Twos Day

Two Impromptu reviews in one day! The first that I became aware of is over at Perfume Smellin' Things, written by Beth with all her fabulous story telling skills. Here's one of my favorite parts:

"This sounds silly perhaps, but I know that almost anyone like me with an unrestrained adoration of the art of perfumery and its alchemy should know exactly what I mean when I say this. 

I love Impromptu even more without clothes. When I'm sunbathing and my skin is warmed, the scent completely blossoms.  I love to stretch out as naked as possible on my sunny upper deck like a lazy desert cat and revel in Impromptu's sweet woodsy fire. I suppose that if I have have to appear dressed while I'm wearing it I'll break out the sexy Ralph Lauren maxi dress that I bought for it (Yes I buy clothes for perfumes not the other way around!) ... a swirling, sexy sheath of cat print with leather ties. I'll add a chunky gold necklace, some carved bone earrings and dance the night away because I've certainly got a lot to celebrate!"

The second review is over at EauMG by Victoria who deconstructs each variation of the scent with a wonderful comparison to the time of day.

Time to take a moment to savor the sweet, leathery balsamic notes of Impromptu and breath deep. Here's the link on the website with all the variations of Impromptu>

Perfume Feature & Giveaway

Katie over at The Green Product Junkie has a little feature and giveaway happening on her new site. Please head on over if you'd like a chance to win one of my trio sampler sets. If you choose to accept this mission be sure to list three of your all time favorite plant scents.

Here is a link to a review Katie did last year when she first came across my work.

Impromptu Review and Giveaway at CFB

There is a review and giveaway for a trio sampler set of Impromptu over at the CaFleureBon blog. So grateful to John for taking the time to experience the fragrance and share his impressions with all of us. Intending a reader of this blog wins the set, good luck!

Impromptu Review at APJ

There's an Impromptu review and giveaway over at Australian Perfume Junkies happening right now. Entries Close Sunday 4th May 2014 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.

Impromptu LookBook

The Lookbook for Impromptu is finally done! Greg and I began working on it on April 11th when we did a photo shoot up at the Agoura Antique Market. Greg had discovered a pretty, young girl named Savannah at the gym he frequents. She is a fabulous model and we hope to use her often.

The photo shoot was specifically for a trio of fragrances planned for next month. Since we were there we decided to use our dedicated time, location and Savannah for a few images for Impromptu.

For the creation of this LookBook I mapped out a storyboard on index cards to serve as a guide. I shared with Greg the concepts I had in mind and then began to hunt for imagery on my hard drive, pull up reviews and create new text. In the meantime Greg began working on a masculine image for the fragrance. The first pages I created were the three text pages about the fragrance. I then moved onto the ingredients spread and the pages that include quotes from Gaia of The Non-Blond and John of CaFleurBon. As I did my work Greg continued creating imagery and working on spreads as well. We work very closely, going back and forth, eliminating ideas while coming up with new directions and sometimes going back to the beginning and then foraging new paths. The constant is we are always surprised how long these LookBooks take to create.

Impromptu Reviews

This is the official landing page for reviews of Impromptu botanical perfume as a constant in the line. First up is a paragraph from Sam and review Tom write for Perfume Posse, where he picks up on carnation as the primary note.

"Impromptu is a morpher; a changeling. A fragrance with layers upon layers. A beginning of herbs, wood, and a lemony and astringent quality that eventually warms and morphs into something astounding. Worn leather, sweet balsamic notes, woods and resin mingle together and create this beautiful antique quality and feeling. This isn't a perfume to become weak and subtle with wear, but instead, Impromptu only gets better the longer it is worn - and it lasts an impressively long time."
    ~ Sam, in reference to the liquid perfume extract

Tom at Perfume Posse

Ex tempore

All aspects of Impromptu are now listed at the site and ready to be enjoyed. Each format offers a different form of enjoyment as the notes seem to sing in different harmonies depending on if the base.

Greg and I are hard at work on the LookBook, which, if everything aligns nicely will be done by the end of the week.

Impromptu: A Rendezvous with Romance

Carded

I picked up the little Impromptu cards from my local printer yesterday. Thus all the orders that have been placed, along with promotional packets, will begin getting sent out today. Please note that I didn't make a huge amount of this first batch. I'm working on a big batch of the solid and liquid synergy as well as an Eau de Parfum spray.

