This is a unique shopping experience, the shop is also a museum to the history of the Santa Maria Novella perfumery. The air is permeated with the heady scents essential for polite company in the early 17th century when the monastery first started selling its potions to the public. The building part of the dominican monastery annexed to the Santa Maria Novella church is well worth the visit on its own and will take you back to another age. The soaps, try the pomegranate one redolent with ancient associations and the potpourri are a great memento of Florence and my personal favourite is the ladies body cream in a pretty glass bottle, it is as good as any modern day rival. You may be lucky enough to notice that some Florentine taxi drivers even use the pot pourri in their cars!