Honey comb, perfume and related ramblings

The color of honey comb can vary greatly depending on how much its been used by the honey bees. When the our little alchemist, along with her sisters, begin to build comb, it is almost pure white, as you can see from this piece which was only a few days old when we moved our first hive from the compost bin to a box.

Most often, at least when I have saved feral hives, the is an overabundance of dark brown, almost black comb. Early on in our bee saving missions were advised to keep this dark comb so that the bees have something already in place to start using immediately. However, over the years we have noticed that new and established colonies don't like old comb. I'm not sure why this is. I would guess that one hive might not like the "scent" of another tribes comb as being part of the challenge. Perhaps over time the comb has less vitality or nutrients, or an energetic blueprint which they no longer are interested in. These are all guesses.

Another challenge to the old, dark strange comb is that when melted down and used for perfume and other bee products it becomes a sticky black mess with relatively no usable beeswax, its also extreme fire hazard. I am still searching for creative ways to use this old comb.

Speaking of creativity, I can always tell when an individual is inspired by one of my elder creations, not only because my intuitive antennae starts twitching but also by e-mails I start getting. For example, a few months ago I was being bombarded with e-mail asking for To Bee. I thought perhaps it was that the fragrance had been recently featured on a blog, but after research throughout the web universe I found nothing. When I asked the people contacting me how they had heard about the perfume they either did not answer, or mention that they read about it online but would not share the link. Thus my Virgo aspects kicked in and I started wondering about those cats who copy because they aren't very tapped into their creativity. Sure enough, I was right. When this transpires I take a deep breath, pity the individual and move on to the notebook I have where I download my ideas onto paper on a daily basis from the Universe, instead of checking out what others are doing and secretly ordering samples to be copied...or attempting to copy.

As artist lifer, whose livelihood is based on my very unique self expression. It sucks when others recreate or re-use something I worked hard on with no respect for the original content, copyright, or trademark. It takes time, energy, blood, sweat, laughter and tears to produce this mini empire including original content as imagery, written texts, packaging, the actual products, etc. It's heart breaking when other grab images, words and ideas with absolutely no respect...even worse are the ones who are unconscious of what they are doing. Sure, we are all one big collective, and in that big consciousness soup ideas are available to everyone, but that's not what I'm referring to.

Meanwhile To Bee in her other formats will be back shortly. The fragrance was created in 2011 to bring attention to the challenges that this little insect is having due to GMO's, insecticides and an overall lack of consciousness from humans on the planet. Here's the link to a post here at the journal with the To Bee lookbook and a few comments I pulled from the Fragrantica site:

"A real, raw honey smell combined with some sort of spicy, animalistic notes. Not a edible honey, but closer to smelling an actual hive. LOVE. It has the low longevity and silage of natural perfumes, unfortunately, but it seems to perform relatively similar to other real botanical scents I own."

~ LauraB613, August 24, 2013

"I was expecting more honey notes, but I pick up a lot of woodsy, spicy ones too. 

The smell reminds me of the Sonoran desert after it rains. Rich + full bodied. 

This is a complex, well-balanced + grounding creation."  

~  priyalugus, January 13, 2016

"To Bee is olifactory joy. You think just honey and beeswax? No, this is more complex and spicy...a raw natural scent that makes you want to sniff, sniff, sniff.....to figure out all the ingredients. 

If you love edgy, raw nature scents, you'll love To Bee." 

~ Bab, October 8, 2012

Images and written context is not yours to steel, ask first. Opening photograph is by Rebecca Fishman during a photo shoot at our woodland cottage. Other photos and all content is ©Roxana Villa

To Bee Eau de Parfum!

Just in time for swarm season, To Bee as an Eau de Parfum is here! I've been working on this one since 2014, the main challenge was getting the ration of essences to alcohol in perfect balance. Since To Bee is such a rich fragrance, weaved with dark, heavy notes that the orchestration can get tricky—too much alcohol eliminates the deep, reverberating base but too little overpowers the more subtle, ephemeral voices. Added to this very dynamic equation there is the challenge of longevity for a true authentic plant perfume which has no isolates, animal or synthetic materials.

Luckily, Eau de Parfums—by their very nature of being atomized into the air, have a tendency toward good silage and tenacity. Take a look at the To Bee Lookbook we put together in 2013 here.

