The reason I went to Bologna this year before our family vacation at the Adriatic coast was to visit the most beautiful perfume store the city has to offer – Antica Profumeria al Sacro Cuore. One of the first niche perfumeries to open in Italy, it offers a huge variety of brands and hard to find scents.
Pictures say more than a thousand words, so I added a few for your viewing pleasure. 🙂
Diptyque, Clive Christian, Keiko Mecheri, Profumo Roma, Montale
The lovely Mauro welcomed me and introduced me to the owner of the store and his elegant wife. All three of them were so kind and hospitable, it was a joy being there.
Chzech&Speake, Mona di Orio, Fior di Pelle, Puredistance, The Party, Tauer Perfumes, Eau d’Italie, The Different Company, Parfumerie Générale
Mauro showed me the latest and greatest and let me smell the two upcoming perfumes from Maison Francis Kurkdjian – Amyris Femme and Homme, the new Aedes de Venustas EdP by Bertrand Duchaufour, the spectacularly expensive Soul Drops by Guilietta Capuleti (a mere 616€ for 100ml!!!) and the smooth vanilla scent of Nabucco Amytis perfume oil.
Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle
At the Frederic Malle counter I selected my bottle of Carnal Flower that I applied that night and didn’t stop for the entire time of my vacation. This wonderful perfume is my scent of the Summer of ’12.
Montale testers
I didn’t even try to smell too many perfumes, while I was there, because I need time and quiet to assess perfumes, so I never do much sniffing in a store, but just looking around was enough to make me giddy with excitement.
Knize, Nasomatto, MPG, Andrea Maack, Bond N°9, Santa Maria Novella
I loved the relaxed atmosphere in the store and the undoubtedly vast knowledge of the owner Giovanni, with whom I got along famously, language barrier or not, our love for perfume along with vivacious gestures provided enough common ground.
Creed, Vero Profumo, Maison Francis Kurkdjian, By Kilian
The By Kilian discovery set you can see in this picture is now mine!
The wonderful team at Profumeria al Sacro Cuore
If you ever come to Bologna, be sure to make Sacro Cuore your first stop. They also have an online store (in Italian only) offering shipping throughout Europe.
I left with a bag full of perfume and a huge smile on my face. I went on to a few more stores in the city, photos to follow soon, but Sacro Cuore was surely the highlight of my trip.
Have you ever been to Sacro Cuore? Did you encounter any other noteworthy perfume stores on your travels this summer? Please share your tips in the comments!
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It looks like a small piece of heaven to me, thank goodness I am not going to Italy for my holiday as that would have cost me dearly. I am seriously thinking of a bottle of Carnal flower too, well it would be rude not to, I don’t think I will find it where I am going on holiday though. 😦
Where are you going?
Carnal Flower is perfect in every way, as is the store I bought in in. 😉
Try sneaking it under your BF’s nose again, who knows, this time he might fall for it…
Or just dump him and stick with the perfume. 😉 I am sure he makes it up every time he smells something different just to get a reaction from me.
Haha, you’ve surely got your priorities straight.
Woooowww! It’s a perfumistas heaven! I wish I was there with you! All those shelves filled with perfume bottles. My eyes are very happy for the photos you posted!
How did you like MFK Amyris dear? I tried both 2 weeks ago and really enjoyed them, their reviews are on my blog too!
And congrats on Kilian discovery set. This is expensive, isn’t it?
I’m glad you enjoyed the pics, Lucasz!
It is really a beautiful venue.
I can not really voice an opinion about the MFK’s yet, it was little more than a quick sniff, so I’d rather obtain some samples and test them for longer before I say anything. They let me smell them from small vials, the bottles were not in yet.
The Kilian set is good value, 8ml of all ten L’Oeuvre Noire perfumes is not bad. (Of course nothing out of this house can ever be called cheap. 😉 )
I got samples as a friend of a local perfumery but they can’t be bought here yet! I’m looking forward to read your take on them later.
I didn’t have a chance to explore Kilian’s line so far, only Prelude to Love is the one I tried.
By Kilian is really worth exploring, there are some fantastic perfumes in the range. (Only the two Asian Tales scents were extremely disappointing for me.)
Didn’t try those either, but their reviews here and there were quite turning down.
True. 😦
Freddie at SmellyThughts wrote one was totally watery and the other was better but not similar to By Kilian quality of previous releases…
Both smell like Herbal Essences shampoo to me, and that is to be had a lot cheaper. 😉
Haha, I used to heave those shampoos! Prices are uncomparable… 😛
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Wow, what a nice store, and how nicely stocked up.
Yes, they are quite well stocked. 🙂
This shop would have me in bankruptcy court within a week. OMG!!
Portia xx
Lol, I know, I’m glad I’m not there too often. 🙂
BTW Jin and I will be coming to Vienna in mid-November. Dates not confirmed yet. Love to see you.
Portia xx
That is great! I’d love to meet you!
Let me know, when you know more details.
Oh my goodness what a gorgeous shop! This is really dangerous … I will be in Bologna for 23 days starting next month. Yikes! Thank you for posting these beautiful pictures and I’m happy you were able to get a bag full of perfumes. 🙂
Yay, that’s great Connie! You must pay them a visit (please say Hi from me!).
Well, a bag full of perfume is maybe slightly overstating things. 😉
What an amazing store! Thanks for the photos, it really makes we want to visit. So many great brands all in one location, that really is heaven.
It’s great to see so many lines at once.
What a beautiful, beautiful store! I loved that you posted a photo of the owner and his wife and staff — and that you bought your Carnal Flower there. It’s so nice to do business with people who are passionate about their livelihood and who make you feel so welcome when you walk into their store. Great post, Birgit!
Thank you, Suz!
