Tag Archives: botanical perfume

What Is A Botanical Perfume?

Botanical or natural perfume is more than just a fragrance, its a return to the ancient origins of perfumery when scent was revered and held deep spiritual and ceremonial significance. Long before synthetics began to imitate nature, perfumery was an art rooted in ritual and healing, and a profound connection to the earth and to us. A botanical perfume is crafted from raw, living materials such as essential oils, tinctured flowers and leaves, macerated and infused petals, woods, and resins that have been cooked with intention to exacting ancient methods. As a living natural thing, it is not perfect, it is what the earth makes it. Unlike synthetic perfumes that are created in laboratories, where the scent is static, uniform, and lifeless, botanical perfumes are alive. They are composed of real plants, each grown in unique soils, climates, and seasons. These natural elements are ever evolving, and a botanical perfume is a reflection of that, telling the story of the ever changing nature of the plants it is derived from.
I like to think of botanical perfume as more than an just an adornment, I think this diminishes its significance. I would describe it as a living essence, something that follows us like an invisible companion, wrapping around our energy and becoming part of our individuality. For centuries, fragrances has served not just as beautification, but as a bridge to linking the body to the spirit, and to the earth and afterlife. Before perfume was just beauty, it was a ritual. Before it was fashion, it was sacred.

 

Before Perfume Was Beauty, It Was A Ritual. Before It Was Fashion, It Was Sacred.

A Sacred Scent Through Time
In all of the known ancient world, perfume had always been sacred. In Mesopotamia, fragrant resins like myrrh and frankincense were burned in temples as offerings. Egyptians anointed their bodies with aromatic oils for both beauty and spirituality, using scents like lotus and prepared kyphi in rituals and burial rites. In India and China, perfumes were crafted from herbs, flowers, and spices, used in medicine, meditation, and ceremony. The Greeks used perfume in bathing, rituals, and medicine. They believed scent could elevate the spirit and stir desire. Hippocrates, believed in the healing power of scent. He used aromatic herbs and perfumes for therapeutic purposes, purifying the air, easing the mind, and restoring balance to the body. And during the Islamic Golden Age, alchemist, physician and philosopher, Ibn Sina (Avicenna) advanced distillation techniques, capturing the true essence of plants; most famously, the rose. Perfume became both a science and a spiritual art, woven into medicine, prayer, and beauty. In every culture, it seems, perfume was a bridge between the earth and the soul.
An Alchemy Of Sorts
When we wear perfume, it’s not just about the scent. It is a dialogue between the fragrance, our skin, and our energy. This is the true transformation of a scent, it moves beyond the physical, penetrating an emotional, mental, and spiritual layer.
Alchemy, at its core, is transformation, and yes traditionally and popularly, in medieval practice and philosophy, it was known to transform base metals into gold, often blending science and spiritual belief. As a layperson on the subject I am not going to describe what alchemy is or is not. However I will always remember what one of my teachers many years ago, said about the definition of alchemy. He called it ‘a spiritual journey of the soul.’ It is the quiet fire that transforms the nafs (the egoic self) into something luminous. The ego begins raw and tethered to the world. But through the alchemical path, be it stillness, surrender, the remembrance of God, pondering and immersion of nature, it is refined, like lead into gold, and the self is transmuted. What was once restless becomes radiant. What was once veiled becomes clear.

The Spirit Of The Plant Meets The Spirit Of You.

 

The Scent Meets The Self
And you could say similarly, that a scent too, participates in this alchemical transformation. When you anoint with a perfume, the heat of your body interacts with the plant oils, causing them to unfold and reveal themselves in ways that are unique to you. In the meeting point between the perfume and the wearer, your skin chemistry and your energetic imprint shape how the fragrance lives and breathes. No two people will wear a perfume the same way. It becomes a reflection of who you are in the moment. It is where the spirit of the plant meets the spirit of you.
Scent That Communes With The Soul
Scent is like the silent language of the soul. It speaks to us before our conscious minds even have the chance to process it. As the perfume comes into contact with our skin, it begins to affect our emotional and energetic state. Different notes can awaken joy, stir memories, invite introspection, or offer comfort in times of grief. Perfume therefore, is likened to a conduit for energetic and emotional transformation:

Opening the Heart
Floral notes such as rose, jasmine, and neroli hold deep resonance with the heart. They are not just beautiful flowers, they are known to be heart medicine. The scent of the rose in particular, has a calming and uplifting effect on the soul. Its gentle fragrance helps ease emotional pain, lighten sadness, and bring a sense of peace. Ibn Sina believed that the scent of the rose could refresh the spirit, soothe the heart, and restore emotional balance. For those feeling sorrow, anxiety, or emotional heaviness, the rose was not just a flower, it was a subtle medicine for the inner self.