To Bee Eau de Parfum is available in the petite atomizer bottle and the larger, tall rectangular bottle. The Eau de Parfums will be doubling in price shortly as I get them ready for retail stores. I have not set a date yet, however, thought I'd pass that bit of information onto you now while To Bee is still in stock.

Honey Bee!

The sun is in Leo and just now via a tweet I heard this "Happy Leo new moon! A good time for creativity, play, doing things that you love & being in your heart. What auspicious new as we celebrate the honey bee today!!"

Hope you locals will all be coming out to to Honey Bee Awareness Day in LA from 1:30 to 4:00 with festivities continuing at 423 West Gallery (7-10pm).

Ginger mentioned she would be going to her farmers market today and asking the honey sellers about bees. I enccourage you to do the same, if you feel courageous ask them these three questions to find our how pure their honey is:

~ Do you use feral beees?

More likely they will think you are out of your mind, since most beekeepers have been led down a path unconsciousness, convinced that they need to use the domisticated bee. The challenge with the domisticated bee is she has been bred larger (Bigger is better mentality). This breeding has created a honey bee that has a weakened immune system and thus doesn't survive very well. Meanwhile the tiny little feral bee, pictured above, manages quite well. Another example of how Mother Nature knows best.

~ Do you allow the bees to build their own foundation?

Another likely no answer. Most beekeepers, do not do this because it is easier to extract honey from chemically treated plastic foundation.

~ Do you use any chemical in the hive, like mite control?

Another likely no answer, if they are using the domisticated honey bee than they need to use mite control.

A very Happy and Aware day to you all, my scent of the day (SOTD) is To bee of course.

Honey Bee photo was taken by me on Thursday while celebrating my 50th birthday at the Getty. More on that soon. Image ©RoxanaVilla, feel free to pin.

Sun Sign Leo

On July 23rd the sun moved into the sign of Leo until August 22nd.  Within the twelve signs in the zodiac all the personality types are represented. Leo the lion tends to be creative, spontaneous, dominate, ambitious, courageous...among many other traits. Our nearest star, the Sun at the center of the universe and life giver, rules Leo.

If you have a Leo in your life and are considering a gift of natural perfume, To Bee feels very appropriate. Sweet and warm like honey, firey like the sun and inspired by the courageous honey bee who uses the sun as her gps. An added benefit is that color harmony for this fragrance is gold.

I was born during this sun cycle, however I have a Pisces moon and lots of planets in the 4th house, which offsets some of the Leo characteristics. It has become a bit of a yearly tradition for me to create a celebratory perfume in August. This year I will launch a new Jasmine perfume (formerly known Jasmine Noir) to add to Cimbalom and Page 47 that are part of this set.

There are many projects in the works at the moment and I haven't quite decided what will get launched when. Some of this depends on Mr. Illuminator who is creating a few images. For now I will focus on finishing the To Bee Lookbook and labels for a new product line which Impromptu is part of. Ah, and keep in mind the Birthday Coupon, a once a year discount which can be used at any time of the year toward a compact or flacon.

To Bee Reviews

I've collected some reviews and related prose of the natural botanical perfume To Bee, created in homage to the European honey bee. If you happen to know of one that I missed please chime in.

Jessica at Now Smell This
Lucy at Indie Perfume
Trish at Scent Hive
Donna at Perfume Smellin' Things
Elena at Perfume Shrine
Margi MacDonald at Perfume Pharmer
Beth at Perfume Smellin'
Tom at Perfume Posse
Jade Shutes at the IDA blog

To Bee at The Perfume Magazine

Josey Plumey has written an inspired review of To Bee over at The Perfume Magazine, please fly on over and have a read of her impressions. The Perfume Magazine has been created by Raphaella Barkley, former editor of Sniffapalooza Magazine and recipient of numerous FiFi awards. The Perfume Magazine is now in its second edition packed with loads of articles about all things fragrant transpiring through out the world as seen through the pretty eyes of Raphaella.


In other news, I have a writer coming by the house this morning that I am really excited about. I have admired this individual for quite a long time and respect her work immensely. The house is full of fresh flowers, studio is stocked with aromatics, the Jasmine sambac outside is blooming and there are fresh "Cara Sucias", an Argentine type of scone, in the kitchen waiting her arrival.

