Shops We Love… Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella, Mayfair
Photos: Jo Fairley
This exquisite Florentine pharmacy has had a teeny-tiny outpost on the corner of a Piccadilly arcade for some years, but we wanted to share with you that they have just opened a stunning and much airier boutique on spiffy Burlington Gardens, in Mayfair. It sure is a long way from Florence, where the monks made herbal concoctions in a monastery that was founded in 1221 (!) – but baby, look at them now.
We always rather loved the ‘insider’, if-you-know-you-know vibe of Farmacia Santa Maria Novella, having literally made scent pilgrimages to its church-like space in Florence for many decades to bring home swag that you couldn’t get here (notably the incredible and utterly unique Pot Pourri, more of which anon). But now that travel’s become expensive, tedious and often challenging, we’re perfectly happy to have it on our doorstep, thanks: a beautifully-lit, jade green space showcasing their many and varied fragrances (including the floral I Giardini Medicei range), beauty products (cult soaps, face creams) and – yes, that pot pourri.
How can we describe the Pot Pourri? To the uninitiated, t looks a bit like old, dead, beige and brown leaves, but the scent is incredible – spices, incense, resins, pine, more spices… It’s honestly like nothing else out there. Every few weeks, simply ruffle the pot pourri and it reactivates the scent. Jo’s had this in her living room for years, and so many visitors comment: ‘WHAT’S THAT AMAZING SMELL?’
It also now comes in a Candle form (below), if you’re not a pot pourri person, including a gilt-and-green Christmas limited edition here. (We are definitely NOT pot pourri people generally, NB, but this is in another league.) Plus, you can buy it embedded into Scented Wax Tablets that you hang from your hangers to make your clothes smell… well, utterly and appropriately divine. And there’s a soap!
We suggest: plan a perfumed pilgrimage, sometime soon – even if it’s just for a scented swoon.
Santa Maria Novella, 4 Burlington Gardens, London, W1S3ER
