Antica Barbieria Colla has been Milan's barbershop since 1904, still run today by the Bompieri family. The number is 0 - it comes before the others in the line, and it is the driest of them. Bergamot and birch open it cleanly: bright, a little crisp. The heart is juniper wood and artemisia - juniper resinous and faintly of pine, artemisia bitter and herbaceous in the way of wormwood, which is its genus. Together they give the scent its intensity without weight. Vetiver follows, then cedarwood and oak moss, and the fragrance settles into something that is at once austere and warm. A prominent Milanese notary comes to Via Gerolamo Morone for a shaving service and finishes it the same way each time: a few drops of this cologne, rubbed between the hands and pressed into the face. It is, he has decided, the right way to begin a working day. 100ml. In a glass bottle. Hand-made in Italy. Exclusive to Australia.
