Figure 1 Noir Autumn GIVEAWAY

To celebrate the grandeur of Mother Earth as we enter the luminous season of gold I have a luxury giveaway for you of Figure 1: Noir Solid Perfume in the Round Compact of your choice!

If you aren’t familiar with Figure 1: Noir and the benefits and plant perfume, test it out in our super cute solid perfume sample sets. Here's a quote from a customer:

"You have outdone yourself with this fragrance!
Each morning I put the scent on my wrists, tracing the veins there that look like roots,
and I am reminded of my rootedness to the earth.
Such a gift.  Thank you!"
~ Sarah

Figure 1: Noir contains notes of the wet mossy earth found in an ancient cemetery in Prague where the bones of alchemists lay restless and waiting. Leaves, roots and woods thickly braided with enchantments invoked amongst creatures roaming wild. Lush, mouth watering fruits picked just before ripening when a hint of the sour is a perfect contrast to the impending, yet hidden sweetness of human skin.

TO ENTER via Instagram
1. Follow @illuminatedperfume (we will check)
2. Like the giveaway photo here
3. Tag friends in separate comments {the more friends you tag the better chance you have to win}
4. Bonus Entry #1: share the instagram post to your story and tag @illuminatedperfume

If you do not have an instagram account then you may enter by creating a Figure 1: Noir Pin Board on Pinterest, OR do both!!

TO ENTER via Pinterest
1. Create a board on Pinterest that either evokes the essence of Figure 1 Noir perfume

Feel free to use any imagery from the my site, this journal, Greg's site, etc. If you need inspiration there is the Figure 1 Noir Lookbook at my Figure 1 Noir pin board.

2. Submit your beautiful creation, or creations, via e-mail (roxana at illuminatedperfume.com) with a link to your board by September 22nd at 11:59pm PST

The person who creates the most beautiful board will win their choice of a solid perfume round tin or one of the Eau de Parfum bottles with 6 grams of fragrance.

Fine print 
Giveaway ends on the Autumn Equinox, September 22nd at 11:59pm PST & the Winner will be randomly selected and announced on Wednesday September 25th
Winner will be tagged in our instagram stories and posted here at the journal! Good Luck!! 🍀 👏🏼
Must have a US mailing address, unless you would like to pay international shipping costs.

Vera PinBoards

We have seven glorious pinboards for Vera. It's going to be soooo hard to choose one!!! Let me know which one YOU feel represents the fragrance the best.

Brenda:

https://www.pinterest.com/mzbloom/the-essence-of-vera/

Iris:

https://www.pinterest.com/irisdevoogd/where-lavender-takes-me/

Mihaela

https://www.pinterest.com/signorinascent/vera/

Victoria

https://www.pinterest.com/vadelew1491/dreaming-of-vera/

Beatriz

https://www.pinterest.com/beatrizf/vera-perfume-inspired/

Yvonne

https://www.pinterest.com/yahill1/lavender-dreams-vera-by-roxana-illuminated-perfume/

Jennifer

https://www.pinterest.com/lottchenloo/ode-to-vera/

Winner of "Pin it to Win It, Round Two"

The votes from the three judges for the most recent Pin It to Win It Contest are in. The process of choosing a winner, from their selections, has been extremely daunting since there was no obvious first place candidate. Thus, I asked friends and family to assist in mathematical calculations and also evaluated each board myself.



I enlisted the help of three judges to begin the process of choosing the winning board. The first is Sarah Wolfe, who was the winner of the Pin It to Win It contest in the June for Figure 1: Noir. I also asked Beth Schreibman-Gehring, a friend from the perfume blogosphere who you may recall from the Perfume Illuminated project and Ashley of the beauty blog Hollywood MakeUp. Each of these ladies know the fragrances and the "soul" of the work.

Scroll to the bottom if you are anxious to hear who ultimately won the top prize.

