If you’ve ever wondered what goes on in a fragrance trade fair, get ready for all the news as Suzy reviews this year’s Pitti Fragranze in Florence. There are some some thrilling new launches and brands to get excited by, and she reveals some of the trends we can expect to see filtering their way through to the wider fragrance world over the coming months. In fact, firstly a storm stopped play as we arrived in Florence, with Suzy’s plane stranded on the runway for three hours as lightning struck. Luckily the rest of the trip was exciting for all the right reasons! Suzy has been attending the Pitti Fragranze trade fair for thirteen years, and genuinely felt this was one of the best ever years. The overall vibe seemed to be a return to beauty - classical perfumery elements woven in new and intriguing ways, and with greater cultural diversity from brands showcasing their heritage and aromas they grew up with. We’ll be focussing more in this aspect - as well as talking about the trends Suzy saw emerging this year - in next week’s episode. But until then, enjoy this whistle-stop rundown of some of Suzy’s highlights of the show this year… Suzy’s top picks of the show (well SOME of them - there were a lot! We’ll have to cover some more in future episodes and on our Patreon page). Beaufort London Sunken Tobacco Imagine an ancient, lead-lined wooden box of tobacco—lost in a shipwreck and submerged beneath the sea. Centuries later, the wreck re-emerges and its precious cargo is rediscovered. Barnacled and salt-encrusted, the lid is levered off - within, tobacco lies preserved in shadow and silt. Exposed at last to the sun, the furled leaves begin to bloom: warm, dark, faintly honeyed. Salt crystals glitter on wave-lapped rocks as the tobacco is laid out upon sun-bleached driftwood, its leathery richness threaded with mineral air, smoke, tar and sea-spray. A buried treasure, reclaimed from the deep - not pristine, but made stranger and more compelling by its long immersion. Sunken Tobacco is the scent of faded maps and flooded holds - of a sailor’s hoard brought blinking into daylight, still carrying the ocean in its grain. Four new Olfiction Lab Editions (coming soon! Expected launch on their website by end of November) BALSAM Neo-vintage amber Aldehydes, Apple, Bergamot Jasmine, Ylang Ylang, Muguet Peru Balsam, Labdanum, Vanilla absolute, Fir Balsam, Benzoin, White Musks, Oakmoss SUAVE Neo-vintage fougere Nutmeg, Shaving soap, Cedar Leaf, Coffee CO2 Lavender absolute, Lavender oil, Coffee absolute, Geranium, Sage Musk Accord, Suede, Animal notes, Incense resin, Rectified Cedarwood, Oakmoss CASSISSIMO Fruity floral Blackcurrant Bud CO2, Blackcurrant Bud absolute, Blackberry, Red Mandarin Champagne accord, Tuberose absolute, Rose absolute Bulgaria, Geranium Rosat Musk, Cognac oil, Vanilla syrup, Benzoin, Patchouli, Sandalwood Australia LASKIAISPULLA Gourmand Nordic Shrove Buns Whipped Cream, Marzipan, Raspberry Jam, Raspberry Leaf, Orris Vanilla sugar, Vanilla absolute, Tonka absolute, Tonka infusion, Benzoin, Opoponax OLYMRA Founder: Born and raised in Greece, Dr. Frida Michailidou is an award-winning scientist whose work is deeply rooted in Greek botanical heritage, nature, and innovation. Previously a Lecturer and Collegium Fellow at ETH Zurich, she led the first scientific expedition to decode the rare scents of Mount Olympus using pioneering non-destructive technology. Recognised as an MIT Innovator Under 35 Europe and TEDx speaker, she is redefining perfumery through the convergence of science, sustainability, and the timeless spirit of Greece. ‘Born from the rare botanicals of Mount Olympus, OLYMRA transforms myth, memory, and wild nature into modern extrait de parfum. Grounded in earth, inspired by the divine.’ Persephone ‘Deep. Intimate. Transformative. OLYMRA PERSEPHONE is a fragrance of dual worlds: one of light, one of shadow. Inspired by the mythic queen who walks between both, it captures a moment of transformation: the instant spring yields to desire, and dusk begins to bloom. The fragrance opens with bergamot, pink pepper, and cardamom; bright, spiced notes that shimmer like sunlight across stone. At its heart, a lush pairing of Damask rose, Centifolia rose, and the OLYMRA plant accord, a precise reconstruction of rare mountain flora, unfurls with velvet intensity. Beneath, a deep base of cacao, tonka bean, beeswax, grey amber, and hyrax evokes warmth, earth, and skin; the lingering traces of a myth reborn. OLYMRA PERSEPHONE is not a fragrance of opposition, but of passage and evolution; from innocence to knowing, from surface to depth, from petal to flame. Crafted for those who carry both sunlight and shadow. She walks between worlds. Will you follow her into the dusk?’ Kharon ‘Dark. Sensual. Elemental. OLYMRA KHARON is a fragrance shaped by myth and memory. Inspired by Kharon, the ferryman of Hades, silent, unwavering, eternal, it is an olfactory passage through the darker recesses of the soul. The scent opens with sharp lemon, luminous neroli, and the spark of black pepper, evoking the moment just before surrender. At its heart, the complexity deepens: Damask rose and tobacco entwine with the OLYMRA Accord, a precise reconstruction of wild flora from Mount Olympus. In the base, smoked wood, beeswax, vetiver, sandalwood, and a bold note of hyrax create a dry, tactile finish; intimate yet vast, like breath inside stone. OLYMRA KHARON is not designed to please. It is designed to confront. To carry. To remain. A fragrance for those drawn not to light, but to truth; wherever it may lead. The river lays ahead... Are you ready to cross?’ Laboratorio Olfattivo Bagage à main (translates as hand luggage in British English) ‘Leather and Nutmeg; middle notes are Vetiver and Peru Balsam; base notes are Patchouli, Amber, Tonka Bean and Ambronova ™’ Laboratorio Olfattivo Rose Me Twice (By Jean-Claude Ellena) ‘With over 40,000 varieties, the rose is the flower whose fragrance has been most extensively explored by perfumers — an entire universe in which one can easily lose oneself among its infinite nuances. This exploration took a decisive turn in 1867, when the breeder Jean-Baptiste Guillot created ‘La France’, the first hybrid tea rose. With this innovation, Guillot introduced not merely a new flower, but an olfactory signature that would shape perfumery forever. Today, whenever I perceive a tea note within a rose, I immediately recognize its lineage from that historic hybridization. The secret of this aroma lies in a specific molecule: ionone — used to recreate the scent of violet, but also a key component in the olfactory impression of tea.’ Heeley Chiris Historic French house revered and revived by James Heeley in this INCREDIBLE leather / iris / Chypre fragrance. ‘The fragrance house of Antoine Chiris dates back to 1768 and is considered to be the first and perhaps the greatest of the enterprises that made a business of harvesting natural materials and turning them into the raw materials of perfumery and, at times, creating the perfumes themselves. Antoine de Chiris was born into a wealthy family of Italian origin. In Grasse he began buying up fields which produced flowers which were converted into perfumery materials. Chiris held early patents on a steam distillation process capable of producing significant amounts of high quality oil at an economic cost. This technology helped made Grasse the international focus of perfumery for over a century and a half.’ History from https://www.perfumeprojects.com/museum/marketers/Chiris.shtml The fragrance: ‘Chiris by James Heeley is an iris and leather fragrance created by James Heeley and launched in 2026. It pays tribute to Chiris, the historic perfume-materials producer founded in Grasse in 1768, and to the Iris Pallida it cultivated in Tuscany. Osmanthus, citrus and peach open the composition, followed by Iris Pallida and olibanum over a base of leather, cedar, sandalwood and amber.’ Lorenzo Villoresi Vol D’Abaris The nose behind this fragrance is Alessandro Villoresi. The fragrance features Tobacco, Amber, Vanilla, Musk and Woody Notes.
