Natural Soap

I learnt how to make soap back in 2015 and have decided to start making soap again as I don’t like supermarket bought soap – it really dries out my skin and leaves it itchy.

It’s also quite convenient at the moment to have gentle moisturising soap on hand with all the extra hand washing required with the covid 19 pandemic. Basically we always need soap and I thought it was about time I married my scent design with something practical!

Lemongrass Soap

Natural Chamomile Soap

Lavender Soap

Cafe Rose Soap

Blue Tansy Face Oil

This year I seem to be in love with the colour blue, with it featuring in my art works, jewellery making and home made skin care.

After coming across May Lindstrom’s gorgeous coloured Blue Cocoon and choking over the price, I had a go at making my own healing Blue Tansy Balm. This stuff has been glorious, especially if kept in the fridge, the cooling sensation matches the colour perfectly.

Blue Tansy Balm

Whilst my focus through èrlithe was natural perfume, making my own skin care has been something I have frequently done, dating back to when I was a teenager. I’ve made a few face oils in my time as well as buying face oil from others and I’ve found them to be … you know … ok. Earlier in the year, I decided to make up a face oil again and tossed around a few ideas of what oils might be great to include. Of course the temptation was there to use an oil from some far flung newly discovered remote wilderness area, but instead of allowing myself to get carried away with new and exotic oils (ok, I succumbed with the Prickly Pear), I decided to stick with oils that I have been happy with over the years and whip up a blend. I tried a few different ratios of my oils and once again it was like … yeh, that’s ok. Whilst I was trying out yet another version, I accidentally put more of one of the oils in than I had wanted. Rather than toss, I recorded my mistake and went about using and assessing the mistake formula. Turns out it functioned the best!  It’s a great all rounder in my opinion. It’s light and absorbs well without leaving a greasy residue. It just has this great feel to it. I knew I wanted to include the gorgeous blue tansy and went about choosing essential oils that were renowned calming oils and have created a face oil that looks amazing, feels amazing and has a beautiful fresh, herbal aroma.

One of the annoying things about home made skincare however is the fact that I end up putting my lovely creations into any ill fitting container I can find. I wanted my luxurious face oil to also be a pleasure to use. For years I have been smitten by Miron Violet glass which May Lindstrom uses. The problem is you have to buy in bulk and that kind of defeats the purpose of making cost effective home skin care. So I had the idea of putting a call out to friends, family and people following my perfume Facebook page to join in on a group buy. I managed to secure enough pre-orders for me to go ahead and buy a bulk lot of 20ml Miron Violet serum bottles. An amazing flow on has happened since then. I have been astounded at the positive feedback with people re-ordering and buying the oil as gifts. I wasn’t sure that people would like the herbal aroma but that has been getting the big thumbs up as well. So not only do I now get to enjoy my home made face oil in a lovely serum bottle but I’ve also received valuable feedback that this oil is actually great. To date the packaging has been basically non existent, simply using up left over supplies from my perfume making to keep costs down, so I called it a “cleanskin” face oil for want of a name.

I’m about 15 bottles out from the end of my Miron Glass supply, so the question is, do I bite the bullet and order another lot of bottles? Now that I know it is actually a good product, do I get labels and package correctly? But that would mean an increase in price. And do people love it enough to pay a little more so that I can get some money for my time? A number of people have said that I need to charge more so that is heartening and perhaps the best compliment has come from a self confessed face oil addict that now prefers mine, has used her supply up in record time and wants more and also commented that I need to charge more. So who knows what the future holds for my face oil!

Here’s a look at this lovely oil. The light yesterday was perfect to show off the gorgeous colour:

Blue Tansy Face Oil

Blue Tansy Face Oil in Miron Violet Glass

The ingredients are as follows:

Camellia Seed Oil, Argan Oil, Prickly Pear Oil, Rice Bran Oil, Rose Hip Oil, Essential Oils: Blue Tansy, Immortelle, Roman Chamomile, Rose Geranium, Frankincense, Lavender and CoEnzymeQ10.

Eco dyeing and printing

Since my last post I have been visited upon by illness several times! Starting in September I came down with the worst flu I have ever had in my life (despite having had earlier in the year my yearly flu shot). This was backed up by a bout of gastro, from a possible food poisoning, although apparently there was also a new highly virulent strain of the norovirus in the community. From there I’ve had a few minor colds and then over 3 weeks ago I’ve come down with yet another cold that simply doesn’t want to leave and has decided to go to my chest – a first for me. Nothing is currently working, from the usual home remedies of Vitamin C, Zinc, Echinacea, garlic, Probiotics, essential oil steam inhalations, healthy diet, rest to over the counter medications of cough medicine, oral and nasal decongestants to prescribed antibiotics. The bottom line is – my sense of smell is severely diminished. Because of this, I have had the opportunity to do a bit of eco dyeing and printing. I was already doing this when I was at The Emporium – making botanical dyed silk scarves to complement my perfume but Christmas time was the perfect excuse to do some more dyeing projects to make gifts for family.

