Scent Stories: Festa

It's officially "Festa season" at my house. I just opened up a Festa diffuser, and, 19 years after its launch, the warm mix of cinnamon and bitter orange still never fails to get me in the holiday spirit!

This beloved scent made its debut into the Alora collection in fall 2004 after our fans begged us to develop a holiday-scented diffuser. My sis, Annie (i.e. the original "nose" of Alora), was determined to make the festive fragrance just as unique as the other signature scents we had become known for. On a Thanksgiving visit home to Minnesota, she was inspired by the aroma of orange and cinnamon sticks simmering on my stove. Using that scent as inspiration, she paid a visit to our perfumer in New York, spent many rounds sniffing various spicy citrus blends, and eventually landed on Festa - our first holiday fragrance and second best-selling scent of all time. 

Whenever it came time to name a new scent, Annie and I would revisit our Italian language skills - a real treat. This time, the scent almost named itself, as the word "festa" in Italian means "to celebrate" - both an easy and apropos name for this celebratory blend! 

Below is a picture of the original Festa packaging, back when we used suede labels. I have such fond (and slightly stressful!) memories of hand applying all those labels and making sure they were on straight.

19 YEARS OF FESTA JOY

There's always uncertainty about how a new scent will be received, but Festa was a big hit from the start. A year after its release, we added a Festa candle as well as a Festa gift set to the collection, thanks to the fragrance's popularity.

 "Truly one of my faves from Alora. The blend of cinnamon and orange instantly makes my home smell like the holidays." -Brenda 

"Festa marks the official start of the holiday season in my home!" -Suzie 

Fellow Festa fans - I'd love to see how you use our beloved holiday fragrance in your home!

Here's to many more years of Festa-scented joy!