i Profumi di Firenze Spezie de Medici
If the i Profumi di Firenze line has any signature quality, it is one of freshness. Spezie de Medici is no exception.
At the first spray, the overwhelming sensation I have is of home-squeezed orange juice with a melange of spiciness at its core. Perhaps as a consequence, Spezie suffers from a case of potpourri-itis. But its staunch spice also makes for one of the more invigorating fragrances I’ve tried.
Newly sliced ginger root is the defining note here. Clove then cinnamon jump into the ruction, and there’s a decidedly dry kick of cayenne pepper laying into the ginger. The sweet piquancy of cardamom appears only briefly on me, and I can’t say it leaves much of an impression on me in the face of the brasher spices making up this eau de parfum.
Spezie de Medici is an awakening fragrance that energizes me in the same way listening to loud guitar-blasting music does early in the morning. What I find in this scent is the same “get up and at ‘em” that’s in Ted Leo + The Pharmacists’ The Angels’ Share. Click player below to hear a clip of roughly the first minute of The Angels’ Share.
Spezie is not a scent I would recommend to anyone who doesn’t already know for a fact that they enjoy spicy perfumes, nor is it one I’d suggest for those who find potpourri allusions unsavory in wear. It is, however, a must-try for ginger lovers, and I feel it makes a happy autumnal fragrance choice.
Image at top left of 1948-C by Clyfford Still, from http://hirshhorn.si.edu. Ted Leo’s The Angels’ Share can be found on his new album Shake the Sheets, and can be bought through Djangos or directly from http://tedleo.com.