I took a few more photographs yesterday, still have quite a lot more to shoot and then edit. Launching a fragrance, even when its a perfume that once existed, is always a bit labor intensive.

The Griffin and Impromptu

The reconstruction of Impromptu is starting to hit the website. As I designed the new little info and image card that accompanies the fragrance I choose the legendary Griffin as the archetype. I asked on my facebook page: Why do you think I've chosen a Griffin as the archetype for Impromptu? My customer Yvonne came up with this, which isn't exactly the reason, but I love it:

"Is it to do with an old legend ? .......... On the island of Usedom there is a recently made-dry swamp called Thurbruch, also Auerochsenbruch. Much of the area used to be covered by forest, in which griffins were said to be living. Once a herdsman took his little son with him in the forest, while grazing his herd. When he had to leave his son alone for a while, a griffin came and took his son with him to his nest, where he put him between his own young. When the herdsman returned and didn't find his child, he immediately knew what had happened. He hurried to the griffin's nest, and found the old griffin already flown out again. The father bravely climbed into the mighty fir-tree, and saved his son who had managed to keep clear from the griffin's young. When they stood on the ground again, he put the fir-tree on fire to destroy the griffin's nest. In that he succeeded, but unfortunately the whole forest was set on fire. So, until recent years, peat-diggers will sometimes find carbonized tree-trunks in the swamp, that reminds them about that big wood fire....... and the woody swampy herb notes of Impromptu."

Deciding on the Griffin all began with wanting an animal image because the fragrance is a "leather" perfume, albeit botanical. When I mentioned this to Greg he said, "It should be a bird because of the wings." I asked, "Why a bird?"  He said "I used the wings because it represents freedom and spontaneous, fleeting creation." Love that, but a bird didn't seem right. Then the Griffin popped into my head which led me to do some research to find that in ancient cultures this mythological creature, like the dragon, is a symbol of divine power and guards treasure.

In alchemical texts both the lion and the eagle are solar creatures often depicted in relation to the achieved goal, alchemical gold, and a new direction. This juxtaposition and dualistic nature stems from the Griffin having the attributes of two powerful beings. 

Since the color harmony for Impromptu is a antique mossy gold, chosen from Gregs illumination and Impromptu as a fragrance contains spice and smoke, the association of the sun and a spiritual guardian of gold seemed auspiciously appropriate.

Impromptu is a woody, smokey, leather perfume. The first rendition was not documented since it was created with the contents of bottles from multiple experiments. This new manifestation has been built by looking over the formulas of those experiments and rebuilding based on the fumes emanating from the two large empty bottles that housed the original version. 

Waxing and waning

Several perfumes are just about out of stock or completely out. This re-occurring new phenomena is a sign that the formulas need to be made in much larger batches when the materials allow it. I'm going to create a post that lives here toward the top of the journal titled Editions, so that you all know what edition is currently in stock, running low on etc.

Here's the latest as I type this.

GREEN WITCH

GreenWitch in liquid form is completely out, more is in the works and will be back shortly.

IMPROMPTU

In the shop currently there are three vials with 1 gram. I discovered a bigger amber glass vial with 3.75 grams of perfume the other night in the studio, however it may already be spoken for. Keep in mind 1 gram is roughly equivalent to .036oz. There is about 1/4 ounce left of the original formula, although the client that has requested the 3.75 gram vial might take it. If you want to be put on a waiting list for it send me an e-mail at roxana (at) illuminatedperfume (dot) com.
Another edition is currently in the works which will also be available as a solid. I already have the wax for this one which makes things flow much better.

VESPERTINA

There is only 11 grams left of the 1st edition, which contains many precious distillates not currently available. When I had launched Vespertina in August of 2007 the formula contained quite a large amount of essences from when I was working in aromatherapy. Regrettably these essences are no longer on the market. The next edition will shift slightly in its aromatic experience and be aligned with the fragrance of the solid since that one also is being re-constructed.

I thought I was out of the synergy for the solid, however, I am not. I apologize if I created any panic.

Let's get authentic, shall we?

