The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Violamore arrived in 2022 from Zeromolecole, the house founded by perfumer Stefania Marzufero Boni. The composition strips the gourmand idea back to a single gesture: licorice and violet in conversation. Everything else in the bottle exists to support that exchange rather than compete with it. There's a quiet clarity to how the notes are arranged, each one arriving with intention rather than noise. The violet lends its powdery softness, the licorice lends its dark herbal edge, and the warmer notes underneath hold the structure together. It reads as composed rather than indulgent, a careful balance of sweet and grounded. The kind of fragrance that holds your attention without shouting over you.
Boni treats the licorice-violet pairing with a certain seriousness, then loosens it: blackberry brings a fruit-bright lift at the top, raspberry adds a softer jammy sweetness, and caramel rounds things out with warmth. The violet isn't decorative here, it's structural, giving the sweeter notes somewhere to land. You get the herbal coolness of anise at one moment and the chewy pull of caramel at the next, with violet threading between them like a soft ribbon. The result reads less like a dessert and more like a confection that still remembers its botanical roots.
The evolution
It opens with a quick burst of blackberry and raspberry, bright and almost jammy, before the caramel and licorice move in fast. The violet arrives soon after, powdery and slightly soapy, smoothing the sharper edges of the licorice without flattening them. As the composition settles, the darker sweetness comes forward, sticky and warm, the kind of sweetness that feels cooked rather than candied. On skin, the violet tends to hang around longer than the candy notes, leaving a softer, slightly dusty trail in the final hours. The caramel softens earliest, the licorice follows, and the violet lingers close to the skin in a quiet, almost hushed finish. What stays with you is that violet powder floating above the remnants of the gourmand base, unexpected and a little haunting.
Cultural impact
Violamore landed in 2022 and quickly drew attention for its unusual pairing of licorice and violet, a combination that sits comfortably between gourmand and floral territory without fully belonging to either. The fragrance circulated through niche perfume communities, where wearers compared it to older violet-driven releases and noted how the herbal coolness of the licorice kept the sweetness from tipping into excess. It earned mentions in small Italian beauty press as part of broader coverage of the house, with attention given to Boni's restrained visual identity and the minimalist presentation of the bottle.
