Tiziana Terenzi - Al Contrario
The Tiziana Terenzi fragrance collection had always been inspired by travel, with each scent symbolizing different stations and stops on our journey, as well as the collected experiences and memories from these trips. The bottle itself bears a unique design - it appears to be upside down (although it is not), thus symbolizing the topsy turvey feeling we get from travel - a life turned upside down and inside out, and most pleasurably so. Al Contrario tells the story of the journey home - the homecoming - a moment of pure nostalgia when the upheaval of the trip is firmly behind us. There is a feeling of tremendous anticipation, the trembling desire to be reuinted with our loved ones and our own hearth. As we slowly near home, the sights we see grow in familiarity and affection. In the distance, the slopes of the green hills of home appear. The plants, the farmlands, and orchards of this wonderful town come into view. We recognize the tree on which we climbed as children, and the old farmhouse with the half-closed windows through which a faint, translucent light shines. And after the last curve in the road, the sea suddenly comes into view, the sight of its fierce, roaring waves striking awe into our hearts. Finally we are at home. Love and a welcome fire in the fireplace await us, warming our hearts and determining the pace of the stories to be told about adventures just experienced.
Al Contrario is an atmospheric perfume, full of the delicious, anticipatory feeling shared by all travelers arriving home. This perfume is intended for all those who understand both the joy and the pain of traveling, with all the leaving and coming back that it entails. The life of a traveller is not for everyone. Likewise, this is a fragrance that will not be for everyone. It is the sort of perfume that chooses you, and your way of life, rather than the other way around. There is an almost nostalgic feeling of longing to this perfume, balancing somewhere between the sweetness of vanilla and the dark grain of malt and cocoa fruit. Ebony woods, dark, graceful, and profound, resonate through the base and gives the wearer the sense of his feet firmly rooted in something solid - home, roots, a community. It is a perfume for those who travel and then return, restlessly searching out the things and people that give us a sense of the miracles - big and small - of life.
