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Thumbs Up for SMN Ginestra

post #1 of 25
11/12/07 at 6:02pm
Thread Starter 
Last Sunday, I went to Takashimaya NYC to browse their frags. I like browsing frags at Takashimaya because nobody minds how many you try but not because they don't care. Once you ask for assistance, they are very attentive and polite. Out of the blue, an SA approached me and without saying a word handed me two paper strips that she had sprayed. I tried the first one and wasn't too impressed, it's good but smells like a typical Italian cologne. Then I tried the second one. It smells really good so I asked her which one is it. It is Santa Maria Novella Ginestra (Broom). I've tried SMN's before but I've never heard of this one and I don't think it's something I would've tried anyway since I don't know what Ginestra is and it's English name is not something I would associate with smelling good. I liked this one a lot so I bought a bottle on the spot. I since have learned that Ginestra is also known as Scottish Broom grass and its flowers are intense yellow in color. It is not a very common ingredient in perfumery. I did a search here on the board and only one Basenoter (Griff) has consistently raved about Ginestra. Anyway, if you guys have the chance, you should at least try it and don't let the English name fool you. The SMN website classifies it as a green floral scent. Is anyone here familiar with this flower and is there any other perfume/cologne that you know of that has it as the main ingredient? BTW, the first one the SA asked me to try was SMN Russian Cologne.
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post #2 of 25
11/12/07 at 6:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by lsp_NY View Post

. . . . Is anyone here familiar with this flower and is there any other perfume/cologne that you know of that has it as the main ingredient? . . . .

Ormonde Jayne Taif
Christian Dior Dune

scentemental
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post #3 of 25
12/21/07 at 11:49am
I'm quite interested in trying this fragrance: does anyone know a place I could order a sample from?

Quote:
Scottish Broom grass and its flowers are intense yellow in color. It is not a very common ingredient in perfumery. I did a search here on the board and only one Basenoter (Griff) has consistently raved about Ginestra. Anyway, if you guys have the chance, you should at least try it and don't let the English name fool you. The SMN website classifies it as a green floral scent. Is anyone here familiar with this flower and is there any other perfume/cologne that you know of that has it as the main ingredient? BTW, the first one the SA asked me to try was SMN Russian Cologne.

Broom is an invasive weed where I live, but it's still very pretty and the scent is lovely when it blooms in spring. There's a park in my city almost entirely over-grown with it, and the rich and buttery scent carries on the breeze some distance. I know broom absolute is available, but there doesn't seem to be much in the line of broom solifleurs.
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post #4 of 25
1/7/08 at 5:27pm
Yes! I first experienced SMN Ginestra three months ago and just loved it. I didn't need a new fragrance at the time but the scent played on my mind (as they do!) and now I have my own bottle. A "green floral scent" is a fair description, but there's more to it than that. My nose is not as sophisticated as most of the members here so I'll leave it to others to try and pin this one down.

Thanks to Isp_NY and Galamb_Borong for the background info. The name Ginestra was meaningless to me and the SA couldn't shed any light even though she was/is Italian. Quite by co-incidence I was reading a book on the English Monarchy and found out that Henry I chose Geoffrey Plantagenet - for purely political reasons, of course - as the husband for his daughter, Matilda. Geoffrey's nickname derived from a sprig of bloom, or Planta Genista, that he liked to sport in his helmet. They had 3 sons, the oldest of which would become Henry II. Thus was coined the surname of one of England's greatest dynasties, which ruled the country for the rest of the medieval era, although Plantagenet was not adopted as a surname until the mid 15th century. More here: http://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/plantagenet.htm

Who would have thought an interest in perfumes could broaden one's knowledge in so many ways! SMN Ginestra - a regal fragrance? For sure!
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post #5 of 25
1/10/08 at 4:36pm
I just put this on for the first time a few hours ago, and I must say, it's quite an unusual take on the flower ( though I can hardly say there's a usual take on it; this is the first broom soliflore I've tried ).
The top notes are an intense green, cooly floral scent. The broom is there, but it's married to something like muguet at first. Gradually the nose-tingling character of broom becomes more prominent, and the green turns to an almost fresh-vegetable scent. There's also an odd note I can't quite name; almost coniferous. I think I detected it in French Lover, but I can't seem to name it.
This is a rugged, hill-by-the-sea fragrance, where a broom note perches atop dry green notes. It smells masculine to my nose, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to a man: there's no powder, and remarkably little sweetness.
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post #6 of 25
1/10/08 at 4:46pm
Looking forward to trying it some day. Am crazy about my SMN Pot Pourri, no matter what its detractors here have to say about it. Perhaps Ginestra will be another similar surprise.
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post #7 of 25
9/30/09 at 1:00pm
Purchased a bottle of Ginestra today after sampling quite a few SMN scents. An excellent warm weather fragrance.
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post #8 of 25
9/30/09 at 1:39pm
How would you folks say Ginestra compares to GIT? I ask because I was in an SMN shop recently, and a bunch of guys were sampling stuff and made the comparison. It hadn't occurred to me before, but afterwards I could see what they meant. What do you reckon?
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post #9 of 25
9/30/09 at 2:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by WillC View Post

How would you folks say Ginestra compares to GIT?

I don't think they're alike at all.

