Just a few years ago I thought perfume was a luxury product due to its price tag. It is an unnecessary item in our daily life which makes us feel and maybe look more confident and attractive. How wrong was I when I delved into the world of botanical perfumery!

The contradiction of the word ‘luxury’ to itself is a whole topic to explore. But we all know that the world of luxury products has experienced a serious re-evaluation by consumers. Luxury is not about a price anymore, but about the value hidden behind the product itself. Think about thousands and millions of flower buds, petals, leaves, roots - all processed for one single purpose, oil distillation. Think about more sophisticated production methods of absolutes and CO2 extracts. Having gone through so many hands, bottles, yet most of them being fed on the natural sources, the sun, water and air, whose producers adhere to a fair, sustainable and organic cultivation, eventually natural perfumes cannot hold a low price tag and cannot be considered an essential care product. They do belong to a different category. But not because millions were spent on their marketing and advertising, not because a bottle and its box cost more than the scent itself as it happens in mass market synthetic perfumery. We are talking about botanical essences made in small batches and those come at a high cost to perfumers. This is one of the reasons, botanical fragrances must be appreciated for their purity, complexity, the art of their creation and what they carry within them.

More than six years ago my daughter was born and my journey into natural beauty started. It has been a hard time as I have been trying to find my own place in the new reality I turned out to be in. Perfumery was one of the activities which still helps me stay sane, connected to the natural world and have a purpose to accomplish. Plants are healing, whether you just study them, work directly with them or make art. So has it been with me, as a perfumer, mother and, as I see it now, a contributor in the world of the reviving art of natural fragrances. Botanical perfumery has helped me to take care of myself, in all senses.

I do not wear perfumes daily, for me, they are part of self-care and self-love. I do not wear perfume for other people, although I still expect natural perfumes to reach people around me and it is, certainly in vain. Due to their properties of staying close to skin, they stay part of you, like an invisible plume wrapping you around. As a perfumer I appreciate every drop of perfume I have.

Scents, especially natural ones, feed our senses. It took me quite some time to understand that when our senses become part of our daily experiences, our mental health improves too. This is when I realised that perfumery can be beneficial for those who wear scents. As I study an ingredient, create and accord of notes, I think of the associations it may have, or it may be the opposite, everything may start with a story which is then translated into a fragrance. The notes, the colour, the scent, the dab and the touch of the blend on skin, the last moments of scent mingled with your skin… if you do pay attention to all of these while applying and wearing perfume, it is self-awareness which helps you experience the scent more profoundly. That is when you know which senses are involved. The more you use your senses, the more positive effect they may have on your mood and condition. Besides touch, sight, hearing, smell and taste which can directly or indirectly be involved in the process of perfume wearing or perfume study, synesthesia or other senses related to our perception of ourselves and our place in the natural world, can form our relationship with our own mental health. Anxiety and depression have been part of my life and, honestly, only when I was able, without realising it, of course, to use my senses, the pieces which had been thrust apart, could finally be gathered together to create a whole picture for me to see, the picture of my own mental and physical condition.

When we use our senses, intentionally or not, I believe we get to know ourselves better, we see how many details we have been missing in our daily life. When I happen to say a certain scent reminds me of an early autumn morning in the countryside. I have it in my mind and I pay much more attention to those precious morning moments: what actually happens during that part of the day? Are the birds chirping, are the clouds floating, what would such a morning smell like?

There have been numerous studies on our connection to nature through our senses, ecopsychology is one of them. Whether you decide to take more walks in the nature and see if Villanelle really smells like a forest in May or start reading more poetry which inspired it, you will certainly make some of your senses work more. Physical (in our case all five senses involved) and mental senses (self-perception, spirituality, connection with an author or poem, etc.) will certainly have a positive impact on your mood and health.

Why are botanical perfumes supposed to be self-care? What do we have to do to use them properly? It is no secret that natural perfumes have aromatherapeutic qualities. However, their complexity encourages us to learn more about each note or accord of notes, their purpose, story and how they are going to evolve on your skin. There is no good or bad time to wear perfumes, it is up to you. But do not expect them to speak for you. They are open ended, it is you that must speak. Whether you share your thoughts with someone else, write them down or simply think, botanical scents have nuances, they are live, dynamic since they are part of nature itself.

Being so complex and multidimensional, botanical perfumes are often associated with synesthesia making those who wear them perceive scents in a certain colour, space, time. 
As a perfumer I see each ingredient in a certain colour scheme and group which has nothing to do with conventional perfume notes and categories. If I had to teach botanical perfumery, my first advice would be: trust your senses and experiment as much as you can, since both perfume making and perfume wearing have a profoundly positive impact on our mental health by arousing the senses and very often primordial ones.

Self-care is the part of our life which is very often neglected. That is why I think botanical fragrances must be cherished, not collected, not used on the go, they must be part of our moments with ourselves, since we have so few of them. Being pure and authentic, natural perfumes are indeed luxury products of nature and should be used with a purpose.