Here is what each of these beauties had to say about what they voted for:

SARAH

1) http://www.pinterest.com/topazmortmain/greenwitch/

I've just finished reading 'The Rathbones,' which may have unduly influenced me with its words, weaving magical images of the sea.  This resplendent board - fresh, mysterious, glimmering -  has inspired me to go back to my samples and try Greenwitch again.

2) http://www.pinterest.com/myy4/vespertina/

Just gorgeous!  My Vespertina sample is now on my dresser and I'm craving + wearing this beautiful burgundy color.

3) http://www.pinterest.com/myy4/figure1-noir/

Stunning images that capture the darker side of this fragrance.  You know how much I adore this one!

If this Aumbre board had incorporated more images of your website, however, I would have picked it instead: http://www.pinterest.com/01stephanie10/aumbre/.  Excellent visual representation of the scent.

BETH

I loved immersing myself in the beauty of these boards. Each one of them was unique and it was so easy to feel and see the love with which they were made. I was struck instantly by how accessible you are to them…these were all made by " friends".  Everyone was glorious and it was very hard to choose let alone narrow my decision down to three! In the end I went with the boards that upon first glance conjured up thoughts of you and your wonderful home among the honeybee's and the sacred Oaks. The three that I've chosen transported me to your studio immediately , wafting memories of  your glorious hand blended accords and  jasmine scented hydrosol. Sending much love to all…

 For me it is hard to choose a 1, 2 and 3…I loved these three equally, but if I had to……

1. Stephanie Roberts -  Aumbre

2. Larkin Small- Beauty is a chypre 

3. Topaz Mortmain - Q

ASHLEY

I was graciously asked by Roxana to help assist in judging her 'Pin It To Win It Contest". Since I have such a fervent admiration of her work, I felt honoured to have the chance to participate. While it was a difficult decision to narrow down all of the wonderful submissions, there are three boards in particular that stood out to me.

My first choice goes to Myy for her intoxicating Figure 1: NOIR board and the enchanting romanticism displayed in her submission for the Vespertina scent. The imagery all intertwined rather beautifully and I felt that both submissions were a perfect depiction of the essence and mood I felt when I was first introduced to both fragrances. Fantastic job, Myy! I enjoyed your submissions greatly.

My second choice is a submission from Stephanie Roberts with her ode to 'Aumbre'. The rich autumn palette, brilliant amber stones and smokey woodland feel really captured my imagination and allowed it to not only relish in the story behind the scent, but let my thoughts be immersed in a dreamy, relaxed state. Brilliant use of colors to evoke a mood, Stephanie!

My third choice is Topaz Mortmain with her submission for Greenwitch and "Q". I instantly felt a sense of whimsy, the sacredness of nature and a penchant for adventure when viewing these boards. I though the Greenwitch board captured the smooth, crisp feeling of the sea air and the beauty that lies beneath its depths. Topaz' homage to "Q' reminded me of an ancient wood filled with elemental magic, mystical creatures and secrets unknown. Such strong imagery and storytelling! Thank you, Topaz.

In evaluating the judges choices we have four individuals and six boards in the final: two boards by Myy, two by Topaz, Aumbre by Stephanie and Beauty is a Chypre (Hedera helix) by Larkin Small. The challenge presented was how to choose the first place winner of these? First thing I did was eliminated Myy's Figure 1: Noir since (although one of my personal favorites) it was originally created for the first Pin it to Win it contest. Next I assigned a sum of points to each place setting #1 = 10 points, #2 = 5 points, #3 = 2.5 points and #4 = 1.25 points. Since Myy's Figure 1: Noir board was eliminated that moved her Vespertina board as #1 in Ashley's selection and Stephanie's Aumbre into #3 on Sarah's selection. Thus the tally:

Stephanie: Aumbre 17.5

Myy: Vespertina 15

Topaz: GreenWitch 12.5

Topaz: Q 5

Larkin: Hedera helix 5

The winner is Stephanie with smaller prizes awarded to Myy, Topaz and Larkin. Much gratitude to the judges and all individuals who submitted such beautiful and evocative boards! May creativity and beauty flourish in the New Year!