The biggest challenge for the authentic, botanical perfumer is that many people have no clue as to what a "botanical" perfume is, let alone one that is made by hand with a mission to illuminate the hearts and minds of sentient beings around the world.

Although I do everything I can think of to describe my products with as much clarity as possible, there always seems to be room for more, thanks the nemesis who is willing and ready to help you refine.



Here's a case in point, a gal purchased 1 gram of Impromptu in a vial, I packaged up the order and sent out the next day. She received it within one day and wrote...

"The fragrance is admittedly exquisite - I can't stop smelling the wrist I applied it to - but the quantity is simply too little for the price.. especially given that this a relatively dilute alcohol-based product."

So, she loved the actual item but thought it was too much money. Ummm, Impromptu is the less expensive perfume in my shop, gee, good thing she didn't order GreenWitch! Dilute, Impromptu, wow I have never heard that term associated with this fragrance. She must be using some pretty toxic synthetic perfumes or her nose is totally fried. Probably both.

I contacted her back to get some clarity and explained that I make perfumes by hand using botanical materials. She wrote back the following...

 "Thanks for getting back to me. Let me reiterate that 'Impromptu' is phenomenal - one of the most gorgeous fragrances I've ever experienced. I also acknowledge that it is a hand-made product.
However, the price ($15) still seems too high for the quantity (.5 g). For instance, a .7 ml 'sample' of By Kilian's 'Incense Oud' Eau de Parfum, one of the higher-priced 'niche' fragrances, is available at an online supplier for $5. Both 'Impromptu' and the 'Incense Oud' EDP are alcohol-based. If .7 mL of pure alcohol is equal to .5 grams of the same (I ran the calculation based on an 18 mL = 14 g conversion formula supplied on a U.S. government web site), then you are charging three times the cost of a By Kilian oud/agarwood eau de parfum for your product.

I would suggest charging a more realistic price for your product, one that's more in line with what your competitors in the marketplace are charging."

I am being compared to Killian, how fascinating. Gosh, there is so much here to address, I could write a book. Here is what I am considering writing back, feel free to give me ideas...

"Thanks again for getting back to me with your insights. I am really grateful for this dialogue as it has helped me refine my listing of Impromptu and myself as an artist

Impromptu is a handmade, botanical perfume. Thus, to compare apples to apples I suggest running the numbers based on a comparable brand.

Let's break things down, here is an article titled "Behind the Spritz" which goes into perfume costs for big brands, notice the marketing budget.
http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/05/22/celebrity-perfume-cost-breakdown/

The reason these fragrances are so inexpensive is that they are using synthetic fragrance materials. One of the perks of these materials, besides that they are very cheap, is that they are stable and since they are fabricated with petro chemicals (plastics) will last on the skin for a very long time, sometimes forever, like the prevalent synthetic musk keytones.

In your note you mention alcohol, this is a really good example to use as a comparison. Bigger brands like Killian use standard perfumers alcohol which is ethanol combined with other ingredients. The alcohol I use comes from a small lab in Oregon that produces beverage/pharmaceutical grade, 190 proof grape alcohol. I often infuse my alcohol with plant matter, usually grown organically from my native plant garden.

Unlike Killian, who by the way doesn't actually make his perfume, he is just an art director working with a perfume house. I work on all levels of my product, from concept, formulation, growing the plant materials and everything involved with marketing including the photographs, graphics and words. My palette is botanical, the way perfumes were made hundreds of years ago before synthetics were synthesized in a lab. Although I refrain from using isolates and historic animal ingredients. Since I have a background in aromatherapy I bring that knowledge to my work as well as the very finest raw materials available to both the aromatherapist and the botanical perfumer.

For the Killian brand this is not even an option because they would have to charge exuberant fees for their fragrances and also could not compete in the world-wide, retail perfume world, which btw, I am not part of.

My intention is to make the most exquisite botanical perfumes that will bring awareness to nature, thus the word "illuminated" in my company title.

