The manager at Aqua Flor was absolutely amazing. His name escapes me at the moment. I did encounter…read moreyoung lady name Francesca incredibly rude, not Italian whatsoever. She was not only rude to me she was rude in general and had no remorse about it. She seemed to be too busy speaking to her coworker and not very helpful or interested to help us in learning more about Aqua Flor. I did mention this to her manager, who was lovely and helped us finish our purchase. I honestly would have purchased so much more if she would have even tried to help us, but she seemed to not really want to deal with anybody since she wouldn't help anybody whatsoever. Thankfully we were in there a few days earlier and knew exactly what we needed. Unfortunately, I will not walk into this boutique. I have lived in Florence for many years and I have never encountered such a rude person. Especially in a fine boutique perfumery... every year traveling to Europe I definitely bring home plenty of perfume. Unfortunately she made this experience unpleasant. It's too bad because it's a lovely boutique too lovely for a rude immature, unprofessional sales person like Francesca. You can't miss her - tall, dark haired young thin woman, speaks like an American she is incredibly quick to judge and be disrespectful. Do yourself a favor Aqua Flor find yourself a better sales person for your lovely boutique that deserves better! I would give one star only, but since the manager was so amazing and so kind, I didn't want to do that to him, but really she does kill the experience in this particular perfumery that is legendary in Firenze.

Ok yeah fragrances and flowery soaps isn't my thing at all. LOL. But members of my party wanted…read moreto visit and as an indifferent bystander perusing the merch, and the truly beautiful store to be honest, one of the super friendly sales people, Alberto took notice and we had some friendly conversation. Alberto didn't care that I wasn't the target customer, but he was very knowledgeable and took some time to educate me on some fragrances that were pretty interesting. He really couldn't have been more friendly, even after we said we weren't going to buy anything right away, we had a scheduled time to scale the bell tower and had to run. But his good nature was one reason we did return and make a purchase. :-) I like returning kindness with kindness. Kinda like when I return the favor for Yelp likes! Hehe. *wink, wink* Anyway, if you are into fragrances and flowery soap, I'd say visit this truly beautiful Aqua Flor store (The scent from the store permeates the air before you even walk in) and seek out my buddy Alberto. I am sure he'll take care of you 110% and have a few ideas for dinner in Florence too!

I found this delightful fragrance while staying at a fabulous hotel in Rome! The Majestic lobby…read morewaffled with this fragrance that totally took my breath away! The concierge directed me to the Acqua Dell Elba store where I purchased enough perfume to last me until I return in 6 months! This perfume is a MUST have... Be sure to order extra because everyone will want a bottle! Everywhere I go, I am asked what fragrance I am wearing! LOVE, love, love it!!

This was a pleasant surprise for me while arriving in Florence!! Our driver dropped us off at our…read morehotel and he casually mentioned that this perfume shop was the same one filmed in the movie "Hannibal" . Say less... ...made my way over to the shop and walked around four or five times before approaching the nice ladies behind the fragrance bar. Told her what scents I liked and she picked out three for me. The one I bought she put in my arm and told me to walk around and sniff it for a bit and then come back. I did just that and bought the big bottle. It was worth every euro that I paid for it! Good thing is that they do have an online store and will ship to the US!! I plan to buy another bottle just so I have a back up!

Beautiful profumery -Santa Maria Nouvella in Firenze. The oldest known pharmacy in the world, is…read morehidden just around the corner from the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella. Established in 1221 by Dominican friars, the pharmacy still produces natural and herbal remedies, soaps, and fragrances displayed a beautiful historical building. My favorite lotion - Santa Maria Nouvella Milk is no longer produced. I found a new fragrance - Angeli. The room diffuser Europa is my favorite. Highly recommend visiting Officina Profumo Santa Maria Nouvella.

They have a variety of beauty and cosmetic products in here. If you are looking for an inexpensive…read morecurling iron or just a curling iron period for your hair, then I would suggest to head right over to Tigota'. Customer service is friendly professional and they even speak English, which can be very helpful when your Italian is not the best or non existent. You should see a chain of these stores located in Bologna, so no worries.

This place is so amazing!…read more I came by here and picked up a bottle of their body lotion in fig and vanilla. The formula is so soft and silky and the scent is amazing. It's unlike anything that I have smelled. I highly recommend visiting and stocking up!

I first discovered this fragrance called Vaniglia del Madagascar at Barney's in Los Angeles and…read morebought it immediately. Four bottles and about a million inquiries from strangers as to the fragrance later, I went onto the Barney's website to order again and saw that it wasn't carried any longer. I then called their corporate office and asked where their Vaniglia from Firenze went and they had no answers (noticed they carry again, so I guess they got their shipping or whatever figured out). I started googling and found that the alchemist and his shop are located in the middle of Florence and it just so happened that I was going to Italy, and I added Florence to the list of train stops. I spent a morning searching the winding Florence streets for this shop which was well worth it. While I was initially disappointed because I did have visions of crushed flower petals, and powders and smoking glassware with distillation kits filling a smoky backroom. I was still very happy to find my favorite fragrance and that pretty handwritten label on about a hundred different fragrances and oils. I basically told my boyfriend to find something to do for the next hour, because I was going to need some time. While I was there buying everything that I could find in Vaniglia (much less expensive than Barney's) the alchemist came out and I told him how much I like his fragrance and how everyone asks me about it and that he does the chemistry I would love to be doing. He didn't speak a lot of English with me but he understood me and definitely understood that I love his product because he wrapped up a beautiful bottle of a new fragrance and tucked it in my bag as a gift. That one is amazing too. I may not live here, but I can guarantee I'll be back.

The two ladies at the counter here weren't the friendliest, but one of them helped us find the…read moreright soap. Lots of different items in this small shop, but the prices are on the high side. Some of the scents are very nice--I liked the Aqua of Tuscany which was very mild, but fresh smelling.