Grounding the Spirit
Earthy notes such as sandalwood, patchouli, and vetiver connect us to the root and ground, our link to the earthly world. These grounding scents provide stability, calm, and presence. Sandalwood, revered in spiritual traditions, anchors us during chaos and opens space for stillness. It brings us back to our centre.

Elevating the Soul
Resins such as frankincense and myrrh have long been used in ritual to purify, bless, and transcend. These materials can elevate the spirit, and feel like open portals to higher consciousness, and create a transcendent atmosphere. Frankincense, in particular, feels like a bridge between worlds. It draws us inward, quiets the mind, helps us to reflect and invites connection to something vast.

When we wear or anoint ourselves with a natural perfume, crafted from the aromatic ‘soul’ of plants, we are gently reminded that we are part of the earth’s living breath, rooted in its rhythms, nourished by its fragrance, and connected to it most profoundly.

Farishta – New Botanical Perfume

botanical perfume

The perfume Farishta acquires its name from the Persian word ‘angel’ or ‘divine messenger’. It has a gentle floral breeze that whispers an odour of elapsed memories, of past monuments, and of unearthed images of native flora and aromatic herbs interlaced with stories of untamed resins, kept clandestine and immersed by the transient Near East desert sands.

My new scent Farishta is herbaceous, floral and resinous. Not cloying or overpowering, I wanted to create a scent that was ethereal but earthly, with a character of true flowers, herbs and resins that were mentioned in ancient manuscripts.

The soul of this scent, delicately interweaves Angelica archangelica and Egyptian lotus flower, both renowned and revered by the ancients. Ensuing notes of Champaca unfolds to create a trio of soft fluttery florals, that lie on a herbaceous bed of dill, myrtle and tarragon, evoking a sense of elevated awareness, heightened by cardamon and clove, and then tempered with vanilla and mellowed with saffron. The Resinous final layer is a merging of Amber, Labdanum, and the sweet balsamic notes of Gurjun.

Wilder Land Botanical Perfume

botanical wood and smoke perfume

If you adore the green, the fresh and the verdant, you must also revere the charred and the tainted, and the fallen leaves that lay in decay. Beyond decomposition there is life, there is fire, and there is earth and spirit, and in the land of the wilder, death is a mere whisper of an illusion.

I think this is a scent for darker days and winter nights. It’s one of those scents that you definitely do not smell in the bottle. Once applied, it will alter with the chemistry of your body and pick up particular notes according to the individual’s skin.

This is a scent of ancient woods, crisp winter nights and smoke. It may be cosy to some, more smoky to others and also you may pick up floral woodland too.

Opening notes include, spruce hemlock, black spruce tarragon and bergamot. Spring narcissus and chamomile adds just a trace of a green florals. There is also just a suggestion of my artisan extract of cepes, and more wood from cedar and smoke from birch tar. the enduring notes includes Galbanum and labdamen resin, tobacco, sandalwood and myrrh.

Neroli Moon Botanical Perfume

botanical natural perfume

Come and witness the alchemy of the night, where lightness fades and the bitterness is sweet, and where Neroli blooms are bathed in moonlight.

My new scent for spring and summer is Herbaceous, light floral and green.
Opening notes are Sicilian Bergamot, Mandarin, Grapefruit and Lime, and Chamomile offers a hint of herbal aromatics. There is a suggestion of Narcissus and a hint of Jasmine, but the dominant scent is the honeyed citrusy green of Neroli. Sage adds an unusual herbaceous note, and Galbanum a little grass. Cardamom lifts, and then there is Cedar and Sandalwood, the earthy warmth of Benzoin resin. And finally Ambrette seeds add musk.