Close up details of the prints:

and the raw silk fabric made up in to cushions:

I find eco dyeing and printing completely addictive. It’s always a fantastic surprise unravelling the bundles to see what magic has happened. I’m looking at selling through etsy at some stage. I set up an account years ago for my perfume but never really bothered with the platform – so hopefully I’ll be able to organise some one of a kind products for sale in the coming months and also have some of my solid perfumes available.

Here’s to a healthy and creative 2017 x

 

Chocolate without calories!

Chocolate without calories! Is this for real? Has our world entered some bizzaro parallel universe where this is possible?

Sadly no, but don’t despair … the next best thing is … chocolate perfume! It seems I am the evil master of gourmand fragrance. Here to tantalise your taste (um I mean nose) buds is our latest release – BLUSH. This is a reformulation of our very popular 010 geranium, vanilla and musk perfume, only less earthy and more chocolatey with the addition of my very aged organic cacao nib tincture base plus more floral notes of rose de mai and ylang ylang to the geranium heart.

Samples of the latest perfumes are now available for purchase from the èrlithe website and can be purchased for $10 each or $28 for a pack of 4 (plus postage).

 

I now have 2 size options available for purchase: an 8ml atomiser for $55 and a 15ml atomiser for $95 (please note I cannot ship these sizes overseas due to the alcohol content).

If you choose to try our new fragrance BLUSH, I would love to hear what you think! You can do this by leaving a comment below or leaving a review directly on the website. If you have any questions about the latest offerings, please ask away in the comments below.

Kerry x

25.07.16 PS: the links to the website for purchase have been removed as I am no longer operating an online store. For details on how to purchase, click on shop in the above menu bar.

The new perfumes are finally on the website

Hi folks, I have finally been able to get my new perfumes up on the website with some new packaging. I now offer 2 women’s perfume and 2 men’s perfume.

BLUSH: female floral gourmand fragrance. This is a re-formulation of the popular 010 geranium, vanilla and musk. It still contains those notes but I have removed the earthy component vetiver and amped up the chocolate note and added more florals – ylang ylang, orris and rose de mai.

AURA: female floral oriental fragrance. Featuring florals of jasmine, rose, orange flower, champaca and magnolia on an incense base.

COGNAC & ESPRESSO: male spicy gourmand. This is our cult fragrance 070. It was hands down the most loved fragrance at The Emporium. This fragrance simply cannot go into retirement, it is loved by both men and women and people are literally hunting me down for it. I kid you not!

BAY RUM: male exotic spice fragrance. Bay rum is a popular fragrance amongst men and so I have devised my own take on the fragrance. It is spicy as one expects from bay west essential oil with a gentle floral heart of neroli and jasmine on a base of wood and earthy vetiver to give it a greater longevity than a usual cologne.

I hope you love the new line up, labels and packaging as much as I do.

Kerry x

A re-focus

As my followers may know I’ve been operating a retail space at The Emporium, Hunter Street Mall, since October last year thanks to Renew Newcastle. A month ago I decided to give my notice and last week moved out of my space for good. It was a difficult decision to make because I had dreamt of a retail space and have absolutely enjoyed the company and inspiration from my fellow Emporium folk.

èrlithe at The Emporium

So, why?

There are many reasons, a lot being simply practical, but at the heart of it is essentially a shift and re-focus within me. It has been something I have been grappling with since the launch of my natural perfumes. On the one hand I had grand visions of developing an international brand and have been poised to make a huge financial investment of purchasing glorious bottles with a total re-branding and pushing my product out there whilst on the other hand I have always questioned whether this was truly what I wanted.

With time my answer finally came. As I observed what others were doing, the more I realised that to make it “work” I had to shift my focus on things that would bring me no joy. As I attended business and marketing workshops my heart sank even further. Initially I embraced what I apparently needed to do to get my product out there but basically everything I was being told to do sat at complete odds with my outlook on life. As a result, everything I was doing with perfume started to feel heavy and burdensome.

I have simply become weary. To operate a retail space which had been my dream, I realised I was going to have to keep coming up with products for people to buy and then of course convince people through marketing that they needed these things. So after having a glimpse into the retail world and fully digesting what I would need to do if I was to make perfume my actual job, I have decided to let it go. I don’t mean to let it go entirely, but rather letting go of attempting to force perfume to be my actual job.

My focus now is upon making life simpler and in the process I hope to bring as much love to everyone I have contact with. I have returned to nursing on a casual basis. Nursing is a tough gig but for me is a profoundly rewarding experience. I see people at their weakest and most vulnerable. It grounds me to what is most important in life. I now see it as an incredible privilege, to have witnessed first hand the full gamut of human emotion and be there without judgement, to comfort and heal in whatever shape that is.

