Rosa, a California wild woman

Happy New Year! I decided to take the day off and work in the garden with Greg. It's been awhile that I've indulged in the luxury of tending my planties, and what a mess things have become. Quite quickly it became crystal clear that we shall need many more days to tend the landscape, but at least we got the natives we purchased at the Theodore Payne Foundation in the ground before the supposed" rains arrive.

Speaking of California natives the new edition of Rosa, in her liquid form is in process, as are several other fragrances that have sold out, including the ever popular Gracing the Dawn. As I looked over the Rosa formula and analyzed which essential oils needed to be ordered I discovered that some of the essences that were in the original are now available again. This is one of the crazy making aspects of authentic, botanical perfumes that are handmade in small batches.

Rosa was named after the California rose and my great grandmother Rosa Groppo whose postcards you may have seen at the perfumery and in many of my shared photos.

When I began sketching Rosa I began by pairing Bulgarian rose otto with oud and wood to mimic the plants dwelling in the native landscape around Malibu Lake. From that simple pairing I added a few chords and many other essences resulting in a complex fragrance that was built upon slowly and methodically.

Stay tuned, it will be a bit of time before she is ready again, definitely worth the wait. In the meantime, there is one vial with 1 gram of the latest edition still available here.

Photos and text are copyright Roxana Villa, please respect my artwork and ask before re-using.