the artisan perfumer

"There is a Perfume of the Soul for each of us." With these words begins our meeting with Mauro Malatini, essence of "Bottega Malatini" in Civitanova Marche, the first artisan Perfumer guest of our Blog. Mauro loves perfumes since he was a child, his studies in herbal sciences bring him closer to the world of essences and natural fragrances, making him strike the spark of an ambitious project: a Bottega - inspired by those of Renaissance artists-artisans - in which to create personalized perfumes involving us in an introspective path that is articulated in a series of encounters full of emotions. And at the end of the journey, finally, Mauro gives us our unique and very personal Perfume of the Soul.

Mauro, you are the first perfume maker to participate in My Cup Of Tea and we would like to ask you, to begin with, how your passion for perfumes was born and what it means for you to be a Artisan Perfumer.

I thank you for this meeting and for the opportunity to talk about my passion.

My love for perfumes was born in my childhood: my dearest olfactory memories are linked to the fragrances worn by my grandmothers and to the sweet experience of being able to smell them during a hug.

This kind of gratitude for the past pushed me to become an artisan perfumer in homage to the Renaissance workshops, which inspired me in the search for an atmosphere that spoke of precious encounters and creation of uniqueness.

How do you create a "Perfume of the Soul" customized to the needs of a person?

The story of each Perfume of the Soul begins with the welcome in the Shop, where the guest is accompanied in the room dedicated to the creation of fragrances: a comfortable nest in which to enjoy a new exploration of the self. Through a series of questions I enter in connection with the most intimate part of the person and I begin to propose essences and olfactory molecules that the host can reject or evaluate positively. At the end of the session I reveal the essences selected to become the top, heart and background notes of the personalized fragrance and I tell the person the portrait revealed by the Perfume of the Soul, a very intense moment that I particularly love.

Artisanal Perfumery is having a great success. Why is it more and more in demand and what makes it different from Haute Perfumery?

At this moment in history people begin to realize how fragile individuality can be and how easy it is to get lost in the mass. The reaction is a renewed interest in "tailor-made", for what makes us feel unique and important: not surprisingly, today the world of luxury speaks of extreme customization.

As for high perfumery, I think it is not so far from the artisan one: I like to think that we perfumers are "brothers", even if my field provides a precise approach, to chisel, more intimate and personal.

What is the most frequent mistake you make, choosing a perfume?

The imitation. Buying a perfume quickly just because we liked it on someone else pushes us to follow fashion without thinking about our peculiarities, maybe choosing a fragrance that is not in line with the natural smell of our skin or our personality.

To choose well one needs awareness: of oneself, of one’s own body and of one’s own mood. A perfume should always combine the aspects of the soul with the olfactory ones to reflect and amplify who we are and how we are at a certain moment in our lives.

At this point we are curious to know what is the essence, the perfume, the smell you love most?

I love so many, so it’s a difficult question! I am very attached to the world of incense because it speaks of spirituality and goes beyond matter: it is an essence that expresses the union between what is tangible and what is not, a tension that represents me a lot. On the other hand, however, I also like to change "dress" and connect to different essences: I love the warmth of amber, the softness of cashmere, the sensual world of musks. The smells instead come from childhood: that of make-up d'antan, the old cosmetics richer and fatter, and the clean smell of laundries run by nuns, a "forbidden world" full of charm.

Bottega Malatini - Corso Dalmazia, 105/a - Civitanova Marche (MC) - 335 130 7181 www.bottegamalatini.it