Strange Invisible Perfumes

A sun-warmed day made sweeter by good company. A redolent vase of  roses and homemade delicacies perfume the air as afternoon light streams through an open window. Dimanche lingers in that golden moment.

Many flowers are most enchanting once night falls. This is when their scent intensifies to lure nocturnal pollinators and entice humans to harvest them at their most fragrant.

Among those luminous blooms is jasmine. Its pale petals release an aroma so lush, it almost seems to shimmer in darkness. 

Fair Verona captures jasmine in its truest form, casting its moonlit radiance across the skin with sparkling Italian citruses and airy mimosa blossoms. Velvety iris root and oakmoss carry the bloom into sandalwood’s richer, warmer light.

Botanical perfumery is a love affair with the natural world. 

Top notes make the first impression, capturing nature’s fleeting beauty: the bright spritz of freshly peeled citrus, morning light sparkling across water, the cool green scent of a leaf snapped at the stem. 

It deepens at the heart. Flowers fully unfurl, fruit ripens on the branch. Emotion blooms as the fragrance warms on the skin, settling into something intimately yours. 

At the base, we reach devotion. Essences linger like moss embracing the ancient forest floor, dried petals holding the memory of their bloom, or sun still felt on the skin after a day by the sea. 

Each bottle of botanical perfume is its own wild romance, with every layer drawing us closer to nature’s magic. And with each spritz, we get to experience it all over again from the beginning.

High summer. The August Beauty gardenia blooms wild beneath a sparkling sun, as lush as it gets all year.

Epic Gardenia bottles that sensuous tropical scene, with creamy white petals bursting through a complex botanical blend of woods, flowers, herbs, citrus, and freshwater spice. A bright, juicy floral for the ages, made for summers that glitter with glamour and possibility.

Perfume gardens through the ages 🪻

Throughout human history, gardens have had a big job to do like grow food and medicinal herbs to support survival. Then came perfume gardens, artistic spaces designed purely to delight the senses, with abundant plant life that pleased the nose as much as the eye. 

Here’s a close look at a few of the most fascinating.

What’s Alexandra been loving this summer? These are the seasonal pleasures in our founder’s rotation, and a few words on why she loves each one!

♡ Epic Gardenia, by yours truly — “My forever summer scent. It’s juicy, vibrant, and makes me feel alive and ready for adventure.”
🥂Le Rosé by French Bloom Alcohol-Free Sparkling — “I adore champagne, but I avoid alcohol. This sparkling rosé by French Bloom makes me feel like a grown-up.”
🌱 Botanical Toning Mist by EarthTonics Botanical Skincare — “This toning mist is distilled in-house by a beautiful Ojai-based brand. It smells so lovely and really refreshes and balances my skin.”
🍝 Italian Cookbook by Pasta Grammar — “With so much to do before fall, a trip to Italy just isn’t in the cards this summer, so I’m left to dream—and cook! There is so much confusion about what makes an authentic Italian recipe, these two bring it all into focus.”
👜Raffia Tote by Savette — “When I buy a new summer bag, it somehow tricks me into thinking I’m headed for a tropical holiday. I love this one by Savette.”

What would The Odyssey smell like? Turquoise waves crashing against sun-drenched cliffs. Fresh cypress trees rising skyward. Salty sea air sweetened with mountain sage honey, breezing through citrus groves. 

Peloponnesian captures this Greek seascape into a scent of mythic proportions. Wear it to awaken your heroic side...or simply make your trip to the theater more epic.

If water signs were embodied as natural landscapes, what forms would they take?

Each perfume in our zodiac collection is crafted to help conjure the spirit of its astrological sign. Whether or not water appears in your chart, find yourself—or who you want to become—within three aquatic landscapes and their corresponding botanical perfumes.

In perfumery, “mute flowers” are blooms that sing in the garden but fall silent in the hands of a perfumer. Their rich redolence cannot be captured as essential oils or absolutes concentrated enough for perfumery.

Though they pose a challenge, mute flowers also spark creativity. Their restrictive nature forces the mind open, turns limitation into invention, and invites the unexpected in.

Of them all, gardenia may be one of the most notorious, and the most beguiling. Swipe to learn more about this enigma and how our perfumer gives gardenia a life of its own.

In myth, gardenia belongs to Selene, goddess and personification of the moon, who sweeps her silver chariot across the night sky as shooting stars and gardenia’s hypnotic scent trail behind her…

The Ancient Greeks referred to gardenia flowers as “moon tears” because of their ivory petals that glow in moonlight and their enchanting perfume that deepens after dark. The gardenia holds divine feminine mystery within fruit pods that never open, even when ripe. Inhale its lush redolence, and you’ll be whisked away to the Elysian fields of paradise…or so the Ancient Greeks believed.

All this moonlit magnetism is channeled in Epic Gardenia: a bright, juicy floral with luminous depth and the allure of someone who keeps their secrets close.