Trying to come up with thematic posts for pre-Christmas week, I realized that I don’t have many olfactory Christmas associations. Having been born and raised in the Soviet Union, that is perhaps quite understandable. When I was growing up, Christmas was not celebrated there. New Year however was a huge deal, with all the paraphernalia my Western readers would typically associate with Christmas: the tree, decorations, Santa Claus (Ded Moroz or Grandfather Frost), presents, big (very big) holiday dinner…
When I was a child, it was our family tradition to always have lots of mandarins in the house during winter holidays; I believe the same would be true for most people in Russia and former republics. I don’t know how that started, but the fact remains that for me the smell of mandarins is forever a festive smell of happy childhood days of winter. It is not surprising then that Vaniglia, Bourbon & Mandarino di Sicilia by Antica Farmacista, a pretty straightforward and extremely enjoyable vanilla and mandarin blend, is associated for me with New Year celebrations. There is isn't much to describe here, the scent is exactly what the title promises it would be, vanilla and mandarin and not much else. I like the way mandarin note is able to stand up for itself and not disappear for quite some time, unlike so many other Something & Vanilla blends out there. The delicious vanilla note here makes me nostalgic for my mum’s incredible pastries, cakes, and tarts. Whenever I smell Vaniglia, Bourbon & Mandarino, I have to fight back tears; it makes me long to be a child again, to rip the bright wrapping paper off the presents and to greedily consume mandarins and cakes and candies and not have a single concern in the whole wide world.You can buy this Italian-made scent of Soviet New Years Eves at Nordstrom, where a lovely set including Vaniglia, Bourbon & Mandarino di Sicilia and Vanilla Home Ambiance perfume retails for $60.00.
