Creating a new scent
I am currently formulating a new scent based on violet leaf essential oil. This has proved quite a challenge for me. I love the scent of violets; the flower and the leaves, and I wanted to capture something of the violet's complex green, earthy and sweet nature.
Starting with a resin base, to anchor the florals, I chose to include helichrysum (immortelle) in the base, as I am mildly obsessed with this scent at the moment. Of course, I added violet leaf and a touch of rose. I wanted to ground the sweetness of the violet with a smokiness, reminiscent of the autumn air early in the morning, so I added a touch of cade. The blend is heady, but I think it may prove to be successful once it has matured for a couple of weeks. I'll see...
Hurrah for Hoarding!
This may come as a shock to you, but the internet hasn't always been around. I know, imagine! Magazines used to be my number one path to inspiration, though they often fell short of my expectation, or alternatively, exceeded my ability to be 'cool'. I kept most of my magazines, not being one to throw away ANYTHING, so I am pleased to be able to present a few images of the covers of an early 1980s magazine called Stiletto. It was large format, had coloured covers but newsprint within, and it covered off on a wide variety of fashion, music and popular culture, with an inevitable focus on the Melbourne and Sydney scenes.
I remember reading through them (and this was one of the magazines I thought I couldn't quite live up to) and marveling at these strange types who dressed however they wanted and lived their entire lives in glittering nightclubs and bars. I'm sure the reality was quite different, but they had an impact on me nonetheless.
Now I look at these magazines with nostalgia, but also, I can look at the covers afresh and note how imaginative they are. I love the collage, the photocopied graininess, the hand-coloured detailing, strident patterns and limited colour palette. There's no shoulder-padded corporate power-walking here, just good fresh design working within the restraints of budget and technology.
Leaving all that aside, I MUST do a spread on the fashions within - everyone needs to know how to wear a sack well!
Autumn, Aspire and Annuals
I know it is stating the obvious, but autumn is here. It seems to be a bit early, the leaves are well under way to their new colours, there are dahlias out, it smells smokey at night, it's cooler and now, daylight savings is over. As much as I really don't like (I'm being mild here) the very hot weather, it is sad to see the summer go. Sad in a melancholy way.
But I love the small rituals of a change of season. The decision to pack away the linen and pastel coloured argyle socks, switching from rose scented tea to chai, dusting off the Balmoral boots, raking leaves, ordering violets and looking through bulb catalogues, moving from citrus and herbal scents to woods and resins. They are small and personal things - I'm certainly not a 'no white shoes after labor day' type of person - but each one is a rediscovery of things forgotten (if only for 6 months), and an anticipation of cool days ahead, rugged up and cosy.
Here's a flower. A dahlia from our garden, no less, and I see we aren't the only ones keen to have a piece of this:
I was very proud during the week to have picked up a copy of Aspire Magazine, a free publication circulated at various venues around Adelaide, because I am in it! Well, it wasn't about me in my gracious living room (a la "Hello" magazine), but there was a small article about Shanghai Lil & The Scarlet Fez soaps! I was very happy about it and I'm chuffed to be in this new, very smart, magazine. Here's the article, but I recommend reading the whole magazine, of course!
And finally, I am at the Wattle Street market in Fullarton on 12 April 2014, and Pop up at Prospect (Prospect Road) on 26 April 2014. Come by and say hello and smell the soaps, bath salts, room sprays and perfumes I have on offer!
