COSMERALDA... A FAMILY STORY
The founder, Erica Cancellu, was inspired by her love for her homeland, and by the family estate, Casanoa, where an extra virgin olive oil of extraordinary properties is produced.
The Casanoa estate is located between Arzachena and Palau, in a strip of uncontaminated land between the sea and the mountains, at the foot of Mount Canu, a place of exceptional beauty where precious herbs such as helichrysum, myrtle, mastic and strawberry tree grow wild.
The atmosphere and sensation of the COSMERALDA fragrances originates here, through a passionate study of the natural scents of a land that feeds exclusively on the essences of Mediterranean bush plants.
These elements come together and blend to create a bouquet of unique fragrance chords and perfumes that are exclusive, authentic and wild, just like our island.
“The fragrance that one breathes in Sardinia, both on the coast and inland, in the mountains, is unique, impossible to find anywhere else in the world”.
These sun-lit valleys, caressed by the mistral that blows in from the Bonifacio Strait, are the birthplace of the Casanoa oil, a main ingredient in the COSMERALDA collection of creams and bath foams, naturally rich in vitamin A and E, which harmoniously blends with myrtle, helichrysum and mastic, creating a collection of 100% natural and entirely made in Sardinia products with extraordinary properties.
“Each time I had to travel away from my homeland, I left my heart behind, and I wished I could take with me those fragrances that gave me a sense of well-being that I was unable to find anywhere else in the world... when I came back home, as soon as I stepped off the plane, I filled my lungs with that perfume, which changed from season to season, the perfume of home, a unique scent than only Sardinia can provide”
The founder spent many years in Milan and abroad, where she worked in marketing for important companies in the world of fashion, before returning to take care of the family company.
“I wanted to use perfume to recreate that feeling of well-being that you breathe when you come to Sardinia, something that I missed when I was far away, and I wanted anyone to be able to take a piece of Sardinia away with them”.
Her passion for her homeland and her meeting with a French Maître Parfumeur who trained in Grasse and who works exclusively with natural essential oils, led to the creation of the COSMERALDA brand. 100% hand-poured candles made with ancient techniques handed down from generation to generation over centuries, home diffusers made with the most precious of raw materials, moisturiser creams and bath foams containing top-quality olive oil from the family estate and typical wild Sardinian herbs.
“In developing the first collection, we returned to the places that have always made me feel an emotion that cannot be put into words. It was important for the Maître Parfumeur to be able to experience these fragrances for himself, to have first-hand experience of these feelings, in order to be able to translate them into perfumes”
The first collection of fragrances launched in the Spring of 2018, represent the four souls of Sardinia: ENTU represents the sea, PETRA, the land, HORO, tradition and HAMMENTOS, flavours.
Since early childhood, the founder has lived in close contact with nature, spending much of her time in the birthplace of her parents, Oliena, closely watching her grandparents use wild Sardinian herbs to cure mild seasonal illnesses such as colds, as well as burns, irritations etc., and listening to the accounts of the properties these plants have.
In Oliena, a small town in the heart of the Barbagia region in the centre of Sardinia, time seems to stand still. Traditions are handed down from mother to daughter, sweets, pasta and bread are still prepared at home by the village elders using only the most genuine ingredients that our precious land can provide.
Oliena is the inspiration behind the creations for HAMMENTOS, which means memories, and is the reproduction of the fragrance of Sardinian sweets:
“when I light the HAMMENTOS candle, I can smell the fragrance, from when I was a child, of my grandparents preparing Sardinian sweets with almonds and honey”
The HAMMENTOS fragrance could be defined as a Sardinian version of Proust’s Madeleine, a perfume that immediately takes you back to your childhood, to that fond memory that makes you instantly feel at home.
“This is why I chose to call this fragrance Hammentos, which in Sardinian means “memories”. Nothing can stir the memory and recreate an emotion from the past like a fragrance”
Then there is the sea, another important aspect of the founder’s life:
“When we were children, we spent much time in our house just 100 metres from the beach, and that fragrance has always provoked an immediate feeling of well-being, even today taking me straight back to the pleasant memories of my childhood”
Entu, which in Sardinian means wind, represents this feeling, that fragrance carried by the sea breeze... a refreshing escape from daily life along the wind-swept beach.
Then comes the land, with more memories of Oliena and of Nuoro, in particular on Mount Ortobene:
“Petra, which in Sardinian means rock, represents our wild and uncontaminated land, that musky and pungent fragrance that surrounds you during a walk in our mountains”
Lastly, there is tradition, the heart of civilisation:
“Horo, which in the Oliena dialect means heart, represents the essence of our culture. I wanted this fragrance to have a strong personality, like our traditions, those rituals and customs that are handed down from generation to generation, sculpted into our memories”
The COSMERALDA collections are already available from select specialist perfume stores in Italy and abroad:
“I like to tell a story with my fragrances, but not a story bound by the rules of commerce. I would like Sardinia to be famous abroad not only for its beaches, but also for its historical, cultural, artisan, artistic and culinary wealth”
This is the spirit behind the creation of the second collection by COSMERALDA, the MEMORIA COLLECTION, with which the founder pays tribute to the particular concentration of culture and art that characterised her home town of Nuoro during the Belle Époque and led it to be known as the “Athens of Sardinia”.
The first fragrance is a tribute to Grazia Deledda, the author born in Nuoro and the first Italian woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize.
“I have always admired the work of this great writer, who left us with a priceless gift. It is as though she painted a portrait of Sardinian society on a stone, complete with all its particularities, customs, rituals, rites and beliefs, and which - thanks to her - can be passed on forever, saved from being forgotten, as it concerns that part of life that is true society, something that is neither taught at school or examined in history books”
This fragrance took a long time to study
“I tried to imagine a fragrance that could represent this extraordinary artist, I wanted it to have a feminine and elegant side, while at the same time carrying a touch of masculinity, because Deledda was a woman with a very strong personality who fought against the principles of the time from within a very closed society full of preconceptions, where the role of women was confined to the home, a society that she managed to stand her ground against, thanks to her tenacity and doggedness”
The fragrance dedicated to Grazia Deledda is the first in the collection, and will be followed by others