To Bee at Perfume Shrine and World Peace Day

Tomorrow is World Peace Day and today Elena over at Perfume Shrine has published a very sweet review of To Bee Natural Perfume.

Thus, for this day I am advocating we all anoint ourselves with a combination of the Perfume Devoted to Peace and To Bee. Both of these fragrances have honey notes and as is the case with all my "fumes" they have the ability to bring one more inner peace due to the high essential oil content.

There are many ways to layer or wear more than one illuminated perfume at a time. When I am in full production mode here at the studio I generally will put one perfume on each limb. Yesterday for example I had Aurora on my left arm and To Bee on my right. I also will often layer a solid over a liquid or vice versa. If you have really dry skin I applying the solid the liquid may facilitate more longevity. Above all experiment, have fun and breath in the moment deeply.


I'll leave you with this quote from my customer Beth about To Bee solid:

"This is one of those scents that makes me realize how inadequate our (or at least my) language is to capture fragrance. So, I'll have to fall back on what so many others have said about it: it's exquisite, complex, and lingers beautifully. It makes me feel better about being in the world: I can feel myself walking taller and breathing more deeply whenever I wear it. An experience more than a perfume. (and beautifully packaged, too!)"

A clover and one bee

Friend and colleague Jade Shutes has shared impressions of To Bee natural perfume over at her blog and is hosting a giveaway which is open to those all over the world.

Here is a sweet poem by Emily Dickenson, which in her life time foraging honey bees were thought to be males, not females. Thus, instead of the word his substitute her.

XCVII
To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee, -
One clover, and a bee,
And revery.
The revery alone will do
If bees are few.
His labor is a chant,
His idleness a tune;
Oh, for a bee’s experience
Of clovers and of noon
~ Emily Dickenson

Image:
Flowers of June by Sir Frank Dicksee British, I used this image because Jade was born on June 1st was given the birth name June.

Honey, Honey

The To Bee natural perfume LookBook is coming along quite fabulously but it is in need of more imagery. Since this fragrance is so new, I don't quite have the plethora of illuminations as the other fragrances. Thus I'm taking advantage of Eve's camera, before it leaves with her to college in Vermont, and taking some photos of honey and honey comb.


To Bee liquid perfume flacon is now back in stock!

Dark Molasses

The color of To Bee natural liquid perfume is like a rich, dark molasses. Master Gregorio, my husband, tells me this is a "bad" thing. Me personally I am not sure. Indeed, most main stream perfume is a typical golden yellow hue and it is what is expected in the industry. However, I do not feel that I am part of that world. I set myself apart, as an artist working with the worlds most glorious and vital palette, Mother Nature.

Inherently in the natural world we have many things that are dark. In the food industry there is heavily processed white flour and the more nutrient rich grain flours. We also have dark chocolate as well as white chocolate. Honey from a local beekeeper will vary depending on the flora available to the bees, buckwheat and some manuka honey is dark and full of flavor. There are different grades of maple syrup depending on their level of refining.


Refining, what an interesting word...re-fine. The dictionary defines it as to remove impurities and make more fine. In modern culture however, we have redefined more fine as something that contains more nutrients and vitality. We noticed that the process of refining often leaves us with a product like Wonder Bread versus the whole grain, artisan crusty breads we seek today.

Even the solid version of the To Bee has a Delphian aura to the creamy ungent. Will that stop people from slathering it on their skin and enjoying the aroma? I think not, already proven by the praises heard across the world and repeat purchases.

I'll follow my gut on this one and not concern myself over the absence of obvious light in the appearance of the fragrance, in the end it's all about the juice anyway. By the way it is the clover absolute and some of the other viscous botanical essences in the potion that is producing the opaque brown umber tonality. Even after filtering the elixir remains mysterious and sunless, just the way the bees like the insides of their living quarters.

Friday Flutter

Among the building blocks of the To Bee perfume are several botanical animalic components including notes from my own leather accord. The hive of the honey bee is very feral, alive with a musky undertone that imparts lusty mother earth.

As I read through the different reviews and comments from those who have experienced To Bee, I keep waiting for someone to mention this lusty, sexy component. Finally, late last night, a post by Margi in Australia references the sexual note. She has also done the review a little differently, almost like poetry. Please put on your wings and fly over to Perfume Pharmer to read the latest review of To Bee.

