A Note on Wearing Botanical Perfumes

It’s true that Botanical, or Natural, Perfumes are very different creatures than the more traditional, ‘Department Store’ synthetic creations that many people are used to. When making the switch our noses, and indeed our actual beauty routine, needs a bit of re-training, re-structuring and re-organizing.

But the sensory (not to mention the healthful!) rewards of switching to all-natural scents are numerous, and well worth it.

One common complaint is that natural scents just don’t last, or carry, like the synthetic brands do. But in my years of wearing essential oil-based perfumes, I’ve never found this to be a problem. I have strangers come up to me frequently, to tell me that I smell really good!

I think this is because I’ve always been a huge fan of layering my botanical scents. It’s when I’m in the shower that I decide which perfume I will be wearing for the day. I often have more than one body bar, and I make it a point to only buy botanical/natural/essential oil soaps that match my perfume with at least one, but preferably two, common notes.

Generally, my personal scents all have a Patchouli note in common. So I keep a large glass apothecary jar filled with Patchouli-scented bath salts in my bathroom. I bring a scoop into the shower with me and rub my neck, arms, shoulders and lower back down with the fragrant salt. It’s a wonderful exfoliant, lends an extra perfume-layer to one’s fragrance, the Patchouli smells amazing and, as we know, essential oil enhances our physical and emotional health and wellbeing. The salt feels wonderful on my skin, too.

As a result, showering is one of my favorite and most sensuous moments of the day. I always look forward to my nurturing personal routine.

And perhaps even moreso, since I’ve bee-friended the very sweet and oh-so-talented Rebecca Silence of Ballerina Farmer Artisan Aromatherapy.

Rebecca, based in Kalamazoo, Michigan, is a talented aromatherapist, botanical perfumer and my very favorite soapmaker. In. The. World. (My favorite and highly-recommended Ballerina Farmer soap, btw, is the Very aptly-named “Swoon!”)

Rebecca and I have partnered up this year, creating three very pure and very beautiful handmade soaps blended to match three of Arabesque’s 2012 botanical scents; The Awakening, Alexandria, and the ever-popular Kyphi! (Which I think I’ve just sold out of, again!!! That’s how yummy her soap is, folks…)

Please visit Arabesque’s Handmade Salts and Soaps category in the Etsy shop for more information on Rebecca’s lovely creations designed exclusively for Arabesque, or visit her website to reach Ballerina Farmer Artisan Aromatherapy directly.

Also available in the Arabesque shop, bags of bath salts, custom-blended in the scent of your favorite Arabesque aroma, all made with love, by yours truly!

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2012 botanical scents, Alexandria, Arabesque Aromas, aromatherapy, artisanal, Ballerina Farmer Artisan Aromatherapy, bath salts, botanical perfumery, essential oil, Etsy, handmade, handmade soap, Kyphi, natural perfume, Rebecca Silence, salt scrub, Swoon, The Awakening

November 21, 2012

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My 2012 Midwinter Perfumes “The Holly, Moss and Ivy” & “The Star Seller”

“The Holly, Moss and Ivy” takes it name from the flora surrounding my exciting, fragrant new home. It is the first botanical perfume I created since my back-to-nature move to a little log cabin in northern California. My new home is a real respite after spending so many years in Los Angeles…

I think the first time I became clearly aware that I needed to move closer to nature happened when I joined the Folk Reveries Etsy team.  I thought their team description was so inspiring and beautiful, though it also made my heart ache a little, realizing that while Some of it was true for me – it wasn’t Entirely true for me. And I wanted it to be!

“Welcome to folk reveries! Here are those who want to live among the woods

beneath the stars,

who believe and are inspired by folktales and dreams, the natural world

and the magic that belongs to it,

fauna and flora with mysteries and stories to be found.”

It’s been a somewhat challenging year. But finally, here I am. A botanical perfumer who can honestly say she lives in the woods, beneath the stars!

