Magickal Realism

Yes We Can, directly inspired by Obama’s acceptance speech. It was an amazing, powerful moment for me, one that has profoundly changed my own belief in all of the activist causes I’ve committed to. Change really is possible. I actually believe it now.

Yes. We can.

The fragrance contains notes of celery seed, lavender, citrus accord, and pine.

Two years ago today I opened up Magickal Realism natural perfumery, listing a few basic magical oils. While those oils have been mostly discontinued, I have since expanded into full-on perfume offerings, given the magical folks their own section,  and come up with some pretty neat stuff if I do say so myself.

Last spring I finally passed the 1000 items sold mark - and while I’m still a far cry from having fulfilled 1000 orders, I’m quite pleased to have made it this far with 3117 hearts (people marking me as a favorite) and a feedback score of  1097.

I love what I do for a living, and I love that Mike, my very tolerant boyfriend, has given me the freedom to do all of this. My life these past two years has been at times very difficult because of the isolation required to write and to perfume, but it has also been an absolute gift. That I’m able to use this gift to brighten anyone else’s life, to ease pain or to give a laugh is just that much more of a joy.

Related articles by Zemanta

• The Sweet Smell of Niche Perfume

Every so often I get customers desperately seeking for a natural scent that “lasts.” While there are plenty of natural scents that do last for well over four hours, they are not the scents they are seeking.  And even then, it comes down to expectations formed from mainstream synthetic scents, and the customer not being prepared for the natural  to act differently.

Most commonly, I get requests for a “citrus scent that will last more than fifteen minutes.” If this were chemically possible, it would be interesting, but it would be like one of those creatures in a 1950s movie - the minute the scientist leaves the room it moans and begs, “Kill me!”

Synthetic citrus scents can last that long. Sadly, most that I’ve encountered tend to get cloying at standard strength, and your co-workers will hate you and stop inviting you out to lunch when you come in reeking of it every day.  What a natural citrus does is acts as the emcee: it comes out to the front of the perfume, announces the major players, and then fades to the background to let the other notes do their job. If the other notes are mainly citrus, as they are in L’Orange, it will be a short performance, so you’d best put on some lotion beneath as a backup act.

With natural perfumes, it’s not about the scent remaining the same from the moment of application to the moment of wash-off. The scent, instead, puts on a performance: the smell will change as it evaporates, becoming a different fragrance altogether by the time you’re ready to clean.

If you’re looking for a singular, strong note that will remain on your skin unchanging, you’d best go to a syntheticist. If you’re able to tolerate the short-term just to enjoy a performance, then definitely check out naturals.