Illuminated Perfume: Sweetness and Light

There are two ways of spreading light; to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.

~Edith Wharton

I've been re-doing many perfume photos, getting them more aligned with my color palette and core essence. Some items I have shot hundreds of times and not quite captured the right mood. It's a bit tricky because not all the plant materials contained within the perfumes are available year round. For example the California native rose, Rosa californica, in my garden did not bloom this year. Thus my dear friend Meghan brought me a few flowers from Malibu lake so that I could shoot some photos. Lately the Jasmine sambac has been in abundance, but today it has become obvious that within the next few days that window will close.

The window that has most recently opened is native acorns from the various Quercus agrifolia around me. They are bright green at the moment and vary in shape and size according to the tree. Soon they will begin to turn toward brown, offering another variation of hues to work with.

The color palette above is based on the trinity of my hair, eye and skin tones. This is the spectrum which Mother Nature painted me with as I came into the world. As you can see the hues are somewhat muted with a mix of cool and warm. The colors are associated with the quality of light of Summer and a pinch of Autumn firelight. My core essence is associated with vintage, antique, the feminine, romance, texture and complexity. I weave those aspects with my color palette into the photos. It's not about what is "in style" or "fashionable" but what is aligned with my spirit. Conveniently natural botanical perfume works well with those aspects, as I continue to bring light to the value of nature and pure, vital perfume.