Pin It to Win It Contest, Round Two!

Now that the new website is finally in ship shape I'd like to invite you to another the Pin it to Win it contest.

To participate:

1. Create a board on Pinterest that either evokes the essence of Roxana Illuminated Perfume OR for one of the fragrances in the line.

Feel free to use any imagery from the new site, this journal, Greg's site, etc. If you need inspiration take a look at the Figure 1: Noir pin boards from the last contest. Pin boards with imagery from the new site will get extra points, because after all this is about promoting the website.

2. Submit your beautiful creation, or creations, via e-mail (roxana at illuminatedperfume.com) with a link to your board by December 15th 12pm PST.

The person who creates the most beautiful board will win their choice of a solid perfume round tin or one of the Eau de Parfum bottles with 6 grams of fragrance.

Let the pinning begin!

Winner of the Fig. 1: Noir EdP!

Many thanks to everyone who participated in the Figure 1: Noir Pin To Win It competition, what fun we all had! The idea for this game, like most of my notions was rather spontaneous and based on something that I love...visually imagery.

When Greg and I sat down to brainstorm a bit the illumination for Figure 1: Noir I first had him experience the perfume and ingredients, then I explained the concept and third I took him to a collection of images on Pinterest as reference. Greg then shared the pictorial collection with model Jessica Lough before traveling up to Seattle to shoot photos of her. In this way the three of us were able to discuss wardrobe and prop ideas so that the photo shoot time would be as productive as possible. See  images from the photo shoot here which takes you to Greg's blog. So far Greg has produced two illuminations for the perfume with more in the works.

Fifteen individuals entered the competition with a total of eighteen gorgeous visual compilations. The Pin board contributors, like our illustrious judges, are an eclectic group of fans of the fragrance and acquaintences from the art, Etsy and Pinterest communities. Each of our judges was sent a sample of Figure 1: Noir in at least one format prior to the judging. Once the contest was over, the boards were compiled from all entry points, numbered and then sent to the judges to determine which best exemplified the fragrance. The task of perusing such a vast plethora of stunning, two dimensional narratives was daunting. In the end our arbiters sent me their choices, sometimes selecting more than one for different reasons or listing four of their favorites beginning with their number one pick.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7 No longer available

8

9

10  No longer available

11 No longer available

12a No longer relevant

12b No longer relevant

13

14a No longer available

14b No longer available

15 No longer available

When all votes had been counted it was very interesting to notice that there was hardly any overlap of choices. The maker of the collection that won by a hair is Sarah Wolfe, known as WolfeGirl on Pinterest and the creatress of board number 5. Sarah also happens to be a huge fan of the fragrance thus I know that she will be thrilled with a bottle of the almost ready for debut Figure 1: Noir Eau de Parfum.

Congratulations to Sarah and an abundance of thank you's to everyone who participated in some way or other. As I've mentioned multiple times and will continue to chant over and over — I am so very grateful to my fans and continue to be inspired by each of you.

Pin it to Win it: Figure 1: Noir

Now that the Figure 1: Noir natural perfume Lookbook is finished I'd like to invite you to the Pin it to Win it: Figure 1: Noir contest.

To participate create a board on Pinterest titled Figure 1: Noir, then pin imagery that you feel best evokes the fragrance. Sarah Wolfe just sent me an e-mail with hers, which is a stunner. Feel free to use any imagery that Greg and I have created. Please do not copy all the images in another Figure 1: Noir Pinterest board.

To enter, leave a comment here or send me a note with a link to your board by June 16th 12pm PST. The person that creates the most beautiful board will win a bottle of the upcoming Figure 1: Noir Eau de Parfum.

"You have outdone yourself with this fragrance!  

Each morning I put the scent on my wrists, tracing the veins there that look like roots, 

and I am reminded of my rootedness to the earth.  

Such a gift.  Thank you!" 

~ Sarah

Noir Woods Image @Greg Spalenka