Palo santo, or holy wood, is having its moment. This African tree, with distinctive milky-licorice smell, has been cropping up in a diverse range of artistic perfumes over the last year. Tonatto Profumi is the latest to build a fragrance around the warm, creamy aroma of palo santo, producing a limited edition of 200 bottles of eau de parfum and home fragrance that use a generous amount of pure palo santo perfume oil. In the hands and nose of Creative Director Diletta Tonatto, Tonatto Profumi Palosanto is the fragrance of the quiet at the center of a storm: lactonic, mellow, calming. This is perfume that seems magically to work as both sophisticated scent and gentle restorative. There are a small handful of perfumes to which I turn when the imprint of the world seems too present, the need to retreat as pressing as thirst: DSH Perfumes Axis Mundi, Coty L’Origan, Jacomo No. 2. To this tiny group I now add Tonatto Profumi Palosanto.

As Palosanto develops, the creamy quality subdues in favour of denser wood notes, which come out in layers. Somewhere in the middle, a slim ribbon of coolness trickles through, not immediately discernable as mint that cuts the opacity of the sandalwood-palo santo accord. As it dries down, the notes come into complete harmony with each other. There is nothing hard-edged or heavy in the fragrance, but it does have substance. I detect a nod to Tonatto Profumi Palosanto elegant cousin Apeiron, in the retro-violet note I pick up towards the end.

 Thanks to the generosity of Diletta Tonatto and Tonatto Profumi, we have a 100 ml bottle of Tonatto Profumi Palosanto to give away to one registered reader anywhere in the world. The random winner is DrewZ. Please email michelyn at cafleurebon dawt com with Tonatto Profumi Palosanto as your subject and your complete mailing details by 1/27 /18 5 PM EST. This is a deadline and no exceptions if you are late or misspell CaFleureBon. Please use your email from your comment so we know it is you.  A kind thank you to Tonatto Profumi for this generous prize is much appreciated.

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