“Sale Marino”, translated into English: sea salt, brings the freshness of the Neapolitan coastal line to us. It is not a cozy, warm fragrance. The perfume does not transport the feeling of a summer beach with ice-cream, sun-protection, white sand, and heat. “Sale Marino” shows a rough coastal line with waves breaking on the stoney promenade, fresh wind even in summer, and the scent of multiple green herbs in the air.
It is clearly a summer perfume that cools the wearer down. It seems impossible to sweat when wearing the fragrance.
The main scent notes according to the iMatti (Eminence Parfums) website are cyclamen, acacia, moss, vanilla, patchouli, and lily of the valley.
What I smell are marine notes, like saltwater with some coconut, herbs (like sage, thyme, juniper) and bittersweet flowers. This sounds very different from the scent notes named on the website of the producer, but it is a known phenomenon that the whole is often more than its parts. Probably I smell the spirit of the perfume more than the single scent notes.
The fragrance does not change much over time. The durability is good.
The colours of the perfume are grey, green-blue, and white.
The ‘nose’ behind “Sale Marino” is Gino Rossi, the founder of Errevi Trade Srl., the company that owns Eminence Parfumes. One of the Eminence Parfumes brands, the last one founded, is iMatti (probably best translated as “the fools”). The company is a real niche perfume brand in the classical way.
The iMatti brand shows a clown / fool with spiky hair between 2 lions below a crown as seen on the bottles. No story has come up to explain the logo – be it like it is.
I found the brand only through a bigger perfume online trader that sold some of their perfumes. It was a typical blind buy, made easier by the very reasonable prices of the iMatti perfumes (well below 100€). Having tested one and being flashed by the quality, I looked the producer up, found their website and online shop and bought most, not all, future perfumes there to support a small business. I also tested their new make-up / hair-care line. All fine quality from my point of view.
Almost all the knowledge about the company Eminence Parfums and their various lines comes from their own website. We learn there that Gino Rossi, a master perfumer and ‘nose’ from Naples, is since over 40 years in the perfume business. His daughter Valentina Rossi, who is now the managing director of the company, added more perfume lines, and as well the make-up / hair-care line to the portfolio. The Eminence and the Acqua di Capri line do not resonate so much with me, but iMatti does.
The iMatti fashion parfume line concentrates – according to the companies’ own words – on bold and seductive scents of the past, on perfumes that do not longer exist. The latter is not so clear, as it seems especially during the last years quite some perfume lines turned to more natural fragrances compared to the artistic, very artificial scents that had been en vogue for a long time before.
“Sale Marino” is a very good example of the quality and depth of the iMatti perfumes. iMatti is one of the few companies whose perfumes one can buy without testing and not being disappointed in almost 100% of the cases. The iMatti collection includes all kinds of scents, pure gourmand to herbal fresh and everything in between.
Brands like Eminence Parfums and iMatti fashion parfums are at the core of the niche perfume business. They stay true to the roots of what a niche perfume really is. Locally produced perfumes, high quality, often with a connection to the area the brand comes from, not much money spent on marketing and packaging. The product, the perfume, is in the focus. Quite many wonderful niche perfume companies are located in Italy, which is a good sign for the culture in the country towards smaller players.
It seems that the business future for the Neapolitan brand looks bright. The boutique in Naples is still the centre of the brand, but they are clearly rising above the city’s and country’s borders. It would be great if quality and pricing can be kept in balance also in the future.
To follow developments of Eminence Parfums and iMatti fashion parfums has become a habit for me every few months, and usually something new has come up.
“Sale Marino” is during the current hot summer days a welcome companion that brings back memories of the walk between Castel dell’Ovo and the Naples port. Summertime does not always have to be lazy and sweet, it can also be refreshingly lively and downright energetic.