Santa Maria Novella

Made the mistake of thinking that since I bought the wrong cologne in the Florence store that I could exchange it here. It wasn’t that I couldn’t do it so much as the attitude. Won’t go there again.

This is more about the delivery. I ordered the potpourri yesterday at lunchtime. It’s scheduled for delivery tomorrow at lunchtime. Talk about fast shipping!

Good product but the sales rep (maybe she is the owner) with red hair was rude. I was talking to her about the home essence and when other walk in, she just ignored me and by the time she focus back on me, I just have to give her an awkward smile. Funny how they mentioned they provide the home essence to Four Season Hotel — which I stayed often. If they have the Four Season customer service, the appropriate way when a new customer walk in is the other 2 sales rep who aren’t serving customers to greet them while she should continue to have complete focus on me. That’s how great customer service work. They should visit Four Season, Ritz Carlton or St Regis to learn more if they aspire to be a luxury brand

The monks know how to make natural products and they know how to expand their business.
The people here are very friendly and knowledgeable. I am experiencing contact dermatitis. They knew exactly what to give me and gave me a sample of the product to try before deciding whether to purchase it.
Their products are extremely rare to find. I went to their original store in Florence, which was beautiful. It was nice to find their store here.
I recommend their rose room air freshener that hangs. It probably has a better name, but I am too lazy to dig in my bag. Anyway, it is great! Keeps my room smelling like roses.

The worst customer service ever.
We were looking for a particular perfume brand and had found it at this place from the internet. We went in today and found a selection from the brand.
We were treated really badly by this male shop assistant who was rude, unhelpful and arrogant. We had fully intended to buy but decided not to in the end after such poor treatment.
Elitist. Snobbish. Arrogant.

I became familiar with these products during my first trip to Florence. They were sold at Officina Profumo Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella on Via Della Scalla. The pharmacy was founded by Dominican friars in the 1200’s and opened to the public in the 1600’s. The formulations of their fragrances and soaps have been unchanged since then.
I bought several bars of soap to take home years ago and became addicted. The soap leaves your skin so soft and beautifully fragrant. I have brought more home on subsequent trips but haven’t been to Italy recently. When I discovered the retail satellite in NYC I was thrilled and couldn’t wait to stock up.
The store is lovely with a broad selection of fragrances, soaps, lotions, home fragrances and candles. My only complaint was the lack of testers in the soap area. It is difficult to get a good wiff through the thick waxed wrapper. Fix that little issue and you earn the 5^th star.

Disappointing. Imam a guy so I only checked out the soaps but what a let down. All the soaps had been sitting there grieves and had lost their fragrances. I asked why they didn’t put out fresh bars, so possible buyers could be enticed to buy. It was barely, only barely possible to identify what scents were on almost all of them. How can a scents store sell anything that only has stale scents?

I can’t say enough good things about coming here… gorgeous store and very outgoing staff. Always very helpful when I’m trying to find a great gift for someone. In particular, their LAFCO candles are the IDEAL gift for mother/​mother-​in-​law… fills the room with an amazing fragrance, but not overpowering like many of their competitors.

I received a gift box for Christmas and wanted to exchange 2 of the items. SMN wanted the original receipt! That’s ridiculous! They need to take a lesson from LL Bean or Zappos when it comes to customer service!

This is an update to my original review. I’ve purchased quite a bit of SMN since then. The bar soaps, lotions, and wax tablets are amazing. The foot crème is the best I have EVER tried and the floral waters (rosewater, mint water, etc) are very nice and well worth getting IMO. I liked the almond hand cream and love the porcelain jar packaging. The melograno shampoo was a bit drying but I adore the scent of the honey hair crème, which does what it says in terms of moisturizing. I plan on getting some pot pourri at some point.
I have stayed away from their candles because I don’t think they are fragrant enough for me. Some might like their more subtle scents.
HOWEVER, the «vinegar» I bought isn’t really vinegar but a concoction of chemicals that smell like nail polish remover. Seriously, this is toxic stuff! I tried to use it as some sort of antiseptic (there are alcohols in it in addition to the perfume), but the violette scent cannot overcome the nail polish remover scent. Ugh.
SMN wouldn’t do a return or an exchange, which I would have been very happy with. As a good customer, that REALLY would have been so appreciated, but no. I threw out the «vinegar» and will be more careful going forward. This is the only product that I was disappointed with, but it really is horrendous. Not thrilled to waste the money.
Sarah, my favorite SA, just left. She will be missed and I wish they had done more to keep her.

What an absolutely wonderful store full of great products. I went in to find a great cologne and ended up buying a few things for Mother’s Day too.
It’s terrific if you don’t mind the luxury prices.

OBSESSION.
My trips to NYC are never complete without a stop into Santa Maria Novella. The most exquisite skincare/​home/​fragrance products I’ve ever come across, everything from this store is like a treasure.
The store itself is absolutely intoxicating. The store’s director, Segen, is such a darling, and knows every detail about every product in this store. Segen, will you marry me?
Their melograno products are my favorite, as is their milk body lotion. They also have these new floral/​wax products that are not only beautiful, but keep your clothes smelling amazing, while keeping pests away. How smart are those Franciscan monks?
They also have fabulous men’s products that smell delightful. If your beau is into fancy shmancy products, this is the place to splurge. If he’s not, buy him something anyway.