It never gets old, pulling into my forest-y driveway at nighttime and just looking up, at the stars. The absolutely endless stars…

Which brings me to my next perfume, inspired by the Donovan song, The Seller of Stars.

I am not sure who this magical Seller of Stars is, exactly, but I suspect he does a lot of work here in the skies of Nevada County, California!

My new midwinter botanical perfume The Star Seller smells predominately of Jasmine. I chose a star-shaped flower for a star-inspired theme.

The Star Seller also contains Sandalwood and a trace of Nutmeg, giving it a cozy, winter-y skies, woodsmoke undertone. I was particularly inspired by these beautiful, ethereal lyrics.

“Wings he weaves for the fairies,
Gold of the sun you can buy
And silver flowers of frost and dew,
Rainbows out of the sky.
And delicate morning mist he sells
And pretty new songs for whispering shells.”

~Donovan, lyrics from The Seller of Stars

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Arabesque Aromas, artisanal, back to nature, botanical perfume, clary sage, folk reveries, Jasmine, midwinter, nutmeg, Patchouli, Sandalwood, starlight, the holly moss and ivy, the star seller, vanilla, winter solstice, woodsmoke

November 14, 2012

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Mary Sharratt Guest Blogs “Viriditas: Visions of a Green Saint”

I am so delighted to have Mary Sharratt, author of the exciting new book “Illuminations: A Novel of Hildegard of Bingen” as our guest blogger today. She is here to discuss a topic I never seem to tire of — Hildegard of Bingen’s Viriditas.

Viriditas: Visions of a Green Saint

“Born in the lush green Rhineland in present day Germany, Hildegard von Bingen (1098–1179) was a visionary nun and polymath. She founded two monasteries, went on four preaching tours, composed an entire corpus of highly original sacred music, and wrote nine books addressing both scientific and religious subjects, an unprecedented accomplishment for a 12th-century woman. Her prophecies earned her the title Sybil of the Rhine. An outspoken critic of political and ecclesiastical corruption, she courted controversy.

In May 2012, 873 years after her death, she was finally canonized. In October 2012, she will be elevated to Doctor of the Church, a rare and solemn title reserved for theologians who have significantly impacted Church doctrine. Previously there were only thirty-three Doctors of the Church, and only three were women (Catherine of Siena, Teresa of Ávila, and Thérèse of Lisieux).

But what relevance does Hildegard have for a wider ecumenical audience today?

A cornerstone of Hildegard’s spirituality was Viriditas, or greening power, her revelation of the animating life force manifest in the natural world that infuses all creation with moisture and vitality. To her, the divine was manifest in every leaf and blade of grass. Just as a ray of sunlight is the sun, Hildegard believed that a flower or a stone was God, though not the whole of God. Creation revealed the face of the invisible creator. Hildegard celebrated the sacred in nature, something highly relevant for us in this age of climate change and the destruction of natural habitats.

I, the fiery life of divine essence, am aflame beyond the beauty of the meadows, I gleam in the waters, and I burn in the sun, moon and stars . . . . I awaken everything to life.

Hildegard von Bingen, Liber Divinorum (Book of Divine Works)

Hildegard’s philosophy of Viriditas went hand in hand with her celebration of the Feminine Divine. Although the established Church of her day could not have been more male-dominated, Hildegard’s visions revealed the Feminine Divine. While acknowledging God as Father, she also called God Mother. She said that she could only bear to look upon divinity in her visions if God appeared to her in feminine form. Her visions revealed God as a cosmic egg, nurturing all of life like a womb. Masculine imagery of the creator tends to focus on God’s transcendence, but Hildegard’s revelations of the Feminine Divine celebrated immanence, of God being present in all things, in every aspect of this greening, burgeoning, blessed world.

According to Barbara Newman’s book Sister of Wisdom: St. Hildegard’s Theology of the Feminine, Hildegard’s Sapientia, or Divine Wisdom, creates the cosmos by existing within it.

