--- title: Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella description: Tuesday is the day for obsessing over beautiful things. This week, Liz is so into this centuries-old Florentine pharmacy with a long name and even longer history. image: https://blog.lotuffleather.com/hubfs/smn2.jpg --- [** ](https://blog.lotuffleather.com/officina-profumo-farmaceutica-di-santa-maria-novella#) [![black_Lotuff_logo.jpg](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0213/4994/t/13/assets/logo.svg?10524817447150324571 "black_Lotuff_logo.jpg")](http://lotuffleather.com) ## The Essentials:   Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella By **Liz Silvia** on Aug 20, 2019   •   Topic: [The Essentials](https://blog.lotuffleather.com/topic/the-essentials) --- - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) ![smn2](https://blog.lotuffleather.com/hs-fs/hubfs/smn2.jpg?width=2252&name=smn2.jpg) “Is this a museum, or a store?” That’s what you’ll probably ask yourself upon walking through the subtly adorned archway that leads to Officina Profumo Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella, the centuries-old Florentine pharmacy with a long name and even longer history. If you’ve ever misted your face with rose water, you can thank some Dominican friars for inventing it [here](http://www.smnovella.com/product/7011691) in 1380. And, by the way, the answer to the above question is both—the pharmacy still maintains its original architecture and has many of the original tools used to make their products on display.   ![smn](https://blog.lotuffleather.com/hs-fs/hubfs/smn.jpg?width=2252&name=smn.jpg) I recently visited Florence for the first time and knew I had to stop by this place after hearing about it from Willa. So, on my last day in the City of Lilies, I set out in the middle of a storm to try and find it. (Yes, that *was* really spectacular timing on my part, thank you.) An eternity of wandering around in the rain later and almost ready to give up, I finally spotted the entrance hidden between a laundromat and a café—and I was so glad I did! Offering everything from perfumes and potpourri to liqueurs and lotions in a gorgeously frescoed, mahogany-adorned space, Santa Maria Novella is heaven on earth for beauty aficionados and history buffs alike. It is absolutely beautiful, right down to the fit-for-a-royal packaging. Did I mention the friars also invented perfume as we know it today as a wedding gift for Catherine di Medici?    ![smn3](https://blog.lotuffleather.com/hs-fs/hubfs/smn3.jpg?width=2252&name=smn3.jpg) The pharmacy still grows all manner of herbs themselves to be used in their products, and they even have a tea room where you can decompress after all the shopping and awestruck ambling you’re bound to do. If you’re still in need of some calm afterwards, though, don’t worry: you can buy a [passionflower extract](http://www.smnovella.com/product/85305) supplement to help with that. Or a rosemary-and-orange-scented [candle](http://www.smnovella.com/product/7011831). Or a bottle of [chocolate liqueur](http://www.smnovella.com/product/7010225). Personally, I was lured in by a bottle of [vanilla lotion](http://www.smnovella.com/product/7011229) that smelled like the real thing, because the idea of exuding sugar cookie aromas is wildly appealing to me. Between that and the multiple bags of biscotti I loaded into my carry-on, I’d say I definitely brought a little bit of Florentine sweetness home. *Photos via [Santa Maria Novella](https://www.instagram.com/santamarianovella1612/) and [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/florence-apothecary/index.html)* ### Subscribe to Our Blog ### Leave a Comment ### Posts by Topic - [12 Days of Gifting (12)](https://blog.lotuffleather.com/topic/12-days-of-gifting) - [A Lotuff Life (3)](https://blog.lotuffleather.com/topic/a-lotuff-life) - [Gift Guides (2)](https://blog.lotuffleather.com/topic/gift-guides) - [Gifts with Personality (7)](https://blog.lotuffleather.com/topic/gifts-with-personality) - [Making the Best (116)](https://blog.lotuffleather.com/topic/making-the-best) - [Meet the Team (13)](https://blog.lotuffleather.com/topic/meet-the-team) - [The Essentials (112)](https://blog.lotuffleather.com/topic/the-essentials) - [The Weekender (145)](https://blog.lotuffleather.com/topic/the-weekender) - 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