I found Neroli Moon to be a joyful scent, perfectly at home in a spring floral garden, dotted with a border of herbs.

New Perfume ‘Island Muse’

Beyond daydreams are island musings, of sunlit moments that span across the Atlantic Ocean. Feet are bare and hearts are full. The air is odorous and consumed with the scent of blushed citrus, coconut flesh and the creamy white blossoms of heady flora.

New for September, a tropical, floral, gourmand scent that I have been working on made with macerated and infused notes of Tahitian vanilla and citrus, coconut and Gardenia.

First inhale is citrusy with Sicilian bergamot, Sweet Blood Orange and Lemongrass. Peach extract adds a touch of gourmand and the Peppermint uplifts. The heart is an island of intoxicating Gardenia, balanced with fruity floral Lotus absolute, and Coriander seed. Extract of coconut gives a milky honeyed personality and there is just a hint of tobacco, which is barely noticed. The base has Vetiver and aged Patchouli for a touch of earth, and comforting Vanilla and Benzoin. The sublime muskiness of Ambrette seed enhances the closing moments.

tropical botanical perfume

Hyacinth Enfleurage Pomade

New in the shop, enfleurage pomade made with Hyacinth flowers, using the cold extraction method. This process was definately a labour of love. I spent two months diligently recharging hyacinth flower on to a layer of organic shea butter. Each flower exhales its scent which gets absorbed in to the fat. The scent is delicate and true. The character notes are floral, green and buttery. Works well as a delicate solid perfume.

What is enfleurage?
Enfleurage is a beautiful ancient technique of extracting fragrance from delicate flowers. The botanical is placed on to a layer of fat that absorbs the scent of the fresh breathing flower. The flowers are replaced every day for an extensive period of time, until the scent is captured. The base that absorbs the flower scented molecules is called a ‘pomade’.
This method was devised in 18th century France using animal fat, and then the fat was further distilled with alcohol.
However, I stop at the ‘pomade’ stage, so NO alcohol is used, and the fat I use is organic and 100% plant based. Pomade was also historically made in ancient Egypt and the Near East, using the same technique of applying flowers to a base of fat.

My enfleurage pomade is mindfully made in very small batches, when the botanical is in season (the Hyacinth are grown in my garden). It really is labour intensive, but also a labour of love. The scent is subtle and true.

New Vintage Chai Botanical Perfume

botanical chai perfume

Sunrise over the haveli, awakened with the cries of an old fashioned chai walla, welcoming the haze of the morning mist with a daily ritual of black malty tea, dark spices, steamed milk and traces of saffron and jasmine.

New for 2020 is Vintage Chai botanical perfume. Malty black Assam tea is infused for a couple of months to give the base. Added to this is a number of chai spices such as Cloves, Cardamom, Star Anise, Nutmeg, Pepper and Coriander infusions. There are floral notes from Jasmine Sambac, Osmanthus and infused Saffron. The base notes are heavy with musky Ambrette seed, Labdanum, Sandalwood and warm comforting notes from Benzoin and ethically sourced Tahitian vanilla which I extracted myself. The character is gourmand, spicy, floral, oriental and incense like.

New Botanical Perfume ‘Birdsong’

birdsong botanical peach perfume

A Midsummer’s day when the light hits the trees, and the branches sway in the colours of a gentle wind. Scattered crushed peaches lay on an orchard floor, accompanied by a sea of iris. Overhead, there is a symphony of tiny winged creatures, and the scent, is that of birdsong.

Birdsong is an earthy grassy gourmand I have been working on for a while. I must admit I have spent months perfecting this scent, made with extract off macerated peaches, essential oils, and plant, seed and bark extracts and all mindfully made with organic, wild crafted or ethically sourced botanicals.

Opening notes are Fresh Oranges, Bergamot and Elemi merged with herbaceous Pettitgrain. Galbanum adds the scent of grass, helped along with the extracts of Green tea. This leads to a heart of crushed peaches, merged with iris root, evoking a hint of violets. Osmanthus is fruity and narcotic and then there is a subtle mention of Gardenia. The base ends with Sandalwood and the golden warmth of Amber, Vanilla and Benzoin. Labdamen is also incorporated and juxtaposed with the earthy scent of Vetiver.