Bulgari’s New Perfume Smells Like Its Luxurious Hotels
2 min readFor years, Bulgari Hotel guests have begged to know how they can smell like one of the luxury properties. A warm, citrusy scent lingers in their lobbies and is infused in the en suite toiletries, but it was never available to purchase—until their newest fragrance, Eau Parfumée Thé Impérial.
The fragrance is a symphony of Roman citrus, black tea, and Bulgari’s unique blend of musks. The house’s master perfumer, Jacques Cavallier-Belletrud, says that the combination of different musks makes Bulgari’s signature note unique. “It brings light to the fragrance,” he says, noting that it serves as a bridge between the citrus notes and your body chemistry. He wanted to create a fragrance that “fits your skin like a cashmere sweater.” For Cavallier-Belletrud, smelling Thé Impérial is a form of wellness. “I was seeking to create a bubble of very positive vibes,” he says. “It’s a way to reconnect with yourself.”
While the scent is made to feel personal, it’s also rooted in Bulgari’s Roman history, as it was founded in the city in 1884. “Citrus is part of the Italian DNA,” says Amandine Pallez, the Bulgari creative and heritage director. Amandine likened finding the right citrus to finding the right gems for a jewelry piece. The bergamot, mandarin, and lemons chosen are of the finest Italian quality, and Cavallier-Belletrud says they lend an “energetic” mood to the scent.
The scent does have a certain buzz to it. It’s light and airy, as if the ocean were made of citrus juice and you were standing on the shore, breathing in the sea spray. The tea offers a grounding note, and the soft musks make it decidedly a skin scent that becomes one with your body chemistry. But more than anything, it smells like waking up in the 600-thread-count sheets at the Bulgari hotel in Rome, with the Italian sun streaming through the linen curtains. Now, you don’t have to travel for that feeling—you can just spray it on your pulse points. Buon viaggio.
