Category: Natural Perfume

New for Summer 2016 - Solid Crème Perfume Lockets & Tins

5/17/2016

Cafe Providence is now available as a solid crème perfume in these stunning, engraved brass lockets & tins!

Solid crème perfumes are a unique gift to engage and delight the senses - the sense of sight, smell, and touch. The natural fragrance is highly concentrated. All perfumes are hand poured by me in small batches and are 100% natural and cruelty free.

Cafe Providence is a perfume from the Gourmand/Edible fragrance family.

It features a rare Venezuelan Espresso Bean essence, Vanilla from Madagascar, and exotic Ylang Ylang blossom. Crafted as a solid perfume with jojoba oil and golden beeswax. The scent is equally ravishing on men and women. Take your signature scent with you anywhere and reapply as your heart desires!

If there is another perfume in my shop that strikes your interest, do contact me to see if it's available as a solid perfume. I'd be happy to accommodate you.

I hope you'll adore these luscious crème perfumes as much as I do!

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Providence Perfume: Exploring Citrus & Cologne Formulations

4/18/2016

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"I have found a fragrance that reminds me of an Italian spring morning, of
mountain daffodils and orange blossoms after the rain."

- Perfumer,
Giovanni Maria Farina

Earlier this month, I had the great pleasure to study natural perfume with award winning perfumer, Charna Ethier. This is my third year working with her at her stunning perfumery -
Providence Perfume Co., located in Providence, Rhode Island.

The focus of the perfume intensive was formulating true colognes - citrus, green, fresh, unisex compositions.

Today, most people think of the word "cologne" as a term for a man's fragrance. However, there is another meaning to the word which describes a perfume that originated in Cologne, Germany. These scents are light and refreshing - perfect for the spring and summer.

Pictured below is an enormous jar of orange peel tincture that we used to make one of our perfumes.

The most famous Original Eau de Cologne is called 4711 - named after its location in Germany at Glockengasse No. 4711. We all got to pass around and smell a bottle of this famous perfume.
(Pictured below). The scent was just how I imagined it . . .

We also challenged ourselves to formulate five perfumes of various cologne styles:

The Florida Water Cologne
The Classic Cologne
The Citrus Cologne
The Green/Fresh/Herbaceous Cologne
The Floral Cologne

(The Florida Water Cologne was my favorite - think juicy citrus with a hint of spice).

After the workshop finished, I had a chance to check out Cellar Stories Books. I discovered a lovely vintage book on fragrant plants and flowers. A nice ending to a productive weekend of learning and blending!

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Volatile! A Photo Journey Through A Poetry & Scent Exhibition

12/23/2015

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I was so excited when I heard about Volatile! - a local exhibit opening that is all about poetry and scent. (Two of my absolute favorite things)!

Here's a glimpse inside the event that took place in Chicago . . .

The first thing I noticed was this row of glass cloches. One starts at the far left, where you read the beginning of a story underneath the first cloche. You also smell the inside of the cloche;
the scent accompanies the story.

The first one was my favorite; it smelled like a mysterious forest filled with cedar trees.

The event soon became bustling and we listened to the opening talk by a panel of experts on scent and poetry.

I was pleasantly surprised by how many people were at the event - probably about 150. I had to duck away for a minute to get some air! I loved this decorative touch by the refreshments.

One of my favorite things about the event was the book of Aromapoetry (featured below). Through advanced nanotechnology, this book was created so that the scent will be forever imbedded into the pages.

Each page is one poem. You see the title of the poem, but there is no text. Instead of reading text with your eyes, you read the scent with your nose! It was interesting to notice that the scent varied throughout each area of the page . . .

If you live in Chicago, I highly recommend checking out this exhibit!
It stays open until February 19th, 2016.

I leave you with these words to consider:

“Poetry and perfume both utilize the power of suggestion and are capable of creating entire worlds through subtle illusion.”

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The Alchemical Garden

11/22/2015

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Believer or disbeliever,
No matter who You are,
No matter what Your ambitions
Forget!

