Essence of the Park
Carthusia Essence of the Park Eau de Parfum 100ml does the opposite of what most fragrances do, loading nearly everything into the opening and then thinning out, which gives it an airy, slightly old fashioned transparency. Bergamot starts it, bitter and bright, and marjoram comes in immediately with a warm, savoury, slightly peppery herb quality that is rarely used this early. Then two roses: rose in general terms, soft and faintly sweet, and Turkish rose, which is richer, jammier and more honeyed, so the flower is layered rather than single. Ylang ylang sits across the top of all of it, creamy and heavy and a little sharp, and that is the whole opening, unusually crowded.
Broom is the only thing in the middle. It is a yellow flowered Mediterranean shrub and it smells of honey, hay and warm straw with a faintly green bitterness behind it, and putting that one material on its own gives the fragrance a strange, sunlit emptiness at the point where most scents are busiest. Bay leaf closes it, dry and savoury and a little medicinal, which is an odd and rather good choice after all that sweetness. Do not expect a long evolution: the shape here is front loaded and then calm, and what you smell at twenty minutes is broadly where it stays. Luca Maffei composed it and it appeared in 2015. It is moderate in strength and keeps close to the skin, best in warm weather and daylight, and it reads as unisex.
The house makes its perfumes by hand on Capri, in a laboratory opposite the Certosa di San Giacomo, the monastery from which it takes its name. That laboratory has been running since 1948, and the Ruocco family took the business over in the late 1990s. Carthusia builds its scents from Capri and Mediterranean material across lines including Mediterraneo, Via Camerelle, Terra Mia and Intenso, and the medieval tale it tells about its own origins is offered as legend, not as history.
Please note: images are a guide only. Packaging and bottle design may occasionally differ from those shown due to manufacturer updates or promotions.
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