The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Eau de Moi arrived in 2016 from Nicola Bianchi, a perfumer associated with this quietly composed Serra & Fonseca scent. The name points inward. Eau de Moi, the French phrase for my water, suggests something personal, a scent that belongs to the person wearing it rather than to a place or a storybook. Instead of presenting a single flower or root as its central idea, the fragrance is built around a more subjective mood: something close, something that settles rather than performs. The materials establish its character clearly. Ambergris opens the composition, cashmere wood and cedar form the middle, and vetiver anchors the base.
Ambergris has a strange presence within the composition. Set against cashmere wood, it lends the scent a softly rounded, almost textile-like character, which is where the name starts to make sense. Cedar adds a distinct dry edge, preventing the composition from reading as an uninterrupted field of woods. Vetiver then arrives at the base and pulls the other materials toward the earth. The accord list adds its own layer of character: woody, amber, aromatic, musky, balsamic, earthy and animalic.
The evolution
The listed notes of Eau de Moi establish a clear progression through ambergris, cashmere wood, cedar and vetiver. Ambergris opens the fragrance, giving the first impression a distinctive tonal quality. Cashmere wood follows as the composition gathers texture, while cedar adds definition and keeps the woody character from becoming uniform. That middle portion is where the materials feel most closely integrated, each note shaping the others without relying on a single dominant gesture. The base is built around vetiver, which gives the composition its earthy foundation. The accord list reinforces that structure through woody, amber, aromatic, musky, balsamic, earthy and animalic qualities. What remains is a scent defined less by spectacle than by balance: ambergris at the opening, the pairing of cashmere wood and cedar through the middle, and vetiver providing the final note beneath them.
Cultural impact
Eau de Moi shifts the focus toward a personal register. Its French title, my water, gives the fragrance an intimate dimension and suggests a scent conceived in relation to the wearer. The materials reinforce that intimacy: ambergris, cashmere wood, cedar and vetiver form a restrained composition with a close, tactile character. Vetiver and cedar contribute earth and timber associations, while the broader accord of woody, amber, aromatic, musky, balsamic, earthy and animalic qualities gives the piece a layered identity.
The House
Serra & FonsecaSerra & Fonseca is an Italian fragrance house founded in 2012 and based on a large estate in Emilia Romagna. The house develops aromatic compositions around botanicals cultivated on its property, including lavender, iris, helichrysum and other plant materials. Its catalogue combines named compositions such as La Zagara, Eau de Moi, La Violetta, La Rosa, il Patchouli, il Vetyver and il Narciso. The brand presents perfumery as a meeting point between cultivated plants, the rural character of the estate and contemporary olfactory design.
The Creator
Nicola BianchiBianchi favors clean structures built around a single focal ingredient, often a rare botanical or a refined synthetic accord. He layers supporting notes with surgical precision, avoiding clutter.
