The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Stellae arrived in 2021 as part of Emanuela Biffoli's first fragrance collection, a debut portfolio that introduced the brand's creative vision to the wider world of scent. The Latin name, meaning stars, suggests something celestial, but the composition stays grounded. Emanuela Biffoli built Stellae as a study in lightness: Mediterranean citrus, herbal green, the white florals that have long shaped Italian fragrance vocabulary. It is a fragrance that doesn't try to anchor itself in a single moment. Instead, it drifts through them. On skin, the opening is crisp and luminous, with the citron and grapefruit reading almost transparent, while basil and mint pull the air cooler.
What makes Stellae interesting is its refusal of weight. The lemon verbena, Sicilian citron, pink grapefruit, basil, and mint form a top that behaves almost like a whole fragrance on its own, and it lingers in the green-aromatic register longer than most compositions would dare. The green tea in the heart reinforces that vegetal quality, reinforcing the translucent, just-picked character that runs through the entire structure. As the hours pass, the base of ambergris, vetiver, and cedar takes over, but it does so quietly.
The evolution
The first twenty minutes belong entirely to the top. Sicilian citron and pink grapefruit hit first, sharp and almost fizzy, followed immediately by basil and mint that cool the citrus down into something more herbal. Lemon verbena sits between them, sweetish, slightly grassy, the note that holds the opening together. Around the thirty-minute mark, the green tea arrives with quiet jasmine and a thread of lily of the valley, softening the aromatics without burying them. The citrus fades gradually rather than vanishing, leaving the green notes in charge. By the second hour, vetiver and cedar have moved into the foreground, dry and slightly rooty, with ambergris lending a clean, almost soapy warmth underneath. The drydown is a calm, woody close, the kind of scent that stays close to skin for hours rather than projecting outward. On fabric the next morning, faint cedar and a trace of grapefruit peel remain.
Cultural impact
Stellae sits within a small but deliberate debut portfolio from a house that entered perfumery only recently, and its reception among early wearers has been notably warm. One wearer, Landei, called it 'Perfect for Italian heat,' capturing the way the composition handles warmth without ever turning heavy or cloying. The bright citrus and herbal green opening reads as something almost tailor-made for high temperatures, the kind of scent that stays pleasant on skin through long, sunlit afternoons. Where some compositions buckle under heat and become dense or syrupy, Stellae seems to thrive in it, keeping its airy character intact.