I am all out of the flacons of To Bee natural perfume at the moment, expect more next week. If you would like to pre-order a bottle send me an e-mail to roxana illuminatedperfume.com.

Image: The Harvest Moon by Charles Rennie Mackintosh

More To Bee Features

To add some brightness and cheer to this rather dismal rainy day here in the woodland I have two reviews of To Bee to share. The first is over at the Eyeliner on a Cat blog and the second is at Now Smell This. The latter includes a review of Aurora.

Enjoy, please add your comments if you feel inspired. My gratitude to Carrie and Jessica who both purchased items from the shop and then wrote their reviews. Let's support writers who support and honor indie natural perfume, hooray!!

Bee Prosperity image by Greg Spalenka

Up Date

At this moment in time the sample sizes of To Bee in solid is out of stock with only one honey pot and two of the mini compacts left. More of this delectable natural perfume is in the works.

The opening photo of a sweat bee was taken by Eve today at the Descanso Gardens in Pasadena.

Everything is Illuminated with To Bee

Today I bring you tidings of To Bee reviews and giveaways. One is over at Scent Hive, the ultimate blog about natural perfume and beauty reviews, curated by the wise and intuitive Trish. The review dives into her impressions of the notes and accord orchestration within To Bee.

The second review comes via Perfume Smellin' Things, from the nose that knows. Donna dissects the perfume with razor sharp knowledge of modern aroma chems.

Enjoy the eloquent writing of these two illustrious noses, to whom I am very grateful. Find all the reviews about To Bee at this link, with more to come shortly.

As I sit here typing this post I look out the studio window and see the warrior girls zooming in and out of their five box high rise with the mighty oaks in background. Watching the bees is a mesmerizing experience, almost like entering a meditative state. A nice little break from the chaos of getting ready for Comic Con in San Diego. We depart on Wednesday, thus all orders received by Tuesday will likely be shipped out on Tuesday. Orders received afterward may not get shipped out until we return the week of July 25th.

Photo: Honey Jars from the Warrior Girls ©RoxanaVilla

To Bee at Indie Perfumes

"...an oriental style of honey..." read more of Lucys beautiful words about To Bee over at her Indie Perfumes blog.

"The pedigree of honey does not concern the bee—a clover, any time to him, is aristocracy"
~ Emily Dickinson

New in the shop To Bee natural perfume mini compact.

To Bee at Perfume Posse

Thanks to Patty, Tom has a little review and giveaway of the new To Bee over at Perfume Posse. Please head on over to enter for your chance to win. If you are one of the few who has received the fragrance and are inspired, please add your impressions to the comments at the Perfume Posse blog post.

"Bee to the blossom, moth to the flame; Each to his passion; what's in a name?"
~ Helen Hunt Jackson

I've created a simple sampler which includes both the solid and the liquid To Bee natural botanical perfume.

Here We Bee

To Bee is emblematic of the warm, musky scent of the bee hive. I've come to love this particular fragrance and thought it would be the perfect theme for a perfume devoted to the bee. However, since not everyone is a lover of this most distinct "hive smell" and most would not want to smell that way, I used the theme only as a launching point.


The scent of the hive is a combination of warm, sweet, musky notes with threads of beeswax, honey with an earthy, vegetal undertone. I began the construction knowing that I wanted an Amber base and to use a few existing accords like the botanical Leather and Musk. One of the five versions created for To Bee was a bit too sweet thus I converted it into a Honey accord. The accords in the fragrance are:

• Amber (Aumbre)
• Botanical Musk (Figure 1:Noir)
• Honey
• Two different Wood accords

Instead of using the existing Leather accord verbatim I added most of the essences in that formula into the perfume as well as Beeswax and Sweet Clover Absolute. For the energetics of the sun and the warm quality I used several Spices and Saffron.


Technically To Bee is a natural perfume because bee by-products are considered an animal ingredient and not botanical. Thus the words "natural" or "natural, botanical" are appropriate. As with all my perfumes there are no synthetic aroma chems or isolates used as well as none of the historic animal ingredients such as civet, ambergris, etc.

One ingredient which is most plentiful in this fragrance is LOVE, I so adore the honey bee and everything about her. She is quite a magnificent creature.


