A Look at Inverso Profumi

My next brand feature in my exploration of independent perfume brands in 2025 is Inverso Profumi. Inverso is a new(er) independent fragrance house founded in 2023 with a line of wonderful ‘core collection’ fragrances as well as a selection of limited edition & ‘artist proof’ options, all in extrait de parfum concentration. The brand is family owned and operated, with celebrated photographer, painter, and art historian Kristina Nazarevskaia managing the business and serving as inspiration for her perfumer husband, Maurizio.

When crafting fragrances for the brand, Maurizio takes inspiration from Kristina’s photography work with fragrances such as ‘Poesia’, ‘Stai Ferma’, and ‘Private’ being inspired directly by her photo books of the same name, just to point to a few examples.

Stumbling across the brand when browsing through the Stele online catalog after their most recent update, I was intrigued and ordered a discovery set. Unfortunately for my wallet, there were a few in that set that I enjoyed and ended up ordering a full bottle of one — Ladri di Fichi — fairly quickly, which I just received along with a couple complementary samples of other offerings.

I wanted to share some (brief) thoughts on the fragrances in the discovery set I purchased, plus the additional samples and experience with the full bottle order to help shed some light on a brand that deserves more recognition!

Please note: all opinions are my own. Items were purchased with my own money (minus the complementary samples with the full bottle). I have not been asked or paid to write a review. I always recommend sampling everything before buying — things wear differently on everyone.

While I ordered this pre-made discovery set from Stele, Inverso also offers the option to make your own custom selection of 6 or 10 samples from the core & limited edition lines directly on their website for $50 or $80, respectively. Each sample is 2 ml, so there is plenty to get quite a bit of wear out of each one and the sample price per ml is quite low! Here are some quick thoughts on the fragrances in this set:

• Ladri di Fichi - With a name like ‘fig thieves’ it’s fairly clear what the concept behind this fragrance is — Fig. However, unlike other fig-centric releases I’ve smelled, Ladri di Fichi does a wonderful job really painting the picture of a fig tree from fresh, green leaves and buds, to ripening fruit, to plucking the fruit from the tree and taking a bite. Where other fig fragrances often stay fairly linear (on me), the evolution of this one through dry down really made me fall in love. This is the fig I have been looking for and am very happy to add a bottle to my collection.
• Incantesimo - An incredibly well-blended, balanced, and smooth lavender fragrance. I normally find lavender a bit too overpowering in fragrances to wear unless it is a very minor blended ingredient and tend to prefer it for things like fabric sprays and such, but this really impressed me. After the aromatic opening, it dries down into a beautiful warm amber/vanilla/tonka base. Quite special and one of my favorites from the brand. On my full bottle want list.
• Stai Ferma - Inspired by Kristina’s photography book depicting the beauty of the female body through close-up macro details, this fragrance is a spicy, aromatic release that is modeled loosely after Bakhoor, which can often feature many of the same notes (though blends tend to be family specific). As it dries down, the lightly smoky resinous base moves this incense from fresh to burnt. If you enjoy a spiced woody incense, check this one out!
• Sacrilege - This one opens as a spicy rose and dries down to a somewhat smoky, dry incense. If you like the idea of roses in a Catholic church, this one may be for you! This fragrance is a Stele boutique exclusive.
• Private - Inspired by one of Kristina’s photography books of the same name, featuring the female form depicted in contrast to landscapes, this fragrance is the brand’s take on the classic oud/rose combination. While this category of fragrances is not what I usually enjoy, it’s definitely worth trying if you like this classic combination as Maurizio puts his own spin on it here that is quite a bit smoother than many others.
• Whanui - This is an aromatic, slightly leathery vanilla that the description claims is a ‘vanilla for those who typically shy away from vanilla.’ I might go as far as to say this is probably the closest in the lineup to a ‘designer’-style fragrance and should be very approachable to anyone new to niche/independent perfumery since it is quite crowd-pleasing. To me, while this is unisex, it might lean slightly more masculine depending on your skin. Really nice!

After spending some time with the discovery set, I ended up purchasing a bottle of Ladri di Fichi directly from Inverso since Stele was out of stock. I had a nice little chat with Kristina via Instagram to check on re-stock conditions and mentioned that this happened to be my 50th full bottle in my collection. When opening my package, she included a handwritten note celebrating the 50th bottle, plus put my name on both of the bags (the one for the bottle and the outer bag that also held the samples — see photo at the top of the article). From someone in sales myself, this sort of personal detail makes such a big impact on customers and was a really nice touch!

With the full bottle I received three additional samples of fragrances that I did not previously get to smell with the discovery set:

• Cimmerian - The blast of cedar, rum, plum, and spices in the opening of this one is delicious! While the base is full of fairly heavier notes (vanilla, amber, oud, leather), other notes like violet, patchouli, and vetiver help to cut through these traditionally dense notes leaving a warm scent that never gets stuffy. Would like a full bottle of this one eventually!
• Eterea - This limited edition offering for this year is a floral through and through. It opens with a burst of bright bergamot, pepper, and passion flowers, with hibiscus, rose, and jasmine. The base here of musc, sandalwood, and ambrette seeds conjures to mind finding an old book of pressed flowers in a box in an attic, which is fitting as the fragrance is named ‘ethereal’. It is not quite as dusty/musky as something like Zoologist Moth, of course, but it definitely made me feel like these flowers were dried versus fresh.
• Poesia - Inspired by another of Kristina’s photography books that features photos from Sicily, this fragrance is centered around the smell of an old, worn leather jacket. With tiny bits of jasmine, oud, musk, and patchouli, the fragrance gets a tiny bit of an edge that is just a little bit ‘dirty’ without being skanky, but makes the leather feel broken in. For fans of leather-centric fragrances, definitely check this one out!

Final Thoughts

From the rest of what I’ve sampled, Incantesimo and Cimmerian are definitely on my full bottle wishlist!
My suggested 6 piece discovery set for those new to the brand (based on what I’ve sampled) are: Ladri di Fichi, Incantesimo, Cimmerian, Whanui, Poesia, and Eteria (for floral lovers) or Stai Ferma (for those who prefer more aromatic things).

I really like what Inverso is doing quite a bit. There is such beauty in creation inspired by one’s spouse. This is a labor of admiration and love and it’s very evident in Maurizio’s fragrances. I am looking forward to trying what they release in the future (and picking up those other two bottles at some point)! If you have the opportunity to sample things from this brand either at home or via ordering discovery sets online, give them a try!

Republished from my personal Substack at avantcrap.com, where I occasionally publish fragrance-related content.