From the ladies of OKO:

On January 19th, the NW Portland shop OKO was robbed.  The front window of the beloved shop was smashed and much of the inventory stolen. Ten local artists have work spaces behind OKO’s storefront, a shop that is dedicated to promoting goods by local handmade artisans and sharing cultivated antiques from around the world. The loss was devastating to the small business, so the community of artists from the building and friends of the shop have banded together to help the owner/curator of OKO, Lisa Mangum, by organizing a fundraiser/re-opening party. The event will be on Friday, February 8th, and will feature a silent auction of donated goods as well as specialty food and drinks. Below are the details of the event:

I love OKO.  If you haven't been you should check it out when they reopen this week. OLO has donated a few bottles of Toji for the event. 100% of the profits will go toward helping reopen the shop.  

I have also put a curse on the assholes that broke in.  

  Jason Linscott and I met last February at an event we were both working.  He is basically the man me and creator of 2550° Artisanal Candles.  We bicker like siblings but we share a common esthetic and need to do EVERYTHING by hand.  No matter how tedious and time consuming. The less profitable the better!  I've always wanted to have OLO candles but I really don't want to make them myself.  But, I insist on making all my products by hand.  What a dilemma!

  The problem was solved when Jason and I decided to join forces.  I love the smell of the ocean air and the forest combination I experience when hiking on the Oregon coast.  He loves to capture the essence and personality of people both real and imagined.  I've always thought it would be great to have a scented candle that compliments my perfume.  I don't want to smell like a candle but I want the two scents to work well in an environment with one another.  

 Our candle and fragrance collaboration is called Wyeth, named after a sailor that landed on the shores of Oregon many years ago.  The coast of the Pacific Northwest can sometimes appear untouched by man.  I've stood looking out at the endless tree covered cliffs and wondered what sailors must have thought when they experienced those sights and smells for the first time.  "Wyeth's ship was lured to shore by the rugged beauty and the promise of cliffs green with forests.  His first inhalation of the wet wood, moss and ocean fog of the Pacific Northwest assured him the long trip at sea had been well worth it"  The perfume captures the heavy mist blowing off the ocean combined with wet moss and wood from the trees ahead.  The candle carries you further into the forest.  The salty air is faint atop pine resin, damp undergrowth, endless trees and wild berry bushes.  

   Limited edition gift set includes 9ml PARFUM & 3oz SOY WAX CANDLE

   Retail $65

   Debuts this weekend at Portland Bazaar!

   One down, two events to go.  I will be sharing a booth with 2550° Artisanal Candles at Portland Bazaar next weekend.  Jason and I have been working on a candle & perfume gift set based on the scent of the Oregon coast.  That magical moment when you walk out of the forest onto a cliff overlooking the Pacific ocean.  The first burst of salt air mixed with the trees is one of my favorite.  I never tire of it.  It's going to be GOOD!  More info on the gift set next week.

  DEUX room spray will also be back.  I'm only selling it for a short period of time so come buy it up.  TOJI made it's debut Black Friday weekend.  Do stop by my booth if you haven't had a chance to smell it.  The response has been great so far so I'm pretty sure TOJI will join the regular OLO line up.  And there will be sample gift boxes for all your gift giving needs!

  I will also be sending a selection of scents and sample kits down to San Francisco for Kindred.  I wish I could tag along to my favorite city but I must stay here and muscle through the holiday season.  Samples, samples, samples... Anyway, thanks to these lovely ladies for inviting OLO to the party!

  I'm all about the winter solstice.  It's my favorite time of year.  December is my birth month so it all makes sense, it's my time to shine!  That being said, I don't like to be cold.  I like winter fashion. I like snow, fire places and comfort food. I'm just not into the shivering and runny noses that come with the season.

  TOJI is based on the yuzu baths popular in Japan during the winter solstice.  These baths are supposed to help strengthen the body to ward off colds.  The relaxation is really what I'm craving though.  I want to go to Japan in December just to take a yuzu bath.  That is not practical right now so I  made TOJI so I could pretend!  A citrus similar to grapefruit, yuzu is floated in steaming hot tubs of water.  The hiba wood from the bath mats brings forth the wet warmth of cedar to intertwine with the brightness of the yuzu.  I tend to visualize scent and TOJI looks like liquid gold and soft brown mist winding around one another, like an intimate dance.  Main notes are yuzu, hiba and hinoki.

  TOJI will be available this Friday thru Sunday at Open for Business.  Portland stores will have Toji the following week.  This is a limited edition fragrance for now so it won't be available on the website.  I will decide whether it will join the line up based upon it's reception.  A free bottle of TOJI will be given away this weekend.  Twitter will offer up the info so stay alert.  Sorry out of town folks, this will be a live action giveaway.

 Come by the Towne Storage building tonight and pay a visit to OLO's new studio.  I haven't even hung the curtains or done anything to make the space pretty so don't judge!