Impromptu has garnered a huge following and raves by the perfume blogging arena. My niche market isn't those who buy Killian, it is a much smaller, select group of aware individuals. Roxana Illuminated Perfume is appreciated in over 70 different countries and within every single state in the US. The customer base ranges from: those who are allergic to synthetics; want to support the lost art of botanical perfume; the vision of the brand; those who want a perfume crafted by the hand of an artist; those who want to support nature and a combination of those. As you can see, this has nothing to do with the brand Killian or even the product they produce which is almost completely synthetic, although they don't want you to believe that. Also, take into account that Killian is being sold at retail outlets, my fragrances are only sold by me, online, at the moment.

Of all my fragrances Impromptu is the least expensive because it was created as a gift to my patrons, all my other 1 gram samples begin at $25."

So there you have it, the ball is back in her court.

Talking to someone about botanical vs synthetic is akin to talking to a Republican, it is probably point less. However, at the very least it helps me to refine my position.

Handled With Kid Gloves

Donna has written a very eloquent review of Impromptu over at Perfume Smellin' Things. Please find your broom stick and head on over. Her impressions, as always, come from a refined olfactory terrain and I am so flattered by her words.

Handled With Kid Gloves

If you have experienced Impromptu I would love for you to share your impressions as a comment. Its so helpful for others to read all the different points of view about a fragrance. Thank you!

Impromptu Review and a Draw

A second review of Impromptu is over at ÇaFleureBon written by John Reasinger. When Michelyn advised me to send a sample of the fragrance to John I had reservations, since I didn't know who he was, nor ever read a review. Well, I am so happy that I did! After a brief conversation with John over the phone I had the feeling that we would be great friends.

John has written a very mindful, entertaining and thorough review. It's an incredible pleasure for an artist to have someone really "get" their work. Please head on over and enter for your chance to win a glass vial filled with 1 gram, by weight, of the precious and limited edition of Impromptu.

Roxana Illuminated Perfume “Impromptu” Sweetly Scented Serendipity + In The Moment

by John Reasinger at ÇaFleureBon

IMPROMPTU Reviews

I've been sending out a few samples of Impromptu to members of the perfume blogging arena. Reviews are now starting to trickle in, the first from Lucy of IndiePerfumes. As each one appears I will post them here for easy access. My deepest gratitude for these kind folks taking the time to write about my new fragrance. Consider showing them some love and support by visiting their blog and posting a comment about Impromptu or my work.

The Non-Blonde

Perfume Smellin' Things

IndiePerfumes: Impromptu
ÇaFleureBon: Impromptu

Image is of Aragorn, portrayed by Viggo Mortensen in The Lord of the Rings. To me this particular character portrayal is the embodiment of the dualistic masculine and feminine side of Impromptu.

Impromptu has arrived!

Impromptu liquid natural botanical perfume is now here! The fragrance was first manifested in March and shared with a select group of individuals. The birth of the fragrance was very spontaneous and unplanned. Here are the details from the original post published in March. It all started with clearing my drafting table to do some painting.
 


Before I get into the nitty gritty of where, when and how, here are a few important specs:

- Main Notes: Wood, geranium, herb and camphor.

- Longevity and silage is really good. I'm looking for all the wonderful comments that fans have sent about Impromptu, in the meantime here is a bit I found from Portia's blog Austrailian Perfume Junkies:

"OMG BETTY! Deep earthy green, like a sexy swamp lady, I smell moss, river water and weed, herbs, torn fig leaves, mown lawn and compost, and some spices that elude me but it is AWESOME!

One of the men at Trivia tonight, that I would never have expected it from, 

leaned over and said, “You smell great, that perfume is….Wow!” As Evie C was also there 

I have back up collaboration on this. He was blown away, and so am I. You can be sure I’ve already written to Roxana asking for 5 litres of it, well, asking if I could buy any of it actually.

It’s morning now and there is still a delicious fat curl and waft of deepest green lingering upon my person. I am mesmerised, sitting still for minutes at a time (not something I do easily) trying to track this amazing scent. It is now a rank, dank thing clawing its way from the sea with a briny broken branch smell. I’m sorry, the words I have are not making this scent sound appealing; it is. I wish there were more words in my head to give you an accurate picture of how majestic this fragrance is, like primordial soup and magic. There was the tiniest skerrick left in the bottle and I have drained the dregs to live this wonderful fragrance again. One thing is for sure, you’ll not find anything this wild, untamed and confronting at your local fragrance counter."