Looks really Nice Store and Nice Products, But…
No one notice when we walked in to the store.
Then This Blonde with Glasses Older Lady at Cashier, She was Very Rude and Terrible Attitude…
We’re not sure why??? May be She had a Bad Day?
This is How Retail Stores Lose Customer and have Bad Rep.
Owner of Store should notice, realize that’s not how retail sale works.
We managed a few Boutiques in Manhattan and know how it works.
Most of Retails Store like this will closed. Especially Not many people Buy prodcuts from Stores anymore.
after Online Business Took over.
Anyway Not recommend for anyone… Such a Shame for Great Products!

Love the products and shop!!! The staff (woman with long red hair?), not so much. She seems so disinterested and annoyed when asked questions. There are so many amazing products in this shop that they need people that actually like customers to help guide them around and answer questions.

RUDEST Sales/​Brand Reps EVER. I Don’t care how old and established your brand is, being an a**hole to customers isn’t going to carry your brand forward.
I would never buy these products.

I went to Santa Maria Novella hoping to find a thoughtful gift for my boss who loves beauty products and anything Italian.
I went during a workday so I knew I would avoid the weekend crowd however, the experience left much to be desired.
I was greeted by a gentlman first who disappeared in the back and another woman was the only one on the floor to man the cash registers and assist the other customers.
Two more customers came after I did and they seemed to know what they wanted however, I had to wait quite a bit before any assistance was offered. I knew there were 3 – 4 associates in the back so I’m not quite sure why they didn’t come out to the floor to assist me which irritated me as I waited 10 minutes as she had to gift wrap and ring up the register.
Finally, when she was able to assist me, sales associate thought it was a chore to help me pick things out. Quite a few of the soaps were sold out when I was trying to purchase the three soap gift set since Jasmine and Verdana were both sold out.
She must have been having a bad day or obviously hate her job because the experience with her made me never want to come back to this place or offer a recommendation to my coworkers.
I was sorely disappointed about this experience as usually anything with beauty and bath provides me with a happy experience. Based on other reviews, I may have to go to Italy to experience the real nature of Santa Maria Novella.

Well, What can I say, I Fell in love with SMN when I was living in Italy about 10 years ago. The NYC location is a very different experience than the Florentine experience, and the prices seem to be about double what you would pay in Italy, (even with the Euro) but that hasn’t stopped me from restocking on my favorites till I am back in Florence.
I have loved everything I have tried, but some of my absolute favorites are
The Latte Per Il Corpo, The Sapone di Latte (in any scent), The Almond paste and of course the satchels of Potpourri. When in the shop, you might say to yourself, «Is a bottle of body lotion really worth $ 78. or a box of 3 soaps for $ 48.00» The answer is undoubtedly yes! Sure they are Pricey, but worth every penny!
Part of me does think it is a shame that you can buy these luxurious products in NYC (and even on-​line) since for me, so much of the experience of SMN is wrapped up in the vaulted ceilings, antique displays, and austere ladies of 16^th century the shop in Florence.

my favorite products… love everything they make (do not care too much about the shampoos but still nice smell).
the pomegranate soap is outstanding. jasmine anything is great. the the a bergamot is sinful in the mornings… love it.
the shaving cream and shaving foam for men are the best. the can is made of some kinda metal that oxidizes and leaves marks on your bathroom tiles so you need to make it stand on its top (the plastic part).
the tooth paste is delicious… so good… the tube normally breaks apart… hate that when it happens to a very small tube of 18 $ toothpaste.
the deodorant is great. it better be. about 40 or 50 $ for an ounce or two of cream…
the almond cream… WOW…use it on your heals…
the after shave cream… so good… like old times…
body cream, aloe vera gel… ALL good.
the perfumes are all to devour. i have tried most anything they offer… multiple times. only the shampoos did not work well on my bald head.
the liqueurs or as they call them, ELISIRs… are delicious…
a couple of staff there are a bit snooty but i normally deal with heather whom i love… she is very knowledgeable and never pushy.
i have also been to their shop in dallas and like it very much. the staff there too are great.
the shops in tokyo, and taipei are in amazing locations… but you do not need to go there… just call the NY shop and ask for heather… and say your most difficult customer, mehran says you are good.

The sales people are entirely hands off if you want to browse and spray. No hovering, no insisting on spraying for you.
The layout is uncluttered and the space is beautiful. They have Santa Maria Novella fragrances, body products, home scents, etc. Double check before you spray yourself in case what you’re preparing to test is actually a home spray. There’s also a huge array of soaps and candles to lust after. Besides the SMN line, they also carry Lorenzo Villoresi scents – give Piper Nigrum a sniff!, and the Eau D’Italie fragrances – both hard to find lines.
Definitely worth dropping by if you’re in the area. And the quiet space is a nice respite after fighting the hordes in Uniqlo.

I come here for the Santa Maria Novella «Sandalo» and the Laurenzo Villarosi «Vetiver» — my signature scents (SHH)… The store is beautiful, burnished, calm, clean, lush and luxurious… The staff is extremely accomodating and helpful and patient, never condescending… I’ve yet to explore the lotions and teas and air mists and incense and blankets — the furthest I’ve gone is the soaps — but I really love this place.