2020: The Year of Classic Blue

Pantone has deemed classic blue as the 2020 color of the year, "instilling calm, confidence, and connection, this enduring blue hue highlights our desire for a dependable and stable foundation on which to build as we cross the threshold into a new era."

Blue, that sky hue between violet and green that appears to be the most favored by most humans can span quite a range. What I have referred to as purple others have asserted is blue, while when I have referred to a color as blue someone else will cross their arms and proclaim purple! It's a bit like scent and likely due to a combination of our upbringing, unique perspectives and the way our eyes perceive.

The original palette I received from Jennifer in March 2008 (photo above) had no blue due to the warm triad of hues in my skin, hair and eyes. However, once I started getting silver and grey in my hair, the palette shifted to embracing cooler tones such as a violet tinged, periwinkle blue.

Along with wearing blue I also incorporated the color into perfume story telling with the release of La Dame Blanche. The blue tone represents both healing & sapphires, sapphires were included in the fragrance via a tincture as well as a stone placed into the perfume synergy.

" ... White butterflies are very lucky when seen, while brown ones are unlucky. If a yellow butterfly flies over a coffin, the soul has passed safely to the Otherworld. A blue butterfly signifies that the deceased was a healer. A white butterfly signifies a good person, a dark butterfly a bad person. Butterflies represent transformation and must never be killed."

~ Evert Hopman, 210

I pulled out all the essences that go into making more La Dame Blanche about a week ago in preparation of sitting down and making more of the synergy for both the solid and liquid perfume. I'm so looking forward to having the scent back as it is one of my personal as well as a customer favorite. Once the synergy is made I will accept pre-orders so that you can make sure have one before it is out of stock once more.

Below is a quote by Beth, who commissioned me to create the fragrance, she supplied a horse hair tincture and the sapphires that go into the orchestration of the perfume.

"La Dame Blanche is a voluptuous green floral with a heart of rose, jasmine and tuberose. There is a tincture of sapphires and horse hair, amber and wood. It was blended and released on Samhain 2014 and it is as complex, mysterious and voluptuous as the Sorciere herself. It's a gorgeous perfume and the beauty of it is that it doesn't quite make sense...You will  constantly be trying to decipher it's secrets."
~ Beth Schreibman Gehring

Find more Pantone Color Posts here at the Journal

Images:
1. Blue Velvet Couch, unknown, via Pinterest
2. Finger Fade Dip Dye by Britt Browne, from Growing Up Indigo.blogspot
3. Color Palette by Roxana Villa
4. Roxana Villa photo by Rebecca Fishman
5. Blue Morpho by Roxana Villa, Santa Fe Perfumery
6. Mystic Current by Greg Spalenka
7. La Dame Blanche Apothecary Drawer by Roxana Villa, Santa Fe Perfumery

La Dame Blanche

The folklore of medieval Europe contains a wealth of mythical stories where are modern day writers pull inspiration from. Diana Gabaldon, like JK Rowling, was influenced by a few of these legends when she wrote her infamous Outlander series. "La Dame Blanche, literally translated as 'The White Lady'. According to different mythologies the attribution could be a witch, healer, sorceress, spirit or ghost. Some stories say they are benevolent and wise, but others record them as being evil, and often a harbinger of death.1 

In his book The White Goddess, author and poet Robert Graves writes that the deity is the  can be sacred figures who are said to help or hinder those who encounter them.

Claire, the protagonist of the Outlander series, receives the name La Dame Blanche in the second novel of the series titled Dragonfly in Amber.

“What I want to know,” I said, pouring out the chocolate, “is who in bloody hell is La Dame Blanche?”
“La Dame Blanche?” Magnus, leaning over my shoulder with a basket of hot bread, started so abruptly that one of the rolls fell out of the basket. I fielded it neatly and turned round to look up at the butler, who was looking rather shaken.
“Yes, that’s right,” I said. “You’ve heard the name, Magnus?”
“Why, yes, milady,” the old man answered. “La Dame Blanche is une sorcière.”
“A sorceress?” I said incredulously.
Magnus shrugged, tucking in the napkin around the rolls with excessive care, not looking at me.
“The White Lady,” he murmured. “She is called a wisewoman, a healer. And yet … she sees to the center of a man, and can turn his soul to ashes, if evil be found there.” He bobbed his head, turned, and shuffled off hastily in the direction of the kitchen.
I saw his elbow bob, and realized that he was crossing himself as he went.
“Jesus H. Christ,” I said, turning back to Jamie. “Did you ever hear of La Dame Blanche?”
“Um? Oh? Oh, aye, I’ve … heard the stories.”

Excerpt From: Diana Gabaldon. “Dragonfly in Amber.”

La dame blanche is also the name of an an opéra comique, composed by François-Adrien Boieldieu a century after Claire is in Paris, which tells the story of a Scottish love story, a lost heir and a hidden fortune 2,, it is also the name of a perfume commissioned by Beth Schreibman Gehring. Here are a few of her words regarding the fragrance...

"La Dame Blanche is a voluptuous green floral with a heart of rose, jasmine and tuberose. There is a tincture of sapphires and horse hair, amber and wood. It was blended and released on Samhain 2014 and it is as complex, mysterious and voluptuous as the Sorciere herself. It's a gorgeous perfume and the beauty of it is that it doesn't quite make sense...You will  constantly be trying to decipher it's secrets."

Images:
The White Lady of the Noldor by the-pre-raphaelite on Polyvore
La Dame Blanche by Greg Spalenka
Photo of silver compact, Roxana Villa

1, 2 Who is La Dame Blanche, published in RadioTimes, be warned there are spoilers.

La Dame Blanche Solid Perfume

La Dame Blanche as a solid is finally getting uploaded to the website. The color harmony, as mentioned previously, is a sapphire blue.

Read about the concept and formulation of La Dame Blanche here. The image above is the "La Dame Blanche" drawer within the apothecary case in my workspace in Agoura. Each fragrance has its own drawer, for the moment anyway.

The scent, to my nose, has a fresh rose quality with some citrus and wood. There seems to be quite a diverse interpretation on the notes but for the most part "floral' is consistently mentioned. Some pick up on it immediately on rose, others on the citrus top notes while others get spice. It is always fascinating to hear all the scent interpretations, not only for this fragrance but all the others as well.

Next on the horizon for La Dame Blanche is finding the crochet thread and having Martha make some pouches for the solid perfume compacts.