LYRA as the Muse

"Rich, full-bodied, sweetly tinged amber, floral fragrance, warm sensuality, hint of licorice." 
~ V.Austin, Sniffapalooza Magazine

A few weeks ago we assembled four beautiful young people here in the woodland to do some perfume photos. The image above, to the right is one of those. The model is Gwen Cunningham, she is wearing an antique, silk nightgown from the family treasure trove in Argentina.

When Greg showed me the photo I thought it would work well for Lyra given her femininity and the pale pink hues. I've paired it with a flacon and the gift box with vintage French woven ribbon and milliner ephemera. The intention with this composition and more arriving shortly, is to evoke the mood of the fragrance, in this case the sweet, floral, amber quality of Lyra, whether its a solid or liquid natural perfume.

Ambre Jaune

Aumbre, my amber botanical perfume, is a bit of a shape shifter depending to ones olfactory geography. To my nose the aroma is incense, amber with a touch little gourmand, sweetness from the tonka bean. My friend Nancy was at the studio on Sunday and remarked that it smelled like woods. Thus, I now have added "wood" to the odor description.

Aumbre has a new pouch color which is much more consistent with the wax seal. Originally I was using the dark brown pouch, however, with the advent of the arrival of the chocolates that needed to shift. The yellow ocher hue is evocative of ambre jaune, fossilized resin, often referred to as amber.

Amberesque

Due to popular demand I introduce to you Aumbre as a liquid perfume. The plan was to release this later in the month, however, I have gotten so many requests that the course has altered. At the moment Aumbre is available in 1 gram and 7 gram weights as well as in the trio sampler pack. I am planning another format, however, that will depend on if the samples coming this way meet my extremely high criteria. We shall see, a compromise between aesthetics and availability may be in the near future.


Here are the specs on Aumbre, for details on the orchestration please follow this link here on the blog.

Off to Serendip we go and return with natural botanical perfume titled Ambre for my hombre who chants Aum in the morning and at night. The fragrance contains a synergy of twenty different botanical ingredients. The notes are warm, balsamic, sweet, tobacco and a hint incense smoke The feel is nurturing and exotic.


This true natural botanical perfume does not last on the skin like synthetic perfumes or perfumes not labeled correctly. Since this is an "authentic" nature perfume, made without ANY synthetics, isolates or animal ingredients the longevity may only be a short time. The length of evaporation on the skin is different for everyone. On me and some of my clients Aumbre lasts for up to twelve hours, however, this may not be true for you.


This natural perfume was originally created as a signature scent for my husband, artist Greg Spalenka. There are 7 grams by weight of this luxurious fragrance in a French glass flacon. The perfume is purple gift box ready to give a a gift to yourself or someone special. Also included is an 8.5 x 11 printed information paper which is folded and sealed with the signature bee wax seal.


Fragrance Family: Amber Essences: Resin, Wood and Vanilla.


This is a pure vital nature perfume created with essential oils, absolutes and C02 extracts all from the plant world. I combine my essences and accords with organic, beverage grade alcohol. Layer one of the solid illuminated perfumes over this to extend the lasting performance. All items are handcrafted by my own hands in a smoke and pet-free environment.

Photos ©Roxana Villa, Illustration ©Greg Spalenka

Aumbre

Serendity came by for a visit resulting in a new member of the illuminated tribe of perfumes. The new fragrance is titled Aumbre alluding to three other words: Amber, the Spanish word Hombre and the mystical Aum. Amber + Hombre + Aum = Aumbre.

Amber is one of many linguistically challenging words in the world of perfume. Most associate it with the fossilized resin often used in Baltic amber. The etymology of the word reaches back to the valuable substance produced by the Sperm whale known as Ambergris called Ambra. In perfume the word Amber refers to rich, balsamic fragrances.


In natural perfume ambergris is utilized most often to convey the Amber note while in botanical perfume we employ only botanical based ingredients such as Labdanum, Cistus, Benzoin, Storax, and Vanilla. There are many variations on botanical Amber accords some of which feature Patchouli, Rose and Oakmoss.

