

The Italian house Profumum is already responsible for one of my favorite fig perfumes, Dambrosia. Ichnusa is   probably Profumum's unisex/ more masculine companion for Dambrosia, replacing the sweet facets of the honeyed fig-over-sandalwood with green and crisp aromas of the Mediterranean. Ichnusa is dedicated to the island of Sardinia, and between the fragrance itself and the many photos I looked at in my research for this post, I'm so ready to pack my bags and go.

Ichnusa opens green and grassy. It's bright and alert, like the morning sun shining on the fig grove and warming the old trunks. Not only can I smell the wide fig leaves, I can almost feel them in my hand, thick, cool, and fragrant. But it's not just the tree leaves. I get freshly cut grass that eventually morphs into a vetiver-like dry grassy note (vetiver isn't listed so it may be a phantom note evoked by the fresh and dry grass that's definitely here).

Then there's myrtle, so beautiful and complex. Myrtle is sometimes incensy, shaded by pine trees, or like the dusty Mediterranean shrubbery baking in the sun. In Ichnusa it does all of the above, adding another dimension to the fresh green fig. They work beautifully together and expand in the heat. The green leaves become golden as is the entire scenery. It becomes awash with late afternoon light, tree shadows are longer, there's movement in the grass, anticipation for the breeze from the sea, and a long beautiful evening ahead of us.

Notes: myrtle, fig leaf and wood, cut grass

Profumum- Ichnusa is available from Luckyscent ($240, 100ml EDP) and Osswald NYC (osswaldnyc.com, finally selling online. $246 for the 100ml bottle plus a 5ml refillable roll-on bottle).

Art: Sardinia by Jessie Mackay.