Have you heard about the
alchemists?
Forget!
Use Your imagination,
Be attentive.

Alchemy, as presented in the
garden, is the transformation of
the soul
through grace and initiative
science. It is presented not
as the "black magic" of old but
as an essential tool of an era
when
being a great scientist also
meant being a great philosopher,
so
intertwined were the two
pursuits.

~ Sign at the Alchemical Garden at
Mas de la Brune in Provence, France.

I invite you to discover my alchemical, limited edition creation: Visions in the Garden
Featuring Vetiver, Rose, Tomato Leaf, Jasmine, Mimosa Olessance from France, and more.

Spiritual Properties of the Above Essences:

Vetiver ~ A root oil that aids those who feel too sensitive to outside forces. Instills strength and confidence.
Rose ~ A sacred oil that eases grief and sorrow. Enhances your connection to love, creativity, beauty, and the arts. Restores trust and self compassion.
Tomato Leaf ~ A rare essence with a wonderful, verdant aroma. Protects from negative influences. Inspires hope, passion, and belief in oneself.
Jasmine ~ A voluptuously warm aroma that promotes joy, euphoria, and sensuality. Beautifying and enhances intuition.
Mimosa ~ Fresh, sparkling, crystalline scent that aides creativity and joy. Associated with protection, purification, and prophetic dreams.

To bring a touch of grace and transformative magic into your life . . . Visions in the Garden.

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Natural Perfume Adventures: Part Two

11/4/2015

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This fall provided some great opportunities for my natural perfume studies. Soon after working with award winning perfumer Jessica Hannah, I attended a workshop with another expert in the world of natural perfume: Charna Ethier of Providence Perfume Co.

Providence has become one of my favorite cities; seeing it in autumn was definitely a treat . . .

This is where the workshop took place: Providence Perfume Co., located in Providence, Rhode Island.

The topic of this workshop was creating Oriental style perfumes. Before we began blending our formulas and perfumes, our instructor passed around incredible vintage perfumes. One of the most famous Oriental perfumes (pictured below) is Shalimar:

What is an Oriental perfume? The scent is often rich and ambery. They tend to convey warmth, sensuality, and sophistication. I especially like to wear these perfumes during fall and winter.

A few examples of perfumes that could be classified as Oriental:

Shalimar
L'Heure Bleue
Coco
Angel

One of the best parts of the workshop was creating four different styles of Oriental perfumes.
These are the four we created:

The Classic Oriental ~ classic, ambery scent utilizing essences like benzoin, vanilla, and tonka
The Gourmand Oriental ~ has edible and dessert-like qualities

The Spicy Oriental ~ contains spices such as cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg
The Floriental ~ Oriental with a floral twist

There was a lot of learning and blending packed into this weekend intensive!

After class, it was relaxing to stop by the local coffeehouse where I could sip on a warm drink and digest some of the knowledge I had acquired. I thought back to my original perfume intensive in Providence, which inspired my first (and still one of my favorite) botanical perfumes:
Cafe Providence.

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse inside a natural perfume workshop. If you're interested in trying an Oriental style natural perfume, please check out Labyrinth in the store.

Have you ever tried an Oriental style perfume? Feel free to share in the comments below.

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Natural Perfume Adventures: Part One

10/30/2015

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Earlier this month, I attended a natural perfume intensive led by Jessica Hannah of J. Hannah Co.
I loved Jessica's previous perfume workshop in the summer, so I was excited to have the opportunity to work with her again.

In addition to being incredibly knowledgable, she is also truly kind, genuine, and down to earth.

During the workshop, each one of us got to select two natural essences to highlight in the perfumes we were creating. I chose choya nakh and jasmine sambac.

I am fascinated by the exotic and complex aroma of choya; imagine a burnt campfire at the beach. The scent is earthy, smoky, woody, oceanic, and ambery - all in one. Interestingly, choya is created by the distillation of burnt sea shells.