- Impromptu is part of a new line debuting this Autumn and thus is packaged slightly differently from the other liquid perfumes. At the moment it is available as a sample in the three and six pack sets,  1 ml by weight in a small glass vial and 3.75 mls by weight in a amber glass vial pictured above and further below. The top of the amber glass bottle has been dipped in a copper colored wax and stamped with the signature honey bee seal. The wax can be peeled of easily to access the screw top. Since each bottle is individually dipped, the look of the wax and seal will vary. Sometimes they come out looking crisp, like the photos here, other times not so crisp with drips down the side of the bottle. Keep in mind this is a limited edition, like wine.


- The image has been illuminated by Master Gregario which he is offering as prints here. For the month of August I will include 3x3 square prints of the image with any 3.75 vials.

- The groovy label for the 3.75 ml bottle was designed for me by husband #1, Ben Neuhart.




Now, here is how it all came to be. As I was tediously filing papers and reorganizing boxes that held the amber glass containers I noticed a heck of a lot of the bottles were labeled Chaparral with various numbers and notes. Then I started to see other bottles of experiments with words like wood chord 3, earth chord, musk chord experiment 4. As I sat there looking at all these bottles I thought "I'm going to put all these together and see what happens." Well the result was a wonderful woody Chaparral-like fragrance. To shift it I began adding woods and resins, attempting to stay away from many of the expensive essences that I would've liked to add.

The whole process became an exercise in constraint. Is it possible to make an interesting, complex perfume without using costly ingredients? I've actually been pondering this for awhile now, but this new fragrance journey put me smack in the midst of it. Niche perfumer Andy Tauer did something along the same lines but limited himself to only five synthetic ingredients, he called the series PentaChords. I'm not so much interested in limiting how many ingredients are in the perfume, at least not now, for me it's limiting key materials such as Rose, Jasmine, Orange Blossom, Orris and Oud. Gosh, I so love Oud.

Perfumes of Yesterday by David Williams, one of my heroes, has quite a lot of formulas from the 19th and 20th century. Not one of them is without Jasmine, Rose, Orange blossom or Orris. In fact most of them have all four. I did find a Lebanon Cedarwood Bouquet where the only floral note was synthetic Rose. It was described as a bouquet of "roses and pencils" for the purpose of scenting incense boxes.

I sat at my drafting table thinking about the spicy woody fragrance that sat before me, although it was nice, there wasn't anything really special about it to me. What could I add to bring in more depth while avoiding the notes listed above? As I pondered spice, Geranium wafted into my mind. Ah-hah, the Geranium would pair well with the spice element already established, add a bit of a rose note and shift the fragrance from a simple wood spice into the realm of leather.

After adding the Geranium I pulled out the formula for the leather chord I use in many of my perfumes. The original formula I had used to create the botanical leather was by René-Maurice Gattefossé, the grandfather of Aromatherapy. I had re-interpreted his formula by substituting notes and my own chords for the animal and synthetic ingredients. Read more about it here at the journal.

Thus I decided to add some botanical leather notes like Tarragon, Basil, Clary Sage and a bit of Mimosa (I know, costly, oh well). The final result is a finely woven botanical perfume with sweet, spice, floral, smoke and leather. The opening, to my nose and on my skin, is: sweet and spice walking in tandem with a warm floral note. As I mentioned the notes are finely woven, thus it becomes difficult to sift out each one. Overall there is a consistent chorus of sweet, spicy floral throughout the orchestration. The final dry down is warm, balsam and botanical leather lasting well over 12 hours on my arm with an end note of Chinese Emperors Pu·erh Tea with a teaspoon of honey.

Since the fragrance was made without a formula, from a variety of experiments all melded together, the name shall be Impromptu. For obvious reasons the first edition is limited. All other editions and a solid will most likely posses a slightly different aroma. Longevity of the perfume on me is extensive, longer lasting than any other fragrance in my line. Keep in mind that natural perfume tends to last quite a long time on me, perhaps because I have no other scents on me (particularly nothing synthetic) or within my olfactory space competing for attention.

Fragrance family is sweet botanical leather. Closest fragrance relatives are Chaparral®, Sierra liquid and Aurora all combined. If you like Aurora you will like Impromptu.