I’ve met more than a few women who wear Tocca fragrances, and they’re often thirty-something acquaintances who work in the arts, which makes sense to me. Tocca’s fragrances are available at Sephora, but also at quite a few quirky little boutiques. They’re generally light, feminine scents with sweet floral and fruit notes, they’re packaged in antique-looking bottles, and they have names that refer to romantic locales or famous women in history. Tocca isn’t a niche line, but it offers a semi-mainstream alternative to celebrity fragrances, teen-oriented scents and logo-encrusted “aspirational” products. They’re not necessarily distinctive fragrances, but they’re never embarrassing, either.

Giulietta, which was launched in 2009, claims to evoke “the love story of Italian director Federico Fellini and Giulietta Masina” in a composition that includes top notes of Bulgarian rose, ylang ylang, green apple, and pink tulips; middle notes of lily of the valley, iris pallida, vanilla orchid, lilac, and heliotrope; and bottom notes of cedarwood, musk, amber and sandalwood. In the Eau de Parfum, the green apple note is quite noticeable at the outset, but it gradually makes way for the fragrance’s heart of various white petals and very soft, clean woods. Giulietta left me with the impression of a dessert that involves whipped cream and a very mild fruit sorbet and a garnish of some edible flower. In fact, considering the lingering presence of the vanilla orchid note, I’d even classify Giulietta as an easy-to-wear “summer vanilla…”

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