Almond and Peach Blossoms | Photo by The Perfume Magpie
Spring is here. The countryside around the village is pink, pink, and pink – an infinite sea of pink. Pale pink blossoms of almond are more or less gone but peach blossoms with deeper shades of pink, whiter shades of apricot and plum blossoms, apple blossoms with dusty pink colour, they are all in full bloom. Anemones and narcissuses are adorning my little garden, and some tulips I planted last autumn are poking through the ground. When I was gardening this morning, I heard the first call of hoopoes. Everything feels full of life and positive in spring. An exciting time of the year.
Esxence 2016
There is another reason I feel excited about this spring. At the end of this month, I’ll be in Milan attending Esxence! You perfumistas would already know that the 8th Esxence – The Scent of Excellence 2016 will be held from 31st March till 3rd April in Milan. Unfortunately I’ll miss the first day because of the rescheduling of my flight, but I’m planning to be there for the next 3 full days. I’ll be meeting Val the Cookie Queen from Australian Perfume Junkies, who will be my guide and mentor, Lucas from Chemist in the Bottle, and other bloggers and perfume people. Being a first timer and a newbie, I have no clue what to expect. Sensory overload in various aspects will be a certain thing.
The Esxence website says;
Esxence 2016 is… INFINITY
An abstract, far, impalpable and sublime concept. Artistic Perfumery has the capability to make it real, closer and to enclose it in bottles, as real masterpieces perfumes that don’t follow the rules of time and space. They stop within the senses, in the heart, and there they stay, they resist trends and fashion, going along in our lives. We can pass them down, communicate, represent, endorse them, by wearing and remembering them. They give us the chance to access memories we thought that were lost or places we’ll never see.During four days, the protagonists of this perfumed infinity meet in Milan within Esxence – The Scent of Excellence, for the eighth edition of the Artistic Perfumery’s Event, from March 31st to Aprile 3rd, 2016, at the The Mall spaces, the futuristic location in the heart of the new skyline of Milano. The expo area of excellences, perfumes but also cosmetics thanks to Esxkin – The Excellence of Beauty, the space dedicated to skincare, together with a calendar of rich and interesting events, offer the public a unique and unmissable experience. Professionals, exhibitors, retailers, buyers and distributors can find here the ideal place where to enhance their business network while visitors can get in touch with perfumed realities, laboratories and workshops.
Infinity. With the vast numbers of exhibiters and other additional workshops and events, it will feel like infinite for me for sure. Now, is there any perfume house I should head towards or a new release I should give a sniff? If you have some ideas, let me know. The list of exhibitors will be found here.
So wish me luck that I’ll survive through it.
The Perfume Magpie 
So jealous! Have a wonderful time!
Thank you, I will! I’m counting the days!! 😀
OH, what a beautiful photo! Spring hasn’t come yet to where I live. Actually we had a return of winter earlier this week 😛
I’m looking forward to meeting you at Esxence. My flights and accomodation are all booked now
Hi Lucas! My flights and hotel are booked too. The only trouble is Alitalia airline. Since I booked my flights, they have rescheduled my flights 6 times so far! I have no idea if they are going to change again or not. 😦 I’m so looking forward to seeing you there. Keep in touch!
Wow, 6 times is a lot! I was flying to Milan and back with Alitalia last year and I faced no trouble from their side. This year I had to go with different airlines because with Alitalia there were no direct flights for me or they were too expensive for my pocket. Hope you arrive safely
You too Lucas! See you over there!
We should swap phone numbers for easier communication while we’re there
A great idea. I’ll send you an email! 😉
I’m so excited for you! You will more than survive, you’ll have a ball. Plus you will have Val with you. What could be better? Can’t wait to hear all about it.
Love that you are surrounded by pink. Gorgeous.
Yes, I have Val! I hope she would usher me in the right direction when I start running aimlessly like a headless chicken (or magpie).
I love pink a lot. I can’t wear it but it turned out to be one of my favourite colours since I passed 40. 😀
I am actually expecting you to keep an eye on my sanity. 😊
Let’s hope we don’t end up as a pair of lost armadillo and magpie. 😉
Please pace yourself. I’m not sure I could manage a drawing of a headless magpie. Have fun too.
Possibly TMI, but “a chicken running around with its head cut off” is actually a true description of a slaughtered chicken which I was unfortunate enough to see in my childhood. ;-(
Hahaha, Lindaloo, I don’t think I want to draw a headless magpie either. 😀 Actually, in my childhood, I also encountered the headless chicken running in numerous occasions. Not nice. I still remember the horrible smell of plucking feathers as well. If I can help, never again.
TMI, check. I’ll do my best. 😉
I didn’t want to mention the chicken plucking smell 😉 Our family raised chickens when I was young.
Sold most of the eggs and when a chicken stopped producing into the pot it went.
I look forward to you tales of perfume nirvana.
We were in the similar situation when we were young then! 😉
Beautiful picture! Spring is so great – full of hopes and promises.
I hope you’ll have a blast at the Esxence! I wish I could go there one day but it’s really hard to justify such a long trip even for the greatest perfume-related event: for half of the money and time it would cost me I could probably buy hundreds of samples of all those new perfumes and test them at home. But I’d love to meet some people – and that’s priceless. So maybe one day… 🙂
Thank you Undina! I’ll have a great time there. 🙂
I know what you mean by the cost but fortunately the airfare to Milan from Spain wasn’t too bad. €135 return. The highlight of Esxence for me will be meeting Val and other people at last. I’m also meeting the Puredistance crew to have a chat.I’d really love to meet you one day, Undina! 😉
Have a wonderful time. We look forward to hearing about all the new fragrances and hopefully there will be pictures to make us all jealous. What an exciting perfumista life you lead. 🙂
I’ll certainly have a great time sniffing and scribbling in my magpie notebook! 😉 Life can be short, got to enjoy whenever we can! I promise, there will be a lot of photos!
That is indeed a lovely photo – what a beautiful part of the world you live in. I am sure you will have a great time once you finally get to Milan. I can be a bit overwhelmed by trade fairs, but I am sure if you target your favourite houses it will be more manageable, then maybe work outwards from there. 😉 And the people you are meeting will be a major highlight, no question!
A great advice, Vanessa! I so far have only a few on my list that I really want to visit. Without doubt it will increase by the end of this month. I honestly believe the highlight will be people. Can’t wait! I’m a little bit under the weather today. 😦 I’ve got to protect my nose and recover from this darn nuisance cold!
How wonderful for you. I’m so happy that you are going. I only wish I could join you all!
Thank you! I try not to be burnt out. I wish you could be there, Mr. Hound! It really would be great. 🙂
You will have a ball. Val will make sure of it. Almost impossible to be anything but joyful in her company.
Portia xx
I bet! Really, meeting Val will be the highlight of Milan. Only 2 weeks away!! 🙂