Read this post in
Arabic
Mendittorosa: A Beautifully Strange Affair
With sculptural bottles, intriguing symbols and fragrances that refuse to follow the ordinary, Mendittorosa brings a distinctly artistic spirit to Italian perfumery
Before you ask what I smell like, take a closer look at me.
Some of my stories begin with a fragrance. Others begin with a symbol, a memory or an idea that refuses to sit still.
I am Mendittorosa, an independent Italian perfumery founded by Stefania Squeglia in 2012. My beginnings are rooted in a rediscovery of creativity, childhood experiments with flowers and water and an encounter with Stromboli, the volcanic island that helped awaken my founder’s imagination. I have grown from that personal journey into a house where perfumery meets art, and every new creation begins with the freedom to take a different path.
I Speak in Symbols
Some of my stories are best understood through the objects I carry.
Take Le Mat, from my Talismans collection. Inspired by The Fool in Tarot, it draws on the idea of setting out without knowing exactly where the journey will lead. Perfumer Anne-Sophie Behaghel brings together nutmeg, black pepper, cloves, geranium, rose, patchouli, cashmere wood and immortelle to give the fragrance its character.
Then look at my cap. Tuscan sculptor Alessandro Reggioli has shaped it from clay, leaving the artist’s fingerprints visible. A terracotta charm and a small bell complete the design.
I like the thought that a maker’s hand should leave a trace. In a world of identical objects, a little irregularity can be rather beautiful.
I Wear My Imagination on the Outside
Talento, created by perfumers Amélie Bourgeois and Camille Chemardin, explores the meeting of rose and mint, supported by notes including geranium, patchouli, oakmoss and cedar. Its sculptural presentation features a real rose stem dipped in resin and painted silver, transformed into a delicate adornment for the bottle.
Nettuno takes me in another direction. Inspired by celestial imagery and the symbolism of Neptune, its composition brings together pink pepper, blue ginger, rose, iris, leather accords, vetiver, benzoin and white musks. Its decorative glasswork, created by Italian mirror artist Luisa Degli Specchi, gives the bottle a distinctive, almost cosmic appearance.
That is central to the way I am made. My Manifesto describes every new perfume as a new artwork, beginning with fresh research into formula and style rather than repeating the same approach. Perfumers, artists and Italian artisans work together to translate the vision of each creation into both fragrance and form.
Made to Be Kept
My packaging is designed around materials such as wood, paper, ceramic, metal and stone, rather than plastic and cellophane. The wooden boxes used for my Odori d’Anima and Talismans collections are handmade in Italy from scented birchwood, without varnish or chemical finishes.
They are intended to have another life after the bottle is opened: on a desk, in a kitchen or wherever you find a use for them.
My approach extends beyond packaging. Mendittorosa’s Awareness programme describes its use of DHL GoGreen shipping to address emissions associated with deliveries, and its partnership with Tree-Nation to support tree planting for online orders. The brand also identifies itself as cruelty-free, with certification from ICEA Italy on behalf of the international Leaping Bunny programme and LAV.
These choices form part of a wider effort to consider the consequences of creating, packaging and sending a product around the world.
Do Not Wear Me Like an Answer
But I would like you to discover something beyond the first impression.
My creations bring together fragrance, design and the work of human hands. I do not follow trends simply because they arrive, and I do not ask every bottle to tell the same story. Each begins with its own idea and finds its own way into the world.
You might remember Le Mat’s little bell, the silver rose stem on Talento or the bird held within the Freedom Collection’s cage. You might find yourself thinking about chance, beauty or the boundaries you would like to leave behind.
I cannot decide what will stay with you.
I am Mendittorosa. I am perfume, but I am also the clay, the wood, the glass and the imagination that brought me into being.
When my scent fades, perhaps the object will remain. Perhaps a memory will return. Perhaps you will simply look at something familiar in a different way.
And if you ask me what I want from you, I have a simple answer.
Do not just wear me. Take a closer look.
A Bird, a Cage and the Meaning of Freedom
In 2026, I opened another chapter with my Freedom Collection: Asoral, Re-Evolution and Outopia.
This time, I wanted to explore a question that belongs to everyone. What does it mean to be free? So I introduced a bird.
Handcrafted in ceramic and metal leaf by Alessandro Reggioli, it sits above each transparent glass flacon. Around it is a birchwood cage designed by Alessandro Stabile, shaped mechanically and finished by hand.
The contrast is deliberate. The bird suggests movement and possibility; the cage represents a boundary that may exist within us, around us, or both.
The collection carries this idea through its colours. Silver connects Asoral with the translucency of the rose, copper links Re-Evolution with red algae, and gold reflects the myrrh and precious resins associated with Outopia. Even the letter O in the fragrance names becomes part of the visual language.
Read this post in
Arabic
