I’ve been obsessed with perfumes the past year or so and I’ve been dying to try out my own scent blends. There are not that many name brand perfume companies that are truly cruelty-free and vegan and/or have scents I really want to wear at an affordable price point. I decided that instead of doing so many eyeshadow heavy based collections for Pumpkin and Poppy Cosmetics, I’d try to branch out and grow as a cosmetic formulator. I adore the beauty, science, passion, creativity, and artistry of perfumery and I’m proud to announce my fairly ambitious spring/summer line of fragrances. I do plan on keeping these perfumes permanent, perhaps rotating them out, depending on the season so I have money and time to make more scents in the future.
As you may or may not know, I’m a very artistic and conceptual person, so I will try to briefly tell you the story of the goddess and where I got my inspiration for each scent. Also, perfumery is not as simple as picking fragrances you love…you have to make sure have a base note to ground the scent; the heart of the fragrance are the middle notes; and the top notes are the more volitile essential oils, citruses, and delicate florals. I will be hand blending all of these scents using a blend of essential oils and fragrance oils from cruelty-free wholesalers such as from Nature With Love and Nature’s Garden. All musks are synthetic and/or recreated with plants.
A lot of research and time went into planning these fragrances. I made sure that the scent notes I chose didn’t clash with the time period, region, and truly represent the goddess mentioned. I tried to do a wide variety of goddesses from several different cultures and countries, and I found the research fascinating. What better way to start a perfume line than to go back to the roots of perfumery, and that segways nicely into my first fragrance oil (hint, the goddess is from Egypt of course!)
Isis:
Top notes: lotus & sea salt
Middle notes: fig, wine, cassia
Bottom notes: cedarwood, frankincense, myrrh
Note: This fragrance is based on traditional scent notes in Egyptian perfumery and foods of the ancient Egyptians.
http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/trades/perfume_makers.htmIsis is known as a both a creator and destroyer. Isis is also known as protectress of the dead and goddess of children.
Isis and Osiris were known for bringing bread and wine making to the Egyptians (middle note: wine); A dark element is brought to the sent by the addition of the resinous basenotes, frankincense and myrhh. This represents Seth, and his desire to kill Osiris and separate Isis from her love. Cedarwood is present to represent the cedar box that Seth trapped Osiris in and the box that Isis used as a vessel to travel in nile and the ocean to save him. Isis searched the world for pieces of her husband that she was determined to put back together. The lotus represents the Egyptian symbol for rebirth, which Osirius claimed would happen once Seth was defeated, bringing Osiris and Isis and their son Horus back together again. This mythology is why the Egyptians embalmed their dead.
Persephone:
Top Notes: Violets, Hyacinth, spring air
Middle Notes: Pomegranite, Spearmint,
Base Notes: Black Amber, Musk, patchouli
This fragrance truly personifies Persephone; she is the Greek goddess of the underworld and of spring. The fragrance is a beautiful blend of spring flowers juxtaposed with the dark nature of the underworld in which she is destined to live half of each year. Hades tricked her into eating seven seeds of a pomegranate, thus keeping her mother, Demeter, from fully being able to bring her out of Underworld for good. A compromise was met…half of the year would be bleak, cold. and barren because of Demeter’s depression and the other half would be warm, sunny, and full of life because of Persephone’s return to the earth. Eventually, Persephone and Hades becamea strong pair, but when Hades cheated on her with a wood Nymph, she trod her under foot…turning her into what we know as mint.
Rhiannon:
Top notes: clover, ozone, green grass, fresh cut hay
Middle notes: red and green apples, oak leaves
Bottom notes: balsam, vetiver,oak moss
(Note: clover, apples, hay, and green grass represent her connection to horses; balsam is sacred to Rhiannon; oak moss and leaves represent her magical connection to the forest)
Rhiannon was the Welsh goddess of the moon and inspiration and she had a strong connection to horses. She was promised to a man she did not love, so she rode on her white horse, deep through the forest. A young prince named Pwyll spied Rhiannon and fell in love with her, chasing after her, only to be eluded the otherworldly swiftness of her horse. She laughed and told him that he should have just called out to her instead of chasing her through the forest. She was intentionally enticing and teasing him because she wanted him to follow.
