Profumum Roma
Founded 1996
Celestino and Luisa Durante came to Rome from the Molise village of Sant'Elena Sannita and built a business making colognes and lotions. In 1996 four of the family, Giuseppe, Luciano, Maria and Felice Durante, started their own perfume house. It is known for strong perfumes built from a short list of ingredients and has four shops in Rome.
Hours and prices change, so check with the shop before you go.
Profumum Roma, a knife grinder's family and its perfumes
Profumum Roma began with Celestino Durante and his wife Luisa, who left the small Molise village of Sant'Elena after the war. Celestino was a knife grinder who learned the trade of Rome's barbers and shops; in time his bicycle became a shop and colognes and lotions replaced the grinding wheel. In 1996 their children Giuseppe, Luciano, Maria and Felice Durante struck out on their own and founded their own perfume house. It is now marking 30 years.
In 2014 Premium Beauty News reported that the family makes each fragrance together in a laboratory just behind the shop, mostly with Italian ingredients. Each formula uses 8 to 10 raw materials, and the perfumes are 43 percent concentrated, so they last like an extract.
In Rome, start at its own boutique at Via di Ripetta 248. It has three more: Piazza Giuseppe Mazzini 4, Via della Colonna Antonina 27 and Viale Europa 12. Its site lists Acqua di Sale at 195 euros for 100 ml, with an 18 ml bottle and 3 ml samples too. Try Acqua di Sale first: it is the house's sea scent of sea algae, wild myrtle and cedar, and it also gives its name to a body line.
- Acqua di SaleA deserted beach on an August morning, with shells left by the waves, sea algae, wild myrtle and cedar.
- Roma KyotoThe sweet taste of cherries and the red of a lover's lips, with ylang-ylang, orange, coconut and cinnamon.
- Acqua VivaA sail heading for the Aeolian islands and the lemons of the Amalfi coast, with broom and cedar.
- OrangeaA hidden garden of flowering orange trees and a love that can only live in the shade.
- Sabbia BiancaNight-blooming jasmine, tiare and tuberose over coconut and vanilla, like footprints in white sand.
Where to buy
- Own boutique, Via di Ripetta 248, Rome
- Own boutique, Via della Colonna Antonina 27, Rome
- Own boutique, Piazza Giuseppe Mazzini 4, Rome
- Own boutique, Viale Europa 12, Rome
In our city guides
- Profumum Roma, Via della Colonna Antonina (Boutique, Rome)
- Profumum Roma, Via di Ripetta (Boutique, Rome)