O power of wisdom!

You encompassed the cosmos,

Encircling and embracing all in one living orbit

With your three wings:

One soars on high,

One distills the earth’s essence,

And the third hovers everywhere.

Hildegard von Bingen, O virtus sapientia

This might be read as an ecstatic hymn to Sophia, the great Cosmic Mother.”

Mary Sharratt’s Illuminations: A Novel of Hildegard von Bingen is published in October by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and is a Book of the Month and One Spirit Book Club pick. It can be purchased here.

http://www.amazon.com/Illuminations-Novel-Hildegard-von-Bingen/dp/0547567847/wwwmarysharra-20/

Visit Mary’s website here

www.marysharratt.com

Listen to one of Hildegard of Bingen’s ecstatic hymns, Viridissima Virga or The Greenest Branch, here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-N68NXzyGSg&feature=related

and sample or purchase the Arabesque botanical perfume Veriditas, inspired by Hildegard of Bingen, here.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/46846909/veriditas-botanical-perfume-oil-12-ounce

 

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October 9, 2012

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Arabesque Aromas Summer 2012 botanical perfume “The Awakening”

“She reminded him of some beautiful, sleek animal waking up in the sun.”

― Kate Chopin, The Awakening

“The Awakening” is a fresh, complex, green, blooming scent inspired by the also-blooming main character, Edna Pontellier of Kate Chopin’s novel “The Awakening” published in 1899.

Its main ingredient is the deliciously complex and deliciously green Boronia.
Boronia is a precious ingredient, and difficult to obtain, therefore this perfume is a limited edition. There are a total of 12 bottles of the Summer 2012 batch, remaining.

Each bottle contains a small piece of seaweed, harvested myself from California beaches.

I thought seaweed was an appropriate visual symbol for Edna’s oceanic, feminine, unfolding inner life.

The Awakening can be sampled or purchased, here.

www.etsy.com/listing/99155400/the-awakening-1-ml-sample-summer-2012

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June 21, 2012

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“Drann” botanical perfume, named for the old Irish word for a whispered magical chant, charm or spell

Drann was designed specifically for a group that I feel so honored and excited to be a part of: The Primordial Perfume Project of 2012.

Drann, made mostly of essential oils from Sacred trees, is a smooth, subtle, resinous, warm, unisex, meditative scent, featuring Oud, Peru Balsam, Frankincense, Myrrh, Cedarwood, Cistus, Lavender and Rosewood, with botanical inclusions of Birch and Ash wood from the British Isles, and pieces of Oak Moss.

The word ‘drann’ has its linguistic roots in early Northern European languages and the root of the word speaks of turning, twisting, weaving, and influencing via magic. (The same root is found in the old Irish word for Druid, Drai, wizard, Draoi, the Gaelic word for enchantment, Draoidheacht.) The Celtic spiral is a visual representation, a symbol, of this same magical meaning. (Celtic Knotwork and interlace is probably the most famous example of this.)

I visited the Neolithic Burial Chamber “Newgrange” on my first visit to Ireland in 2002.

Ash in the Irish Ogham ties in nicely with this symbolism. Ash is also the tree associated with the Celtic Tree of Life. And the Ash rune, As, in the Runic alphabet “…invokes the Divine force. As is the divine breath, ond, which powers existence… ” from Rune Magic by Nigel Pennick.

Sample of “Drann” botanical perfume with birch and ash wood.

Samples and the botanical perfume “Drann” are available on Etsy.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/99960855/drann-botanical-perfume-sample-created

The Primordial Perfume Project proves to be a potent and amazing collaboration with over 60 artists, writers and perfumers. Each participant has been asked to create a separate Facebook page for their Primordial entry.

