📖 Scent & Stories: Narici at Aromata Rome
Last week, we packed our bags and headed to Rome for Premio Aromata 2025, created by Laura Amato and promoted by the cultural association LiberoStile. This is a one-of-a-kind event that brings together the worlds of perfume and literature—and let’s just say, it didn’t disappoint. Held at the gorgeous Palazzo Velli Expo in Trastevere, this three-day celebration was all about telling stories through scent. Narici was proud to be there, soaking it all in alongside fellow fragrance lovers, creators, and curious noses.
📚 Perfumes with a Plot
Each fragrance at Aromata had a literary twist—perfumes inspired by books, poems, or classic characters. The top prize went to Her Blackened Fig by Jennifer Tartaglione Siems from Immortal Perfumes, a moody, fig-heavy scent based on Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar. Think smoky, emotional, and completely unforgettable.
The crowd favorite was Idillio by Maria Raffaella Monica—a light, citrusy scent straight out of a Guy de Maupassant short story. If you could bottle a spring morning in the countryside, this would be it.
And then there was Obscurus by Giulia Brigliadori, inspired by Dracula. It mixes cherry sweetness with dark, woodsy notes to capture the spooky, seductive vibe of the story. It won the Persolaise Award, judged by Dariush Alavi—one of the most respected voices in independent perfume criticism.
🌿 Scents with a Story to Tell
One of the most moving parts of the event was the Home Fragrance section. The award here went to Noi, preziose come il nardo, created by three women in Betania. It’s made with traditional ingredients like spikenard and beeswax, and the project supports local women through the non-profit Pro Terra Sancta. It’s a great example of how scent can carry meaning and help preserve culture.
There were also hands-on workshops run by Ateneo dell’Olfatto, where people got to create their own fragrances inspired by poetry. One of the sessions even used Horace’s famous “Carpe Diem” as a starting point. Learning to blend scent and story like that? Totally unforgettable.
👃 Why Narici Showed Up
Events like this are exactly why Narici exists. We believe that perfume isn’t just about smelling good—it’s about telling stories, sparking emotion, and connecting to culture. The theme of the event, “Perfume: an expressive code. The invisible between the lines,” really clicked with how we approach our own fragrances.
It was also a great chance to meet other indie creators, learn from some amazing pros, and get inspired by the way others are mixing scent and storytelling. If this is the future of fragrance, we’re all in.
🪔 Spotlight on Narici N°1
We brought Narici N°1 to Aromata because it embodies exactly what the event is about. It’s the fragrance the protagonist of Calvino’s If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler searches for in Madame Odile’s perfume shop—one that’s truly unique, unlike any other.
Narici N°1 is a reimagined Grojsman accord, with a warm, velvety, almost primal trail, thanks to Sicilian sesame absolute, a rare ingredient certified by the Slow Food Presidium. It’s designed to evolve with each wearer, enhancing whatever it touches. As Calvino writes, "For every woman’s skin, there’s a perfume that enhances her own scent." That’s the kind of synergy this composition creates on skin.