My perfume will remain low key. I want to offer perfume from a space of joy, not from a space of force or large production. I have finally found peace with the fact that I won’t be seeking to make èrlithe a full time job, hunting down stockists and trying to get my name out there through marketing bombardment. I am allowing it to be what it is and if it grows, it will do so organically. Even if I was to bring joy to only one person in the year through a perfume, then my goal has been accomplished.

Goodbye Emporium

To my lovely followers, thank you for your support, kind words and amazing product reviews. I am truly grateful that you have chosen to spend your money on something that I have created.

Kerry x

 

 

 

Neglecting the online world

How time flies – it’s been 4 months since my last post, plus my online store has been neglected somewhat. This is because my time has been taken up with the retail space at The Emporium. The lead up to Christmas was busy and most of my perfume stock was sold, which left little for the online shop. I’ve also been focusing on custom fragrance through the “self scented” perfume bar – which has been a fabulous experience. It’s great working with someone around their preferences and then adding in something extra to make the perfume sing. The look on a persons face when the perfume is just what they wanted is incredibly rewarding.

My time there has also been spent on developing a new fragrance line with new packaging and labels. So hopefully over the coming weeks these will start to be released in the shop and online. I’m patiently waiting for my final supplies to arrive so that I can begin the making. One of them is an incredibly luxurious perfume and everyone who has tried it from my sample loves it. My young son even announced that I smelt beautiful when I came home from work wearing it. It is a departure from my usual gourmand and oriental style. I wanted to create a green floral with transparent water notes and a powder dry down. It features notes of cucumber, galbanum, pink lotus, boronia, magnolia, neroli, beeswax, violet leaf and orris.

On my one day off a week, I’ve discovered the amazing world of botanical dyes. Inspired by my botanical perfumes, I’ve been using foraged plant material from the local community garden and neighbourhood to dye silk scarves. They are a lovely complement to my perfumes in the retail space. So until I have photos of my new fragrance line I thought I’d share photos of some of the scarves I have made. Sadly, some were bought before I got a chance to photograph : (

Blueberry, carrot, onions, avocado, lavender, paprika, sea salt.

Madder, basil, mint, onion skin, paprika and rust

Eucalyptus leaves, rose petals, tea, onion skin, rust and paprika

A silk bundle all wrapped up

Eucalyptus, rose leaves and petals, onion , tea and rust.

Gardenia powder, madder, logwood and osage orange.

èrlithe perfumery open!

It’s been a busy few weeks. From finding out that I’ve been offered a retail space through Renew Newcastle in the Emporium, Hunter Street Mall, Newcastle to working out how to use the space and of course moving in to the space. There’s been a bit of rearranging and no doubt a little bit more rearranging to come.

The space I’ve been allocated used to be part of the beauty/cosmetic section when the department store David Jones occupied the building. I’m pretty sure (if my memory is correct) that it was the Lancome counter for sometime.

Here are some photos capturing the transformation of the space into my very own little boutique perfumery:

My space at the emporium

Starting to take shape

Transporting supplies right to the counter

Initial display for first day

Further refinement Day 2

Despite not having the labels ready for my perfume bar bottles, a lovely chap was all geared up to have a go at choosing his ingredients for a custom blend. It turned out amazing with notes of: cedar, lavender, fig, rosewood and bergamot. He actually had a really fine tuned nose and it was great to hear his impressions as he smelt the ingredients. With shop sales + online orders today it’s been a fabulous start, to what I hope will become an exciting smell experience for all who stop by.

Cedar and Lavender custom blend

Perfumers alcohol – the blog post with the most hits!

My blog post perfume oil vs perfume diluted with alcohol is the post with the most views. In fact it is responsible for the bulk of my blog views everyday. The search terms also highlight the fact that the whole topic leaves many people perplexed. Understandably there are many rules around purchasing high proof alcohol for safety reasons and taxation purposes and then there is the whole headache around shipping. Hopefully that particular blog entry does clarify things for people coming to my blog looking for information around diluting perfume materials.

I have been using 190 proof neutral grape alcohol to dilute my alcohol based eau de parfums. With the move from Tasmania to NSW I had the headache around transporting my bulk supply of alcohol. It was all becoming a complete pain and sadly the easiest thing to do was to get a company that deals with the disposal of chemicals to take it off my hands. That meant I had to reapply for a permit from the Australian Taxation Office which takes up to 4 weeks to process and then you have to order and wait for the delivery of your alcohol. In order to get the renewal you have to provide a record to the ATO of what you have done with the previous lot of alcohol.