I love that too, when my money goes to someone who really cares. 🙂
Thanks for this great write-up and all the gorgeous pics. What a wonderful store with so very many different brands.
If anyone is going to Sicily for their hols I can recommend Narcisse niche perfumerie on the Corso Umberto, Taormina.
Congrats on your bottle of Carnal Flower and the BK discovery set! We certainly know the former has had a lot of use already 🙂
Thanks for the tip, Tara! I’d love to go back to Sicily one day.
Oh my. OH. MY. I’d make such a fool of myself in a place like that, squealing and jumping up and down (just ask the staff at Barney’s in Las Vegas ;)) Love the pictures, Birgit. And have a grand time with that Discovery Set.
I will! 🙂
I exercise a lot of restraint to keep my own jumping up and down in check. 😉
I’m with you! I went to the Barney’s in Chicago (which is one of the smaller ones, I hear) and just about died. I didn’t even get to sniff half of what I wanted to since I was so overwhelmed. San Diego has some high end stuff, but not much (no Saks, Chanel or Barney’s and our Nieman Marcus fragrance section is very small).
The presentation of the Kilian Discovery set is stunning. Enjoy it! Thanks for posting all these photos and your experience in this lovely shop. I would find it refreshing to shop for perfume in ashop with such attentive and knowledgable service. I’m glad you had a good time. DH would have a stroke if I walked into that shop. Or he’d tell me I have exactly $20 to spend and that’s it!
Enjoy your Kilian’s and Carnal Flower!
That is why I wisely left my husband outside minding the kids. 😉
I love it when the passion for perfume is palpable in a store, soany are just selling “stuff” not caring one way or another.
Thank you for the great article and photos! It was like visiting the store again, I was there in June this year.
Cheers
Safran
Did you buy anything there? (Nosy, nosy, I know! 😉 )
It’s a lovely store, isn’t it?
How fantastic! An amazing selection there.
I’m doing a big Europe trip at the end of the year – am very exciting to visit Campomarzio70 in particular in Rome 😀
That sounds wonderful, Freddie! Campomarzio70 is very high on my list of stores to visit in my lifetime. I look forward to reading your travel coverage. 🙂
There’ll be plenty of it! Got some VERY exciting plans 😉
Good! 🙂
I’m thrilled that you shared your visit with us. In 2006, I was planning to visit, but broke my foot the evening before. The local hospital took excellent care of me, but did not smell in any way similar to the profumeria. Grazie mille.
Oh no, you poor kid! I’m glad your foot was well taken care of, but the smell of hospitals really can’t hold a candle to the lovely Profumeria. 😉
I am from Bologna, and I can confirm all that u wrote!
Especially Mauro is one of my perfume guru!
Hi Woland, that is very nice to hear!
When you go there next time, say Hi to Mauro from me!
Thank you, Birgit! Great pictures! I could never understand those stores that didn’t allow taking pictures: what else can I do with those other than promote the store? I won’t even have to bookmark this post – it’ll go directly to the Shopping Guide 🙂
Congratulations on your purchases! I will give another run to my travel spray of Carnal Flower – in your name. I might eventually get used to it 🙂
Me neither. What is the problem? Are the bottles so uniquely arranged in some stores they fear others could copy their precision stacking? 😉
Thanks for putting it in the Shopping Guide.
Please let me know how you got on with Carnal Flower, I had a travels spray for a while, but did not totally fall in love for at least a year, until that summer…
Did you see any Italian brands hard to get outside Italy? Is there an Italian style of perfumery, do you think, that is different from the globalised brands from France and the US? I’m very curious about this. Lovely post, thanks!
There were a few lines (Fiore de Pelle, Santa Maria Novella,…) that are not available where I live.
Italy has a long and rich perfume tradition, but I have to say that I haven’t yet immersed myself deeper in it, but it is quite an intriguing theme and something I want to take on eventually.
Sorry that I can’t be of more help at the moment.
No worries, thanks, that still gives me something to think about. 🙂 I’m wondering about perfume traditions in different countries and whether you can tell by smelling. Are Italian perfumes different to French which could bv different to … say, Germany? Russia? etc
It’s a very interesting topic. Aren’t you a historian, Anne Marie? (It shows. 😉 )
That store would be dangerous for me. Thanks for sharing. Enjoy your purchases!
I am enjoying them a lot, thanks! 🙂
What can I say? A shop with seriously good gear or what?! Glad Undina is adding it to the shopping guide – looks like a key stop on the international perfume trail. And I echo the other comments about why it can only help to feature photos of a store on such a review, though in my experience the staff don’t always allow it.
So strange, you’ve often talked about difficulties with making photos in stores, I just can’t think how it would be a bad thing for them…
You need to travel farther south eventually, V! 😉
What a fun store! I will need to visit if ever I land in Bologna…no plans as yet. The Aedes de Venustas store in NYC is the Noir version to this. Whereas Sacre Cuore is bright, the Aedes store is dark, heavy velvet drapes, plush carpeting…and carries many of lines you listed.
Hi,
I was at Aedes when I was in NY and I agree, night and day, but both wonderful stores. 🙂
I hope you get to travel to Bologna eventually.
I’m from Bologna, now living in Florida ..and missing the saturday afthernoon when me and my friend Anna ,stop by for purchase or only to see Mauro and the family….always remember the magic of this place and the necklace of his wife , with many medal of Saint and Madonna ,of course in honor of Sacre cour bellissimo ….mi manca molto!!
Hi Antonella,
thank you for commenting!
Bologna and Florida – two very different places in every respect and especially when it comes to perfume shopping, I believe.
I hope you get to visit home again soon! 🙂
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What an amazing store! Thanks for the photos, it really makes we want to visit.
Is it possible to buy Profumum Roma perfumes in travel bottles of 18ml?