officina profumo-farmaceutica santa maria novella

Henry (Noah Jupe) is brushing his teeth. Some toiletries and fragrances can be seen in the elegant marble bathroom where he’s standing.

By the washbasin there’s a bottle by Officina profumo-farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella. It contains a toner but it’s impossible to be more precise because the front label is unreadable.

The pale pink and white bottle is Gucci Bloom eau de parfum, a white floral fragrance by Alberto Morillas launched in 2017.

Moving to the bath tub area opposite the boy, we can see several bottles on a round table. On the left side of the table there’s a bottle of Giorgio Armani Sì, a chypre fragrance by Christine Nagel launched in 2013.

There’s also Chanel N°5, originally created by Ernest Beaux and launched in 1921.

Last, there’s a bottle of Jean-Paul Gaultier Classique eau de parfum. This floral fragrance, heavy on vanilla, is one of the masterpieces by Jacques Cavallier, launched in 1992.

Thanks to Victoria for submitting this post.

One of the most distinctive symbols introduced in the 1999 adaptation of The Talented Mr. Ripley, a 1955 novel by the American writer Patricia Highsmith, is the perfume by Santa Maria Novella that Dickie buys for his fiancée Marge. In the film only the packaging was shown, so I have always wondered what the mysterious perfume could be.

Now the series created and directed by Steven Zaillian finally gives us a solution to the mystery. A bottle of Acqua di Colonia G. Ugo Stefani by Santa Maria Novella is shown in all its golden foiled glory in the dramatic scene of Dickie’s murder.

This fragrance, now discontinued, was named after one of the heirs of the pharmacist Cesare Augusto Stefani, who first rented the historical Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella on February 5th, 1867, and passed it down to his descendants.

The bottle can be seen again when Tom collects Dickie’s belongings on the beach. This scene reminds me of a similar moment in Casino Royale (2006) by Martin Campbell, where James Bond finds a bottle of Acqua di Colonia al Melograno by the same brand among the belongings of Vesper Lynd.

A growing archive of beauty products and perfumes in movies and tv shows