My palette contains many Amber accords which are featured in almost every perfume to a greater or lesser degree. When I first stepped into natural perfume from the domain of aromatherapy Amber was my very favorite note and I often wore a constructed accord as a perfume. Greg, my husband, wore it so often that the accord quickly became known as his signature scent.

On the Valentines Day blog post I made reference to an Amber accord which resulted in Karen, a fabulous patron, requesting it as a solid perfume. This is when Serendipity stepped in. The perfume devoted to the honey bee is an Amber perfume. When Karen made her request I wasn't keen on releasing two Amber perfumes within the same quadrant. However, March 13th was my beloved Greg's birthday and he was all out of his Amber accord.


Thus, off to the land of Serendip I went and have returned with a solid perfume titled Ambre for my hombre who chants Aum in the morning and at night. The fragrance contains a botanical synergy of about twenty different essences. The notes are warm, balsamic and sweet with whispers of tobacco and incense smoke. The feel is nurturing and exotic.


Get Aumbre at the E-shop or I can send you a PayPal invoice.
Individual sample
Within a sample in a set of three
Within a sample set of six
5 grams in a Honey Pot

Images: Interior Cathedral Illustration ©Greg Spalenka, Photos ©RoxanaVilla
c.1950

Scent of the Day: Amber

The weather here has been wildly dynamic. In one day I can shift from yoga pants and a spaghetti strap tank to several layers of wool. Late last night Madame Wind Element decided to make her presence known. She moves through the canyon, announcing her arrival as we here her dance through the trees. The sound is very much like the ocean waves.

This Moonday morning beckons for something warm, I've already got a ridiculous amount of wool on from cashmere fingerless gloves, two cardigans, thermals, a crochet skirt, a scarf around my neck and a second larger one draped over my shoulders. Who would guess I am in sunny California! However, within a few hours I may be peeling it all off.

One of the very first accords I ever created was Amber. I now have several different varieties of Amber accords. The material "Amber" within the realm of botanical/natural perfumery is either a fossil resin from the fir tree, Pinus succinifera or most often an accord. There is quite a bit of confusion with the term because it is used to define many different types of scented items. The etymology of the word stems from the Arabic anbar, referring to ambergris. Ambergris is a substance produced by the cachalot whale. In modern times many fragrance developers have created incense and perfumes called Amber, which are composed of a variety of ingredients including many synthetics aroma chemicals.

As a botanical perfumer I have created several Amber accords utilizing resinous materials such as Labdanum, Benzoin, Conifer, Frankincense, as well as Woods, Patchouli, Vetiver, Oakmoss, Clary Sage and Vanilla. Some of my accords are so complex they venture into the terrain of a full fledged perfume.

This is what is on the drawing table for today. Greg has asked me to make more of his signature Amber, friends are asking for the release of the perfume I have been calling Amber and there are accords that need to be made for existing perfumes.

Amber accords are found in Lyra, Aurora, Sierra, Vera and Greenwitch. I've selected to display Lyra as our Scent of the Day poster child, since of the the five mentioned, her Amber accord is the most prevalent.

The Golden Compass: Trailer

Years back, on the recommendation of our English friend Jeremy, I picked up the book "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman. It was one of a trilogy entitled "His Dark Materials". I have been reading books to my daughter Eve ever since she was a toddler. Thus, every night before bedtime, we would snuggle in my bed I would read aloud. We absolutely adored the first book and quickly ravished the second and third...as well as "Lyras Oxford". During this time, my beloved partner was in Texas working on a film. I mentioned to him how extra ordinary the books were and that he would be a perfect visual fit if the book was ever made into a film. Divine forces conspired and he found himself working on visual development for the Golden Compass right here in Los Angeles. We have been counting down the days for the release of the film. It looks like Philip Pullmans masterful story has been honored and interpreted well. What a relief! Fox really blew it with Eragon and The Dark is Rising. Kudos to Weitz and New Line for their great skill in translating a great novel to film media.
The perfume I created entitled Lyra was named after the heroine. Aurora and Amber also allude to the epic trilogy.
The Golden Compass Website