As there are always choices I spent a bit of time pondering what would be the best choice for my next bulk alcohol purchase. They were:

190 proof neutral grape alcohol as before – needs a permit

190 proof neutral cane alcohol – needs a permit

190 proof standard grade cane alcohol (organic) – needs a permit

190 proof denatured neutral cane alcohol (Perfumery grade 95PGF4)- no permit required

I also contacted many distilleries to see if they could make a bespoke 190 proof alcohol for me – sadly most could not with the equipment that they had and those that could had a 200L minimum!

I was interested in knowing whether my customers would prefer my perfumes being in an organic alcohol. Surprisingly, no they weren’t! The feedback I received was to choose what ever alcohol does not interfere with the aroma of my beautiful perfumes. Reading on the internet revealed that a number of overseas perfumers were unhappy with their organic standard grade cane alcohol – primarily because when they diluted individual ingredients in the alcohol there was a sweetness to the alcohol that interfered with them being able to smell and get to know the perfume material they had diluted – pretty important if you want to understand the odour profile of your ingredient, especially new ones you have not smelt before!

So, I decided to speak to the lab staff from the Australian chemical supply company. The lovely chap confirmed that yes their organic cane alcohol did have a slight sweet smell to it because it was standard grade. This meant that it had higher levels of volatile impurities. The neutral cane alcohol however had lower levels of volatile impurities compared to their organic cane alcohol which results in improved odour and taste. Furthermore, their organic cane alcohol was actually imported. So, all in all the organic sugar cane alcohol was adding up to be a no go for me, despite the fact that I could have then marketed my perfumes as at least 80% organic – simply referring to the alcohol component only not my actual aromatic perfume ingredients.

Whilst I was waiting for my permit I decided that I desperately needed to purchase some alcohol so that I could continue with my work. I purchased the denatured cane alcohol which is exactly the same as their neutral cane alcohol but denatured with 0.25% tertiary butyl alcohol making it non-potable. The great thing is that because it requires no permit I also don’t have to keep records accounting for it’s use. This is actually going to be a big plus for when I run workshops. It would just be another bit of annoying record keeping that I now don’t have to be concerned with.

I have had my permit approved so when the supply of my current alcohol runs low I will most likely go back to purchasing the neutral grape alcohol – simply because I have the permit, despite the annoying record keeping that comes along with it! It is also half the price of the denatured alcohol!

Perfumers neutral cane alcohol

Newsflash!! èrlithe perfumery to open in Newcastle

I mentioned in a previous post that I had some possible exciting news. I can now announce that the possible exciting news is actually a reality!

I’ve been very fortunate to have been offered a retail space for èrlithe perfumes in the Emporium, Hunter Street Mall, Newcastle. Local novocastrians will remember the building as having been the location for David Jones for a very long time. The space has been offered as part of the Renew Newcastle project.

The Emporium Hunter Street Mall, Newcastle.

Renew Newcastle is currently doing some re-arranging of the internal space to accommodate me. Hopefully I’ll be ready to start trading mid to late October – to keep up to date with what’s happening simply like my Facebook page (don’t worry, I don’t bombard with never ending posts!).

It’s an exciting opportunity to be able to share what I do with more people. My finished perfumes will be available for sale through the retail space and will also be back online soon. I will also be adding a perfume bar where customers who would like to choose their own ingredients can have me blend a simple perfume for them on the spot. As I get familiar with the whole retail experience, I’ll be expanding to offer a full bespoke fragrance service for customers who want their very own unique perfume.

So that I can work from the retail space on new scent creations I’m in the process of decanting small amounts of all my ingredients into tiny bottles to set up a mini portable perfumers organ. So far I’ve filled 48 bottles with about 150 to go!

Preparing a mini perfumers organ

It was a sad occasion the day David Jones vacated the building in the Hunter Street Mall. I basically lived in that building! Our family moved in to town back in early 2000 and my eldest son was a tiny guy back then. A few times a week we would go for a walk down the mall and find ourselves in David Jones looking at the kids toys and buying a cookie from the Cookie Man. To be able to be back in that building which holds so many fond memories doing what I love is a dream come true. Interestingly, my space will be quite close to where the David Jones fragrance section used to be – I will actually be located at one of the old beauty counters.

So, if you live in Newcastle make sure to drop by soon. If you don’t live in Newcastle you really should visit. It’s an amazing city. It’s a quick walk across to the beautiful harbour and a leisurely 5 minute stroll through the mall will see you arrive at Pacific Park where they now hold the Hunt and Gather markets once a month.

Hunter Street Mall Newcastle

Pacific Park Newcastle

A turn right at the above building will see you quickly arrive at the beautiful Newcastle beach!

Newcastle Beach

So make sure you stop by, say hi and have a smell of my natural botanical perfumes where perfumes are made by hand in small batches at the only perfumery in NSW!