12th year Anniversary

I've been so swamped between the move to another house, the spa-cation and getting prepared for the Santa Fe Art Tour at the perfumery that I completely forgot about the 12th anniversary of launching Roxana Illuminated Perfume, ugh!

Back in February of 2007 I was contacted by Sandy Messori to be a presenter at the Ojai Valley Lavender Festival. As you can imagine I felt extremely honored considering some of the other speakers were luminaries in the aromatherapy community, like Suzanne Catty & Michael Scholes. Along with presenting I was offered a booth to sell my products.

At the time I had just started coming out of my shell as a "perfumer", even though I had already been teaching, creating my botanical perfumes and custom fragrances for clients. The invitation gave me the impetus to get my branding and a website together, which launched on the day of the event June 16, 2007. You can read a little bit about it here at the journal.

As a gift to you I am offering 25% off the round tins of Vera (pictured above). This lavender perfume was created specifically for the Ojai Lavender Festival to be a reflection of the landscape, it is complex yet simple with notes ranging from lavender, sage, sun-kissed skin, honey and resin. Use coupon code VERA at the illuminated perfume website, or come pick it up at the perfumery.

Here are a few testimonials I uncovered...

"This perfume has redefined lavender for me. It has built it into a scent that is stunning in its complexity; that is both very natural and very feminine in a sophisticated way. This is one little luxury that I hope never to be without again."

~ Customer of Vera liquid flacon

"Lavender is one of my favorite flowers and scents, and this smells exactly like the real thing, not heavy or overpowering at all like those soap and bath products! Thank you so much!"

~ Customer of Vera solid perfume

"I love that you make perfumes I can wear without getting a rash. I love the heavenly scents and I'm thrilled with the extra solid samples you included! Thank you!"

~ Customer of Vera liquid perfume flacon

"Starts as a herbal-y lavender then dries down to soft resins. Exquisite."

~ Customer of Vera solid perfume

"Absolutely beautiful perfumes. As well as smelling good, I love how each seems to be imbued with intention to me; Sierra is joyful, Q is grounding and Vera gives a feeling of clarity."

~ Grace

"Thanks, Roxana! It smells wonderful ~ as per the words of my fiancee. :)"

~ Fireman, Vera liquid for his girl

I LOVE the VERA it has a wonderfully complex scent,

and the "sun kissed skin" note is very sensual!

~ Customer of Vera solid perfume

"This is my favorite stuff in the whole world. "

~ Customer of Vera liquid falcon

"I am wearing this right now. Seeing how Vera is my favorite thing in the world, of course I love it. Love, love, love it."

~ Customer of Vera solid perfume compact

"The depth of this fragrance is amazing. Lavender has a very open, honest fragrance, but Vera is so much more. It is open and subtle at the same time. I love wearing it.

Thank you so much for creating this wonderful fragrance."

~ Customer of Vera liquid vial

2019 Santa Fe Studio Tour #44

The 15th annual Santa Fe Studio Tour began this morning at 10am with over fifty artist's studios participating. It's a great chance to chat with local artists, learn about their process and support their work. For more information visit the Santa Fe Studio Tour site.

The perfumery is “un-officially” part of the tour since Greg is showing his work in the school portion  of the space. We are STUDIO 44 (an auspicious number), conveniently located in the mid-town Arts District of the city at Lena Street Lofts. Come be enchanted in our synergistic sensorium, grab a matcha from my neighbor Iconik Coffee or hand-made, vegan ice cream from Sunset Swirl across the way. Then head over out to visit the rest of the artists in our collective participating in the studio tour. Todays visitors shared that our space was there favorite!

The scent bar is available for instant olfactory adventures, memory stirring and stories, as well as hydrosol spritzes. Stroll through our macrame permeable wall to the School of Lost Arts where Greg has set up his visionary art with banners, original art, his retrospective book to peruse, and favorite prints for purchase, and get information about upcoming classes planned in the space. Greg and I look forward to transporting you to another realm.