After an enchanted wedding deep in the forest, their happiness was interrupted by Rhiannon’s spurned lover. She caught him in a bag and turned him into a badger, but he escaped and caused her trouble two years later, after she had a son with Pwyll. Her servents all fell asleep and her child went missing, taken by Rhiannon’s spurned lover. Blood was found in her baby’s crib, and many believed that Rhiannon had killed her child. Pwyll did not believe her, but asked that her life be spared. Her punishment was to spend the next seven years in a horse harness, having to confess to a crime she didn’t commit and offer to give weary travelers a ride on her back. She bore her punishment with dignity.
Four years into her punishment, a man traveling with a child passed her way. The boy handed her a piece of cloth with her weaving work. She recognized that the boy had Pwyll’s eyes. The nobleman had found the boy on his way to deliver a foal, and raised him as his own. Pwyll, Rhianoon, and their son were reunited and her honor was restored.
Erzulie:
Top Note: tea rose
Middle Notes: sweet vanilla cake, amaretto liquor
Bottom Notes: frankincense, myrrh, and sandalwood
Erzulie was a Haitian goddess of of love, beauty, jewelry, dancing, luxury, and flowers. Her scent is decadent and based on items that those who worshipped her brought to her alter: Sweet vanilla cake, amaretto liquor, frankincense, myrrh, and sandalwood…mixed with a faint hint of rose for passion. This scent is inspired in part by a traditional hoodoo attraction perfume recipe.
Artemis:
Top Note: Bergamot
Middle Notes: Cypress essential oil (sourced from Crete), Juniper berries,
Base Notes: White Musk and Cedarwood
Artemis was the greek goddess of the hunt, woods, and animals. Her scent is woodsy with a base note of cedarwood and musk. This scent features the essential oil, Cypress, which is sourced from Crete and is sacred to Artemis. Fresh bergmot balances the scent and is blended with another plant sacred to Artemis, Juniper berries.
Pele:
Top Notes: Hawaiian white ginger blossoms, neroli
Middle Notes: Mango, Fig,
Base Notes: Vanilla and Sandalwood
Pele was a Hawaiian volcano goddess who was a vengeful and spirited woman, often killing her mortal lovers from jealousy. A tropical and sensual Hawaiian perfume…a fruity and floral blend that is sure to lure anyone into the fiery depths.
White Buffalo Woman:
Top notes: Dandelion greens,
Middle note: Juniper berries (used in cleansing rituals), Tobacco (used in sacred rituals)
Base note: cedarwood, sage
*Note: All of the scent notes were inspired by plants that were used by the Plains Native Americans.
This goddess is central to many Native American tribes, especially the Lakota. Two Lakotas were sent to gather food. One came upon a young woman in white and attempted to woo her. She enveloped him in a cloud of smoke and he disappeared. She told the other man, who was respectful, that she would do him no harm and would bring prosperity to his people. She taught them rituals and brought the pipe to their religious ceremonies.
Queen Mother of the West:
Top note: Peach, Mulberry
Middle notes: bamboo, hemp seed
Base Notes: vetiver, patchouli, oak moss
The Peaches of Immortality are Ripening
The Queen Mother of the West Sits on High.
“Nobody knows Her beginning, nobody knows Her end.” (ancient haiku, source unknown)
The Queen Mother of the West was a powerful Chinese goddess and was believed to be the supreme matriarch who governed all other female deities. She is said to have elixir that can make people live forever and never grow old. Early myth portrayed her as tiger monster, but eventually her legend and stories transformed her into a goddess full of wisdom and grace. She represents prosperity, longevity, and eternal bliss. She lives in a garden in the sky and is known for serving peaches to her vistors, making them immortal.
This fragrance is a juicy Peach based scent; peaches are the Chinese symbol for prosperity. Mulberries were used in ancient chinese medicine to heal and to cleanse the blood and were a symbol of The Queen Mother of the West. The base notes of vetiver, patchouli, and oak moss ground the scent…making it earthy, and a little bit feisty, just like her.
*Note: Hemp was actually one of China’s earliest crop plants.
I plan on releasing these as I get them done, not as one large collection. I will make sure to update you on here as well as my youtube and facebook with more details as they come! I’m hand designing all the labels with my husband and they will be coming in amber apothecary bottles to protect the fragrance.
