Santa Maria Novella
Santa Maria Novella
160 votes
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Bright citrus aldehydes snap to attention immediately, bergamot leading with bitter orange in close pursuit, whilst clove and nutmeg emerge like dust motes in afternoon light. The spice accord feels almost medicinal, hinting at the fragrance's apothecary roots before pomegranate's tart, slightly aggressive presence forces its way through.
The floral heart emerges as the citrus begins its inevitable retreat, rose and ylang ylang settling into an uneasy dialogue tempered by that persistent pomegranate tartness. A powdery, slightly iris-tinged quality takes hold, pushing the composition toward something more austere and green, with the oakmoss providing a subtle chypre structure that prevents the florals from becoming traditionally pretty.
Within a few hours, the fragrance becomes a wispy suggestion of itself—pale oakmoss and soft musk linger as a barely-there skin scent, the pomegranate and spices having faded to mere memory, leaving only a faint powdery dryness and a ghost of rose that might exist more in imagination than chemistry.
Melograno Santa Maria Novella arrives as something genuinely rare in modern fragrance: a cologne that smells like the apothecary itself, all hushed amber bottles and Renaissance herbalism. The pomegranate isn't a fruity sweetness but rather a tart, slightly astringent presence that threads through the composition like a tannin, grounding what could otherwise become a cloying affair. Bergamot and bitter orange open with that classic eau de cologne brightness, but here they're quickly complicated by clove and nutmeg—spices that feel historically intentional rather than decoratively scattered.
What makes this fragrance distinctive is how the floral heart resists predictability. Ylang ylang typically reads as creamy and tropical, but paired with pomegranate's drying edge and rose's crisp green undertones, it becomes something more architectural than lush. There's a powdery insistence throughout, a faint iris-like dryness that prevents the composition from ever becoming soft or romantic. The oakmoss base, though evanescent even by cologne standards, lends a subtle chypre structure—a whisper of moss-covered stone that elevates this beyond simple citrus splash.
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4.3/5 (234)