Natural essential oils, absolutes, and the Aftelier perfume wheel

The first perfume I created in class with choya and jasmine sambac was muddled and a definite flop. The second, however, was really interesting. It has an ambery, earthy, and mysterious quality.

The goal of the workshop was not to make great perfumes in class, but rather to learn how to edit our own perfumes and improve any weaknesses or flaws in the formula.

I am grateful to have learned some great tips as well as to discover and explore a truly intriguing essence: choya nakh. Keep an eye out for a possible natural perfume with choya in our store!

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Fragrance Families & Favorite Natural Perfumes

8/16/2015

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Formulating Natural Perfume

There are so many terms used to describe fragrance, but what in the world do they all mean?
It can definitely get confusing!

Here's a glimpse at some basic fragrance families. A fragrance family organizes a group of aromatics with similar scent characteristics. This is not an exhaustive list (there are so many ways to categorize scent), but it's a good place to start. It's fun and insightful to develop a fragrance vocabulary - I hope you learn something new!

This list is adapted from Mandy Aftel's newest book, Fragrant, which I highly recommend!

Spicy

ginger, allspice, nutmeg, cardamom, pink pepper, black pepper, clove

Natural Perfume Example: Samarinda, Providence Perfume

Floral

jasmine, geranium, neroli, ylang ylang, rose, frangipani, mimosa

Natural Perfume Example: Visions in the Garden, Kindred Earth Botanicals

Animalic

ambrette, costus, civet, ambergris, africa stone

Natural Perfume Example: Skive, J Hannah Co.

Herbaceous

anise, basil, sage, lavender, mint, rosemary, tarragon, basil, fennel

Natural Perfume Example: Vera, Roxana Illuminated Perfume

Citrus

bitter orange, bergamot, lime, lemon, grapefruit, litsea cubeba, mandarin

Natural Perfume Example: Etrog, Ayala Moriel Parfums

Edible

cognac, cocoa, coffee, vanilla, tonka, bitter almond

Natural Perfume Example: Cafe Providence, Kindred Earth Botanicals

Resinous

benzoin, frankincense, myrrh, Peru balsam, elemi

Natural Perfume Example: Song of Songs, Ayala Moriel Parfums

Woody

fir, pine, rosewood, cedarwood, sandalwood, spruce, oud

Natural Perfume Example: Fir, Aftelier Perfumes

Earthy

vetiver, patchouli, oakmoss, labdanum, tobacco, cepes

Natural Perfume Example: Labyrinth by Kindred Earth Botanicals (coming soon)

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What are *your* favorite fragrance families? Let me know in the comments below!

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Providence Perfume: A Glimpse Inside a Botanical Perfume Workshop

6/18/2014

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A quick note: There is a difference between aromatherapy and botanical perfume!
While they are related fields, they are not the same . . . .

Aromatherapy utilizes essential oils for their *therapeutic* properties.
Botanical perfume focuses soley on the beauty of the scent.

I want to add as much beauty and loveliness to my aromatherapy blends as possible, so I was really excited to attend this workshop in Providence, RI . . . .

Downtown Providence

Here's a peek inside the boutique where the workshop was held:

The fragrance color wheel . . . .

And my favorite part of the workshop . . . .

Creating our own solid creme perfumes!

1. A rich, honey scent. 2. Deep, complex Frangipani scent. 3. Coffee scent with floral notes. 4. Vetiver & Tomato leaf.

A few interesting things I learned:

Jasmine and Rose are considered the "King and Queen" of perfumery.

These two essences are the building blocks of so many perfumes.

Botanical perfumes need to be aged at least a month before evaluating. Patience is key! Most blends become smoother and richer over time.

Oud (also known as Agarwood) is one of the most expensive natural perfume ingredients; It can cost $24,000 an ounce!

Essence and Alchemy by Mandy Aftel is a great book to learn more.

Do you have a favorite natural perfume? I'd love to hear about it in the comments below.

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