Annies Goat Hill Handcrafted Soaps

A bit of history…

When I was a child I not only collected soap, I also loved and occasionally collected perfume.  Do you remember Evening in Paris in the early 1960’s? Somehow, as slim as the monetary situation was, my mother occasionally purchased a tiny little blue bottle of Evening in Paris for me.  Later in my childhood, I found myself combining perfumes, combining anything that smelled good (grass, flowers, etc…), even cooking essences.  Fragrance, and the natural the better, was definitely close to my heart.

Around 15 years ago, in the same small town where I purchased handcrafted soaps, I also had perfume made for myself, and cologne made for my sons (they always sent money with their mom).  One day the gentleman that owned the perfume shop offered classes to me.  At that time I lacked the go-get-it-done gusto that I have now.  I couldn’t see through the haze.  How could I take a week or two long class? How could I drum up $1,000? It was only $1,000! Ask me, have I regretted turning down the one-on-one class a few times? The answer is one big YES.

I studied and obtained a basic certification in aromatherapy at the Aroma Studio in New York a few years ago.  I thought my appetite for fragrance, now geared towards natural, would be satisfied.  It was not.  The course was excellent.  I refer to what I learned nearly daily.  But I am not interested in practicing aromatherapy.  My interest is fragrance.  On the plus side, my nose was well-trained!

So, this is what I am doing today.  What you see in the photo are bottles of natural perfumes that have aged for at least 24-30 days.  Why age? When natural essences are combined they continue to marry, they lose their sharp edges, they seem to warm to each other.

Natural perfume is very personal.  The wearer of a natural perfume is the one that benefits.  The scent generally does not waft freely through the air beyond the person wearing it.  Personally, the wearing of a natural perfume can change my entire day.  It feels to me (in theory) like placing liquid sunshine on the skin…uplifting, grounding, beautiful, soothing…depending upon the oils used in the formula.  One of my favorite blends contains tuberose and ylang ylang as the heart (middle notes).  I swore I did not like florals…oh yes, I do.

So, with the making of perfume comes many, many bottles of “duds.” I sniff the (duds) perfumes occasionally.  As they age they normally smell a lot different than they did the day the oils were blended.  Another drop or two of essential oil might give new life to the blend,  if not, they make good room fresheners.  Or, I wear them myself because I feel they continue to train my nose.

I plan to offer natural perfume in March 2012.  Jojoba oil based, all natural, until I get my hands on organic grape alcohol.

So…this post marks the launching of my natural perfume blogging.  I am definitely green around the edges.  I read a lot of perfume blogs and books.  They are interesting.  I need to learn an entirely new vocabulary! Better yet, I’ll just be different and talk about natural perfume my own way.  It will be fun.

Annie’s Goat Hill Handcrafted Soaps – Smell and Feel the Goodness

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