I love GInestra, so different from other grassy scents - very natural smelling yet it manages to be extremely unique. It doesn't smell typically fresh (like IMO, GIT does) but yet it evokes a warm freshness.
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post #10 of 25
9/30/09 at 3:37pm
If any of you guys have tried both Ginestra and Dior's Dune, could you remark on the relationship please? Are they very much alike?
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post #11 of 25
9/30/09 at 3:52pm
I live in an area where the broom plant was introduced in the 1890's and escaped from gardens to become a near-native plant. There are vacant lots and hillsides covered with it. The bees seem to love it big time - they buzz around in ecstasy when it's in bloom. A hillside of broom that's been exposed to warm sunshine all afternoon gives off the most incredible fragrance.
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post #12 of 25
9/30/09 at 4:23pm
The only other perfume that I know that uses "broom" as one of it's notes (apart from the already mentioned Dune (the women's one)) is :

L'Artisans ~Cote d'Amour , which has quite a bit of it in it's heart accord. (Though with quite a few other floral notes too)

But if you would like a perfume that is a "soliflore" made entirely of just pure all-natural Broom Absolute (Genet Absolute) ... Profumo.it makes a lovely one (named ... surprise, surprise : "Broom" ) ... (And it smells exactly like the scent coming off these glorious "yellow flowered bushes")

Here is a link : http://www.profumo.it/perfume/prodotto.asp?pid=5063
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post #13 of 25
9/30/09 at 4:48pm
Damn it guys! This sounds great, and what do ya' know TPC doesn't carry it. Just my luck!
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post #14 of 25
9/30/09 at 6:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mtgprox05 View Post

Damn it guys! This sounds great, and what do ya' know TPC doesn't carry it. Just my luck!

Call Lafco. They sent me a sample for free.
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post #15 of 25
9/30/09 at 7:27pm
Ginestra! I love the plant, love the SMN fragrance. Ginestra (spartium junceum) is a member of the large genus, Ginesta (Broom)

Ginestra is like a weed in parts of Italy. I first came across it in Spoleto on the hills leading up to the top of Montelucco.



The yellow flower form is most prevalent. It's scent is intoxicating and the spires make lovely cut flowers.

I have found it growing in places here in San Jose.

The fragrance is similar to the scent of the flower but not nearly as sweet (Ginestra smells a little like freesias only greener). This is my favorite SMN.
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post #16 of 25
9/30/09 at 9:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Moneysuckle View Post

Call Lafco. They sent me a sample for free.

You guys seem to have it really good there in the US, with all that excellent "customer service", and free samples being thrown about, and even "sent for free". ~ You lucky b****rs!

I am yet to receive a free sample, after countless phone calls and requests to countless places. And have never received a free sample sent out to me, ever !

Even just "over the counter" free samples, the few and far between odd ones that I have managed to get my hands on, ... I tell you it would be easier "extracting teeth", and way less of a mission. (LOL)
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post #17 of 25
10/1/09 at 4:03am
Oh I have always wondered about SMN Ginestra. Do you find it quite masculine or could a woman carry it off?
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post #18 of 25
10/1/09 at 7:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by 3xasif View Post

Oh I have always wondered about SMN Ginestra. Do you find it quite masculine or could a woman carry it off?

It's easily unisex. A woman SA in the SMN boutique (in LA) actually tipped me off to it. She said it was her favorite from the line. When Ray and I smelled it, we both loved it and kept coming back to it, as one of the favorites from their huge line.
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post #19 of 25
9/24/10 at 2:35pm
I just got my free sample in the mail today from Lafco and it is absolutely lovely. I was inspired to hunt down for broom (ginestra) fragrances after purchasing an Italian soap bar a month ago. Yes it is floral, but in an open-field green sort of way. The scent is similar to freesia - delicate and clean. This would be the perfect fragrance to wear after a shower. Broom is a winner. :-)
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post #20 of 25
4/5/11 at 8:03am
OMG! I can't believe it. I just called Laftco and a pleasant lady named Kelly spoke with me. I said I was referred by basenotes. They are actually shipping samples to me today and I thought they only shipped domestic. Awesome!! Can't wait!!
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post #21 of 25
4/5/11 at 9:42am
Broom absolute is used in some floral blends. Like absolute of narcissus this ingredient that can smell quite different from the actual flower. The hugely concentrated nature of absolutes can reveal facets of floral notes that one would not necessarily associate with the fresh ingredient - for example, the leathery or animalic thread that comes through when absolute of narcissus is used. I guess one could think of it as the "mob nature" of the flower as opposed to the individual. I am most familiar with broom in Nuit de Longchamps by Lubin, a very elegant floral with a complex aura.
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post #22 of 25
4/15/11 at 5:21pm
I just received the free samples! I can't believe they sent it across borders and I didn't even have to pay for shipping. Amazing people at Lafco. Highly recommended!
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post #23 of 25
4/15/11 at 6:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by TeeTee View Post

OMG! I can't believe it. I just called Laftco and a pleasant lady named Kelly spoke with me. I said I was referred by basenotes. They are actually shipping samples to me today and I thought they only shipped domestic. Awesome!! Can't wait!!

Good job Tee
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post #24 of 25
4/16/11 at 7:11am
Thanks SoGent . So I am following up on my experiences so far. I got four samples. I don't know what broom flower smells like but the Ginestra smells like something I have smelled so many times before, partly in a lot of men's cologne.

I am really enjoying the Marescialla! I sprayed it this morning and forgot about it then minutes later, I started following a very beautiful scent that led me to my wrist lol! I might be falling in love with this one . It is very multifaceted. I still have Russian and Pomegranate to try but those can wait!
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post #25 of 25
4/16/11 at 1:56pm
In my day job I'm a wholesale flower broker/ importer and Ginestra from Italy is a great filler flower that gives a great scent. It comes in natural white and yellow and is often tinted pretty colors like pinks, lavenders, oranges, purples. Because the stem has a nice shape, with single stems it is a good one to design with.

During early spring we also get some white and pink from So. California.

The smell is light but a pretty fragrance. I'll have to check this one out.
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