A Song for Rosa

The ancient survivor of the native California woodland known as the chaparral is Rosa californica. A five petaled deciduous native shrub important to local wildlife.

“And I will make thee beds of roses
And a thousand fragrant posies.”
- Christopher Marlowe

Rosa liquid botanical perfume was first unveiled at LA Sniffaplaooza during Fashion Fragrance Week when I was invited to be a speaker at the luncheon. Raphaella, the editor of Sniffapalooza Magazine, writes this about the liquid expression:

Rosa is a gorgeous natural perfume and an instant hit with those that sniff this natural perfume. Many of us were fortunate to receive samples of Rosa at a Sniffapalooza event where Roxana Villa was a featured guest speaker. Roxana continues to amaze with her naturals perfumes and is garnering quite the reputation as a top natural perfumer. This is a fragrance that truly blooms. I consider this my top "metaphysical perfume" along side Amouage Attar.

Rosa, besides being the name of the California wild rose and this perfume, it was also the name of my great grandmother. Look closely at the antique postcards I have been using lately as props for my perfume imagery, you will see her name Rosa Groppo.


The solid expression of Rosa debuted with her two other sisters Vera and Page 47 on the Flower Full Moon on May 27th. Although the solid expression contains the same accords the aromatic profile has a sweeter opening than the liquid. Rosa is a sparkling rose perfume unfolding from a green powdery rose bouquet into deep rich rose and wood notes. The fragrance blossoms on the skin of the wearer. The climatic ending of the orchestration is treasured Agarwood.


The fifth perfume in the series celebrating the aromatic landscape of the State of California is Rosa. Inspiration for this fragrance came when my friend Megan introduced me to the native rose of California.

"The rose distils a healing balm
The beating pulse of pain to calm."
~ Thomas Moore

The base ingredients for this perfume are golden jojoba seed oil and organic, beeswax from a small farm in Ojai, California. The beeswax is the only item in this fragrance that is non botanical. This green, woody botanical perfume has been created by hand utilizing pure essential oils, c02 extracts and absolutes. The ingredients include: my own leather and rose accords; vetiver and precious woods like the treasured agarwood; a very fresh rose otto from a small family farm in Turkey; a deep, resonant rose bourbonica absolute from India and several citrus oils.

Fragrance family: FLORAL
Leather Accord, Vetiver, Precious woods, Rose, Rose Accord, Citrus and and hand infused Lemon Geranium from an organic farm in Ojai.
There are two accords in this perfume, the Leather accord contains several accords within it.
More about Rosa here at the journal
Lucy of Indie Perfume on both Rosa and Sierra, liquids
Scent Hive Review of Rose products including Rosa liquid


Rosa solid perfume comes in an antique finish metal compact contained in a dusty rose hand crocheted, heirloom pouch. I pour the botanical perfume synergy into a combination of beeswax and jojoba. Once gently melted it is then poured into a tin placed within the metal compact. This ensures lasting performance so that the vintage gets better with age.
Another benefit to this is that when you are finished with your solid perfume the tin can be replaced with a new one. The compact is contained in a Dusty Rose hand crocheted pouch and packaged in a silk lined purple box.


Rosa is available as a single sample and in the Flower Full Moon trio set with Vera and Page 47. The tops of the little pink pots are color coded with a honey bee wax seal. Leave a comment here at this post and I will enter you in a draw for pink pot of Rosa in a lavender colored pouch. The draw ends on Monday, June 14th at 10pm PST.