A Return to Scent

Authentic botanical perfume provides individuals with a path to return to the scent realm. Large amounts of people have given up on fragrance because synthetics permeate the marketplace from laundry detergent, dryer sheets to face creams. Gosh companies are even offering business cards with synthetic fragrance.

Individuals who have courageously ventured into authentic botanical perfumer are so grateful to finally have discovered an alternative to the chemical haze of so many fragrances, even those labeled as "natural".  Don't even get me started on the greenwashing of terminology such as natural.

Since individuals with a heightened awareness of health and scent are my ideal customers I'm on a constant quest as how to build bridges to them. I've noticed that the word "perfume" implies something other than what my ideal customer is searching for, thus I often wonder if I need an altogether new word, or set of words.

Somehow the right people find me, or I find them and then a sweet intersection occurs benefitting both artist and consumer. Here's a sweet testimonial from a convert, with a little editing...

"Roxana not only has her perfume down to a beautiful art form, but her business is a lovely and impressive science. What rich, well thought out packaging...even for tiny little samples! Colour-coded cards for samples are included with descriptions of scent type, so you won't wonder which sample is which. The handwritten note is a thoughtful personal touch. :) And if lush packaging doesn't convince you to try, then there is Roxana's luxuriously-blended scents. Mysterious Vespertina smelled best on my skin, but my husband and I liked Aumbre just as well as it smells like the bakery we run at the end of the day: honey-sweet with vanilla hanging as a reminder in the air. For someone like me with severe chemical sensitivities, it was fabulous to wear a beautiful scent again without being ill. Thank you, Roxana!"

A Dream Menagerie

"I was in a deep wood, at twilight, and all your fragrances were actually PEOPLE...well..some of them were fairies or elemental/goddess-like beings...but basically people. They were all gathering around me, coming in and out of focus, and they each had their own story to tell about their lives and their experiences as who and what they were. Chaparral was obviously something of a cowboy, but in a surprisingly dapper and genteel Victorian, almost steam-punk sort of way...Hedera Helix was the spirit of the forest itself, and Rosa an almost vaporous woman dressed entirely in rose and flower petals...Gracing the Dawn wore antique lace on soft, soft modern white dresses, and she glowed like the very early morning sun when she spoke...It went on and on and i wish i remembered more of it, but it was like a beautiful spell, and it was wonderful.
Vespertina, and the GreenWitch, both of which i have never yet smelled, were the last to come to me, and the ones i remember best, for some reason. Vespertina was a tiny girl/woman, who frequently sprouted wings and both spoke and behaved like an eccentric spirit, or a very innocent and precocious fairy...she clung to my hand and whispered stories to me that i would give my I-teeth to remember clearly....and when the GreenWitch appeared, just before i woke, she came in a swirl of cool air and water-scent, and was more a deep presence than a person i could clearly see...she said nothing in words, but left a deep, heartening impression on me...it was just plain magical! :)

So, odd as it is, i wanted to tell you about it; your scents have the ability to really inspire the mind, even in sleep!
Thank you so much for sharing your talent with us all! :)"

~ KatnipKitty

Vespertina image by Greg Spalenka, available at his E-shop

With a little help from my friends

Product testimonials can be found at a dedicated page here. If you would like to e-mail me a quote or testimonial to include that would be fabulous.

Questions, Answers and the GreenWitch

A customer asked:

 "I realize it is not an exact science, but for daily wear approximately how long will 5 g of solid perfume last?  How long will 7 g of liquid perfume last?

I loved Q in the solid form and have not tried it in the liquid form and I am debating which to purchase and trying to estimate if I’m purchasing a couple months’ supply or a year or what.

Thanks!"

I asked a few devoted customers how they would answer this question, here is what they said...

From Linda:

"Actually, most everything lasts a fairly long time  --  especially compared to other scents on the market.  I do have more than several Illuminated scents to choose from though, so I alternate, which probably adds to their longevity.  However, with that said, the compacts last quite a long time, which surprises me, since I tend to use these the most.  Because I feel that I have more product, I tend to apply them more liberally.  I know I'm fooling myself, but still, the compacts do seem to last.  Of course, it depends on the scent and how often I reapply it. 

The smaller pots seem to go down faster though -- and the vials' longevity depends totally on the scent and how often I wear it.  Impromptu is very long-lasting, so I still have some in the little sample you sent out earlier.  And I reach for that one a lot.  Some other scents that I have in vials I've totally used up, like Vera and Sierra, because I reapply them more often.

I also feel that your solids retain the scent much longer that those of some other perfumers I've tried.  I have compact-type solids from other makers that are not all that old, but the scent has already changed to the point that I smell the base waxes more than the original scent.  Not so good.  My original Q compact, which was the first one I purchased from you, although nearly gone, still smells just as fragrant as when it was new.  I love that . . . "

From Ginger:

"Very approximate rough guestimate: I had a look at my honeypot (5 g), which I've used almost every day (some days it's been Q or Green Witch) and fairly generously, on several pulse points.

Based on when it arrived and how much is left, I reckon I'm using it at a rate of 1 honeypot / 5 g in 5-6 weeks.

Green Witch I've used for longer and more lightly (and mainly at work). That's in a compact (which I topped up from a 5 g honeypot); I use it about half that rate, so call that 1 compact / honeypot / 5 g in 3 months.

So: depending on lighter or heavier use... 5 weeks to 3 months?'

and from Grace:

"The 7ml seems bottomless - I use Green Witch once a week at least, still have loads left after a year.
1ml lasts about a month or so used every day (sometimes twice a day) - I wore the heck out of 1ml of Sierra one December :)
The honey pots last for heaps longer than that. Months. At least three or more, even used every day."

I'll leave you with this sentence from the book The GreenWitch by Susan Cooper, it describes Janes room after having been visited by the GreenWitch...

"there was a great mess of little twigs and leaves, hawthorn leaves and rowan. 

And everywhere the great smell of the sea."

If you would like to read more about longevity and perfume here is another post on the topic: Immortal.

A Velvet Spell

This just in....

"This is what I have been looking for! Sophisticated artfully blended oils that make one swoon under their velvet spell. I am having so much fun trying out the perfumes in my sampler pack. Two I have made immediate decisions on, I just know that I will adore them forever! I am already yearning to buy a larger bottle of them...can't wait...perfume to die for!! I can't wait to see how other people react when I wear them ....ah the joy of it all!!"

Image: Roxana Villa ©2011 All rights reserved. Lyra perfume bottle in pouch.

In with the Green

The first comments for GreenWitch solid natural perfume are in...

"The beautiful scent of Roxana’s Greenwitch solid perfume is a magical spell of hope and rebirth …a reminder to look within, to find the joyful wildness that lurks inside our hearts …to become undomesticated at last. In doing so perhaps we will finally discover that we are the only ones who can save ourselves before it's too late."
~ Beth Schreibman Gehring from a review at the Windesphere Witch

"Lord, do I love this scent! So glad it's out now in solid form!"
~ Private, customer

"Mmm, how I love Greenwitch.
I fell for this scent in the liquid form when Roxana released it last year.
So fresh and invigorating. Now in the solid, I think I love it more.
The scent is rounded out with a creamy delight. Greenwitch is full of energy form the sea and the forest recharging my chi from this deep slumber from the cold winter's past."
~ Private, customer

After wearing this scent several times, I finally realized that it reminds me of the scent of a Caribbean island garden. Sun warmed dark green, chlorophyll-rich, saltiness. I love this perfume. Thank you for creating it! Oh, and delivery was very quick and the packaging sweet.
~ Private, customer

More comments, testimonials and reviews arriving soon.