The Blessing & The Challenge

The blessing and the challenge I hear most from my customers is that they LOVE all the samples in their set and then can't decide which to go with. Here's an example from todays feedback...

"Wow! Buying this sample pack has only increased my dilemma. They all smell so fantastic. I pick one out as my favorite then smell them all again and another becomes my favorite. They are complex and wonderfully every changing. Really quality fragrances."

The solution to this dilemma is to use the little mini compact or locket necklace so that you can economically swap out different fragrances as your temperament changes.

Cabochon Mini Compact

The mini compacts with cabochons have arrived, although not all have been listed yet. Here are a few photos in the meantime.

If there is a specific combination you desire, like Hedera helix solid perfume with Czech glass in peridot green please send me a note. I'm happy to list it for you.

Honey Lover

The latest collection in the ever expanding perfume lockets and cases is the Honey Bee emblem oval compact in jewel tones. Right now I have listed them with Blanc. If you want one with a specific fragrance send me a note. I'm working on loads of new perfumes including a series of soliflores which will be called "Soul Flowers." Blanc is in that category, as a soliflore (single flower) perfume of the orchid bean, vanilla.

I've also added the little golden heart box with three "posey" perfumes, stemming from the language of Flowers. If you would like one of these customized with specific messages for your lover please send me a note.

The team at Honey Love has deemed me the "HoneyLover" of the month, check it over at the Honey Love site here.

Whew, now back to making perfume for me, Greg and I have a surprise coming soon, keep your eyes peeled its a beauty! I'm so excited I can barely contain it.

Creature Comforts

The solid chocolate perfume experiment from last week seems to be "aging" well with a strong possibility to move forward with them. I'm waiting to see if there is any separation of the chocolate and cocoa butter, what is called "blooming" in the chocolate world.

In the meantime I've been working on other treats. First off there are a few new lockets and cases in town. The little round bee lockets are back with the big sister I am calling large oval. The image for these lockets is printed on a very special metallic paper that makes the honey bee extra luminous, especially with the resin coating. This beautiful large oval will be available in a bright green color next week.

The Victorian inspired, diamond pattern locket is back in stock as a necklace, although I am having challenges getting it as a mini compact. Thus, there are only a few mini compacts currently left, I'm working on getting more, or finding an alternative.

The large oval solid perfume case is now available in the same tapestry pattern that is on the round cases. Regrettably the brocade pattern is not being made anymore.

Last, and certainly a thrill to share, soon I will have these large oval solid perfume cases with the honey bee in resin featured on the top in rich jewel tones of purple, burgundy and emerald green. The honey bee image looks very velvety and lush. I can't wait to show them to you as thing are quite exquisite! Here is a glimpse of the case, put on your "visualizing hat" to imagine the resin coated bee image in the top oval recess with your favorite solid "illuminated" perfume inside the case.

A Locket in Your Pocket

Eve is leaving on Sunday, thus I have been taking advantage and shooting some photos before then. We have another photo session planned this evening, during magic hour. Here's a shot from last week with the solid natural perfume mini compacts in her hands laid over one of Martha's crochet flowers.
I've also been shooting photos of her for Martha's shop TwoKnit.

Size matters

I was asked a question that comes up regularly, thus I thought it made sense to illuminate the answer here for everyone. The question is: "How much is in the small (mini compact) inserts compared to the sample (pink) pots?

The pink sample pots have the smallest amount of solid perfume, since they are "samples" and were originally created as a gateway to the round compacts back in 2008. Since then the tribe of solid perfume offerings currently contains:

• Single Solid Perfume Samples
• Flat little tin inserts for the mini compacts and lockets
• Perfume lockets
• Round Tins
• Round Compacts
• Oval Compact

Here is the breakdown of how much, by weight, is in each item:

Pink pot samples contain at least 0.5 grams of solid perfume, sometimes more,
they measure 1 inch wide x 3/4 inch high.

The tins that fit within the mini compact and the perfume locket necklaces contain at least
1.5 grams of solid perfume.

The round tins are the most simple and utilitarian containers hold 8.7 grams of solid perfume,
over 0.3 grams, in the round tin which measures 1 and 3/8" x 1/2" deep.
A color coded honey bee wax seal indicates the fragrance within the container. 

The tin that fits inside the round cases contain 5.3 grams / 1.86 ounces of natural perfume.

The pan within the oval solid perfume compacts contain approximately
7.5 grams, over 2 ounces of solid perfume.

To Be a Girl

My daughter Eve returned from a photo shoot for HereJ on Sunday with fabulous make-up. I had to take some photos of knitted items my mom had dropped by so we took advantage of the make-up. We also did some shots with the oval compacts which we collaborated on. I took the photos, Eve did the color on them.

"A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous."
~ Coco Chanel


"Who would ever think that so much went on in the soul of a young girl?"
~ Anne Frank

"Where youth and diffidence are united, it requires uncommon steadiness of reason
to resist the attraction of being called the most charming girl in the world."
~ Jane Austen

"It's all right for a woman to be, above all, human. I am a woman first of all."
~ Anais Nin

Photos ©Roxana Villa

The Egg

The oval comes from the word ovum, meaning egg in Latin. The shape is derived from the intersection of two circles. When I had my color palette done I was also give a set of shapes and styles that were specific to me. One of them is the oval.


I'm happy to share that I have finally obtained oval compacts to add to the current selection of round ones. These new treasures have the removable tins like the rounds, but hold a bit more solid perfume and are easier to remove and replace.


So far I've only uploaded two generic listings in the E-shop one for the lower priced natural beauties and one for the higher end luminosities.

Be Witching in Green

“To me, a witch is a woman that is capable of letting her intuition take hold of her actions,
that communes with her environment, that isn't afraid of facing challenges.”
~ Paulo Coelho

I've been photographing the new solid perfume compacts, almost daily. Here are a few photos of the Green Witch case in silver. Each case holds a vinyl coated tin which is what I pour the solid perfume into a coated aluminum pan that fits inside with the metal compact. There is approximately 5.3 grams or 1.86 ounces of natural perfume by weight. The round compacts are manufactured and finished in America by a small family owned business. The compacts measure 1-5/8" diameter X 1/2" deep.

Poetic Consciousness

"Living by synchronicity isn't merely about getting messages.
It is about growing the poetic consciousness that allows us to taste and touch what rhymes
and resonates in the world we inhabit,
and how the world-behind-the-world reveals itself
by fluttering the veils of our consensual reality."
~ Robert Moss

Thanks to Chantal for this lovely quote. As you can see I've started photographing the new silver and brass toned compacts filled with natural solid perfume. Below is GreenWitch dressed in silver with her hand crochet sea green pouch. My goal is to do a few each day in between making, formulating, packaging and shipping vital plant perfumes all over the world.

Woven

The solid perfume compacts are back with a tapestry design on the face of the cases. They are available in both a silver and brass antique finish. Find them in the E-shop as I slowly begin to upload all the various aromas. The tapestry pattern is the one on the original perfume locket which is also back in stock with chains available in three different lengths.


Back in March of 2009 when I had my palette done I was given the name Tapestry Summer, which refers to the specific type of colors and light that relate to my skin, eye and hair. This is the palette that also relates to specific shapes and themes, all of which I integrate into Illuminated Perfume.