Monday, June 23, 2008

Vera Perfume Review

Vera, our perfume celebrating Lavender and Ojai, has been reviewed on the Perfume Critic. Here is a link. The author of the perfume review is Sands Murray-Wassink a contemporary fine artist and perfume collector living and working in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

This perfume was released a little over one year ago at the Ojai Lavender Festival. The fifth and final annual festival takes place this coming Saturday in Libbey Park under a canopy of Coastal Live Oaks. Vera is about 97% botanical with a few ingredients such as essence of distilled sea shells and beeswax absolute. Thus, technically it is a natural perfume, not a 100% botanical perfume.

Ojai Lavender Festival
Roxana Illuminated Perfume™
The Origins of Vera

Vera illustration and perfume bottle ©Roxana Villa and Greg Spalenka.

6 comments:

Justine Crane said...

Wow, Roxana, what a lovely review! He compares you to Mary Cassatt ~ now that's something.

j

Illuminated Perfume said...

Indeed! I love the part about flinging open all the windows. It reminds me of the film "A Secret Garden" when the character Mary opens up all the windows in Rogers room.
Thank you Justine.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations! I loved Sands' review very much and when he writes "I imagine that this perfume is like the sun rising over the California landscape", I imagine a sun in March, gentle still, warm and caressing.

AromaX said...

Dear Roxana,
I am following your blog for the last two months and enjoy your entries and the way you make your natural perfume.
Sands made a lovely review of Vera.
As it's a natural perfume I am curious if it has a therapeutic and/or spiritual intention. Sounds to me like a perfume to calm you down and make your head free of excess of thoughts. May be even nice to put on in the evening a couple of hours before sleep?
Another question is about distilled see shells. Do they add something to the smell of the perfume or to the spirit? It may be a prejudice, but I expect them to be odorless...

Illuminated Perfume said...

Hi Andy! Interesting, you were in my dream a couple hours ago...with the perfumer Yosh.
The fragrance of Vera is a bit like the Sun rise...and I can see why you mention the sun in the March.
Fair greetings to my friend from a cloudy and thankfully cooler city of angels.

Illuminated Perfume said...

Welcome AromaX.
I hold an intention when I make each of my perfumes...with each drop, each measurement, each notation.
Interesting you should mention using the perfume before sleep. I have noticed quite a few of my clients enjoy wearing these fragrances in the evening before bed. Due to the vibrational qualities of the essential oils I suggest setting an intention when applying. One friend uses the "Q" perfume (OAK) to get in touch with the realm of fairy during her dreamtime.
Seashell essential oil, is called Choya, is has a "burnt" aroma to it. I added them for both the fragrance and for the Chumash Indians who were very much oriented with the Pacific Ocean. Thank you for joining us AromaX.