Sunrise Springs: Awakening Journey

If you are a regular reader of this journal, than you already know I'm a sensualist, and in fact my love of beauty, peace and feeling nurtured with nature is what brought me to making plant perfume to begin with.

The Greek Goddess Tyche, also known Fortuna, arrived last week with an invitation to participate in an “Awakening Journey” weekend at Sunrise Springs Spa Resort, all expenses paid!  This extremely special event is thanks to the careful curation of Caitlin and Amy, the dynamic duo of @SimplySocialNM on Instagram.

I was lucky to have had a taste of the resort back in August of 2017, on an exploratory visit of Santa Fe before moving from Los Angeles. Thus, when the opportunity to attend a weekend staycation presented itself, I spontaneously jumped at the opportunity, ignoring a very long list of items that needed addressing. Little did I know that I was an " instagram micro-influencer" and would soon make friends with an eclectic little tribe here in Santa Fe.

The group met within the gates of the stunning 70-acre property the afternoon of Friday, June 7th. Soon after arriving I was given an itinerary with activities and shortly whisked away to the spa for a luxurious massage, getting me present in my physical body for what was to come.

After some free time getting settled in my room, the group met at the Moon House for a cleansing ceremony including individual and group readings by Jessica Ibarra, a gifted spiritual guide. In the glow of our blown minds by Jessica's intuitive perceptions, we all sat down at the long rectangular table to enjoy a wonderful meal prepared by Chef Rocky Heron.

The next morning I awoke early and headed to the restaurant where I encountered a few of the girls at a round table enjoying their breakfast. Each of the attendees was given a special itinerary with lots of extra time to take advantage of the beautiful grounds and classes. Elizabeth, a gifted photographer and I choose to attend the "Best Kept Secret in Medicine" workshop with Dr. Sally Fisher. Although I was familiar with much of what was shared it was the perfect lecture to reset my commitment to healthy eating habits. Afterwards I headed to a Yoga Nidra class followed by my "Medicine Helper" appointment with Concha Garcia-Allen. From there I headed to the brand new repose pools to blissfully soak in one of the new natural artesian warm water "Repose Pools" to integrate the experience with Concha.

That evening, we all once again met at the Moon House for cocktails, sharing our experience of the day and our individual sessions followed by another stunning meal. At this point in the journey I was finally unwinding and letting go of my anxiety of being the "crone" of the group.

Sunday morning I once again woke up early and headed out to a morning yoga class before my 9am private mineral infused soak in one of the Ojoitos in the spa area. As I lay in the warm water looking out at the beauty of the landscape with the tall trees I thought "Gee, wouldn't it be grand if the spa was at the center of a community of homes with my fellow sisters from the weekend experience."

After the luxurious 25 minute soak (which was way too short!) I leisurely roamed the grounds with my camera for last minute captures. One of the reoccurring themes we all noticed in our evening sessions, were the concepts of the circle, reflections and we are all related. As I was contemplating these themes with fellow attendee Kelsey, I saw the circular tubs and the great grandmother Cottonwood tree reflected in the water. In awe, I felt the confirmation of our collective experience and the alchemical mantra As Above So Below.

At 11:30am I met my fellow attendees near the sweat lodge for a Nahui Ollin Dance in the Four Directions led by Concha followed by brunch at the Blue Heron. The dance and ritual was incredibly moving, I find indigenous dances and ceremonies to be very potent and stirring.

I am still in the process of integrating all that occurred over the weekend, it was a quite lot over a very short time. My only regret was that I would have liked to spend more time with the beautiful souls who attended the transformational weekend with me. At dinner Saturday evening, Barrett Freibert mentioned that its when we share our vulnerability that deep connections are made. I've been contemplating this idea since she mentioned it, as I believe most of us are in search of deep connection, or what Joseph Campbell calls the experience of "being alive."

The weekend gave me the opportunity to fully experience the spa for my own upcoming retreats.