Store

In the age of aromatherapy, you can locate just about any packaged aroma in just about every store. But a precious few — like Essenza — specialize in top-of-the-line imported fragrances, daintily arranged as in an old-style European apothecary. The décor includes a stone floor; a gurgling Gothic fountain; glass cases of hand-crafted jewelry by local and national designers, including Jamie Joseph and Lauren Schwarz; ceramic canvases depicting naturalist-style insects; and designer baby clothes mixed in among upscale scents for the toddler set.

The list of perfumers reads like a Mediterranean poem: Carthusia I Profumi di Capri, Pere et fils, Tocca and Le Bon Son — plus the elemental Fresh line, borrowing notes from soy, rice, sugar and even tobacco for the subtlest of scents. But tucked away behind the neatly ordered bottles of liquid air and boxes of creamy lathers, a child's closet appeals to different senses: deep colors for the eye and soft textures for the skin. Decorative wire hangers (just like on the back of ice-cream parlor chairs) hold an assortment of miniature clothing with few duplicates: A white brocade dress with gold threads, a smooth, yellow rain slicker, a ridged pair of corduroy overalls. There are velour outfits with old-time prints, a boatman's top with horizontal stripes and soft, poly micro fiber knit robes with sloppy shawl collars. Designers include Petite Bateau, Catimini, Tea, For Citizens of the World, i goffini della nonna, Loungerie and Barefoot Dreams. (And let's not forget soft blankets with Asian silk trim from Petunia Picklebottoms.)

Amid the cloth photo albums with French inscriptions and the felt booties, the bottles reappear: Several fragrance lines have converted the smells of innocence to laundry powder, shea butter, gel for baby's legs and body milk. It just proves that you are never too little to have good scents.

By Alison Peacock
Special to NWsource