In the base of the liquid I have incorporated a tincture of feral honey comb from different bee rescues. The solid has an infusion of the honey comb and uses both locally sourced beeswax and beeswax from my hives.

The name To Bee is a reference to whom the perfume was made in reverence to as well as the Shakespeare soliloquy from Hamlet "To be of not to be, that is the question?" After all, if we continue to destroy our natural environment the honey bee will become extinct and life as we know it will cease to exist.


Aromatically the fragrance is warm and inviting, there is the presence of vanilla, wood, leather, vegetal musk, hay, honey and spice...however, none of these notes predominate, at least to my nose. At this moment in time I have only had my two house mates, Greg and Eve, to experience the final perfume. Both said "Warm", Greg exclaimed "Wow, it smells like an ethereal flower." Soon a chorus of noses in the community will inhale and share their thoughts and scent perceptions, always a fun and exciting experience, a bit like Christmas.

Path to the Sun

"Some painters transform the sun into a yellow spot,
others transform a yellow spot into the sun."
~Pablo Picasso

Happy Solstice everyone! Friends and family in the southern hemisphere celebrate the return of the light while we here in the north end the longest day and begin the slow transition to the dark.

I've chosen this Summer Solstice for the imprint of the honey bee perfume. Today is the longest day of the year and one of the eight Earth festivals of the Celtic sacred year and the affiliations with the sun. The sun to the honey bee is not only their navigational system but also one of the keys to their well being. Since moving our hives to the full sun here in the woodland we have found the bees are much more energized and healthy. Honey bees have a built in ephemeris which they use when making they're daily forage trips and communicating where those nectar rich sites are located.

"Bees are the engines that keep the earth in bloom."
~Queen of the Sun press release

I'm slightly behind with all the labors associated with launching a perfume. These many varied tasks include:

• Creating the formula for the perfume, then make it as a liquid and a solid
  
• Filter the infusion and tincture
• Write the copy and press release
• Develop imagery which includes the photography

I'm just about done with all these elements, "To Bee" will make its debut in the E-shop momentarily along with more information appearing here in the morrow. Thanks for your patience.

"In summer, the song sings itself."
~William Carlos Williams

Soliloquy

In the wise words of the 11th century playwright of Elizabethan England:

"To be of not to be, that is the question?"

This simple soliloquy from Hamlet about "the advantages and disadvantages of existence"1 is easily applied to our current plight with the little honey bee. Hamlet contemplates "is it nobler to live miserably or to end one's sorrows with a single stroke?"



The human race now stands at a threshold with this same exact question and our annihilation of nature, agriculture and food as we know it. Since the media in the US is owned by many of the large mega-corporations who also own big agra and weapon companies, the public is often fed information that will either keep them in fear, feeling they have no power. More often inaccurate knowledge or none is shared, like the hazards of pesticides. In particular the neonicotinoid, Imidacloprid, made by Bayer and wisely banned in many European countries.

"Bees are the legs of plants."
~ Michal Pollan

As I sit here in the wooded hills of Southern California, with the intention to affect change, a perfume devoted to the honey bee will release with the Summer Solstice on June 21st. The fragrance is called "To Bee", inspired by the aroma of the bee hive.

Join us today as Beth casts the circle from Perfume Smellin' Things for a collective hymn to the honey bee, ongoing reviews and thoughts on this latest natural, botanical perfume. Beth shares the story of her father and his bee garden. Other participating bloggers include:

Tom at Perfume Posse
Lucy at Indie Perfume
Trish at Scent Hive
Donna at Perfume Smellin' Things
Margi MacDonald at Perfume Pharmer
Jade Shutes at the IDA blog
Elena at Perfume Shrine

As the reviews come in I will post them here at the blog. Many thanks to all the participants, the Backwards Beekeepers and filmaker Taggart Siegel. If you have the opportunity to see the documentary "Queen of the Sun" I highly recommend it, Taggart has done an excellent job in telling the story of the plight of our little honey bee.

Find out how you can bee of service to this most important pollinator and bee part of the solution check out this link at the Queen of the Sun website, 10 Things You Can Do To Help Bees.

1 Shakespeare Online

Photo ©RoxanaVilla of three honey bees, one with very full pollen sacks, on the Matilija poppies in my California native garden. This trio of bees might be from my two hives, not sure though.