If you’d like to keep abreast of my project entry, and the project as a whole, you can visit my Primordial Perfume project page here.

https://www.facebook.com/PrimordialScent2012PerfumeProjectKirstenSchilling

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June 21, 2012

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The Mary Garden

Madonna in the Rose Bower, 1448, by Stephan Lochner

A lovely, lingering afternoon spent at the Musee national du Moyen Age, Cluny, in Paris, 2006, originally piqued my interest in the medieval Mary gardens. The concept of the Virgin Mary as the Hortus conclusus, or enclosed garden, originated with the beautiful Song of Solomon 4:12, in Latin:

Hortus conclusus soror mea, sponsa, hortus conclusus, fons signatus.

A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse; a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed up.

“The flowers planted in a Mary garden all have a symbolic meaning, representing the virtues of the Blessed Virgin. The rose, the most frequently shown, symbolizes the Virgin herself, the Queen of Heaven. It should be emphasized that the favor granted the rose for its beauty is a constant factor in Western European culture and the emblematic flower of Venus passed with no apparent difficulty from pagan Antiquity to the Christian Middle Ages. The chaplets, wreaths and garlands of roses which were attributes of Venus, Bacchus, Cupid and the Graces were associated with the worship of idols rejected by Christianity. However, like many ancient religious practices which would have been difficult to eradicate, the Church preferred to maintain the outward display of such traditions while giving them new meaning.” from The Medieval Garden written and published by the Musee national du Moyen Age, Thermes hotel de Cluny, Paris, France.

Visiting the Mary Garden inspired me to design a series of candles based on medieval gardens. The Mary Garden is one of three, that can be purchased individually or as a set, along with The Love and Pleasure Garden, and The Simplers Garden.

A gently scented beeswax candle for anyone who needs mothering and nurturing, the Mary Garden is a sacred candle. Gently perfumed with precious Rose and Jasmine essential oil, it contains botanicals that would traditionally be found in a Mary Garden. Rose and violet petals, handmade flower essences and herbaceous floral waters, and a sprinkling of holy well water from pre-Christian and Christian wells of Ireland, France and England.

Light to honor the feminine, or Mother Earth, Herself.

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Aphrodite, Arabesque Aromas, Christian Middle Ages, Christianity, Cluny Museum Paris, earth day, Enclosed Garden, goddess, Holy Wells, hortus conclusus, Jasmine, medieval, medieval gardens, Monastic, mother earth, Paganism, rose, sacred feminine, Song of Solomon, The Close, The Mary Garden, The Virgin Mary, Venus, Violet

April 20, 2012

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The Golden Bough

Medieval Pilgrim's Path, Kaiserslautern, Germany, 2011.

Inspired by the labyrinth walk to reach the gold at the center, and the medieval pilgrim’s sojourn, this floral and sweet botanical perfume was made to assist one in going ever higher and ever farther.

The Golden Bough botanical perfume. Photograph by Louie Martinesse.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/93800559/the-golden-bough-botanical-perfume-oil-a?listing_id=93800559&listing_slug=the-golden-bough-botanical-perfume-oil-a

The Golden Bough is the fourth perfume in the Arabesque Aromas emotional well-being collection.

“The deeper significance of the pilgrimage through a labyrinth – which is equally true for any pilgrimage – is that it symbolizes the inner pilgrimage we make to the center of our Being.”

~ Jean Hani, “The Enigma of the Labyrinth,” from A Chartres Cathedral Publication.

A sample of The Golden Bough can be ordered here.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/48799681/one-natural-perfume-oil-sample-by?listing_id=48799681&listing_slug=one-natural-perfume-oil-sample-by

Walking a replica of the 12th century labyrinth in Chartres cathedral,
Forest Lawn, Glendale, California. 2012.

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"Louie Martinesse", "The Golden Bough", arabesque, Arabesque Aromas, botanical perfumery, center, Chartres Cathedral, forest lawn, France, glendale california, heavens, Kirsten Schilling, labyrinth, medieval, medieval pilgrim, Sandalwood, self, spiral

April 18, 2012

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