Towne Storage 17 SE 3rd Ave #408

Saturday, November 3rd from 6-10pm 

 The new Cedar & Rose perfume is now in Portland stores.  It's on the way to Nashville and San Francisco this week and will premiere in LA next month.  Cedar & Rose will be a permanent fixture on the website starting in 2013.  Until then, customers are welcome to email me directly to purchase a bottle.  OLO will be including a free 1ml sample of Cedar & Rose with each online order through the end of November.  You also have the opportunity to win a 9ml bottle.  Check Reading My Tea Leaves for details. Thanks to all you persistent ladies that kept on me to make the hair tonic fragrance into a perfume.  I finally did it!

   I'm off to San Francisco so all OLO Fragrance orders placed the 24th-28th will ship Monday the 29th. Enjoy the week!

Best,

Heather

  It’s been forever since I’ve written anything on this blog.  I’ve had a ton of stuff going on so I’m just going to go through the list!

  New website.  Finally.  I’m not into computers so this was a painful process.  It has pictures and some words.  You are able to click buttons in order to send me money in exchange for perfume.  Websites get the job done.

  Tubes.  Your perfume now comes in tubes.  You take the perfume out of the tube and most likely throw the tube away. I’ve heard you can keep change in the tube.  That’s handy.

  New smells.  Cedar & Rose.  People have been asking me to make a cedar and rose perfume since way back when I released the argan oil hair tonic.  I’ve been working on it on and off but I felt like I kept making it too complex.  It always strayed too far from the popular hair concoction.  Customers honestly just wanted a perfume version of the hair tonic so that’s finally what I did!  Email me directly if you want a bottle because it probably won’t be on the website anytime soon.  If you live in Portland, the Cedar & Rose perfume can be found at Nationale, Palace and Beam & Anchor.  I will also be including samples with all online orders for the month of November.

  Collaborations.  OLO and 2550 Degrees Artisanal Candles will be releasing a candle/perfume gift set on November 25^th at Open for Business. If you are not familiar with this line of candles you are missing out.  Black tea, a hand rolled cigarette and a mossy window sill, Clive is my dream candle.  They are exactly what I would try to make if I took on candle making. Jason Linscott and I met last February at an event and we are so the same! We set up next to each other for the day and have been playing smells ever since.  Our collaborative set will capture the moment you step out from the forest and catch the combination of the ocean and the trees mingling in the air.  It's one of my favorite things about the Oregon coast and I can't wait for this release!  We still haven't named it, sorry.

   Events.  I've managed to only commit to two events this holiday season.  I can't begin to express how proud I am of myself! I did way too many last year so boundaries have been set in 2012.  I am co-curating Open for Business again this year with Alison Hawley from Nice Work.  We started OFB last year on Black Friday as a way to kick off the shopping season.  Located at the Cleaners, with support from the Ace Hotel, Open for Business aims to showcase gift ideas from makers far and near. There will be a special item on sale from the Ace Hotel as well as their exclusive Pearl+ soaps.  I will launch my candle/perfume gift set as well as bringing DEUX room spray back!  Keep an eye on the OFB website to see who else will be participating.  Portland Bazaar is taking place again this December 8th and 9th and OLO Fragrance will be there too!

  OLO Headquarters.  The big leap has been made.  I've spent the last three years working from a tiny room in my home, dodging the threat of a hostile take over of my office by Britches and Hoover (my cats) and generally tripping all over myself.  I've taken over every closet and ruined every rug.  I actually really enjoy working from home but changes needed to be made in order to grow.  OLO is now located at the Towne Storage building on SE 3rd, next to the Burnside bridge.  Lovely neighbors include  Anja Verdugo, Keegan Meegan & Co, Yo Vintage and Summerland to name a few!  It's so luxurious to have a place for all my supplies, to be able to sit down and work without having to think about where I'm going to move things to make room.  Thank you all for supporting OLO and making it possible for this business to grow and thrive.  I'm so grateful to be able to do this full time and I really do appreciate all the kindness that's been show to me.

  XO,

Heather

The winner's name was selected at random. Thanks so much to everyone for participating.
Clint, you sir are our winner. Congrats!

Leisure Nomad video

The last few months have been busy for OLO. New packaging, new website and a few collaborations and new scents in the works. I've also been preoccupied looking for a new space. I have completely neglected my blog and my monthly giveaways. So sorry!

I will be giving away a 9ml bottle of Leisure Nomad. This collaborative scent made it's debut in May 2011. Leisure Nomad was inspired by my friends who manage to constantly travel to distances both great and small. I often receive text messages or phone calls asking if I want to spend the day in the gorge or go to Larch Mountain to hunt mushrooms or somewhere I've never even heard of to pick sage. I'm always impressed by these people, their ability to use the most of their free time to explore and still manage to earn a living. Somehow.

To enter, simply comment here, Instagram @olofragrance or Twitter your favorite leisure nomad spot. Where do you go? Do you get all mystical in some field in the middle of nowhere? Is some off the beaten path trail your special place? I may draw a name at random or I may select my favorite. Winner announced Friday, August 17th!

OLO Fragrance is now being sold at Beam & Anchor!  Jocelyn and Robert Rahm have been busy turning an old building located in industrial North Portland into a celebration of local collaboration and design.  The space houses not only an amazing showroom co-curated by Currie Person of Spartan, but it's also home to the workshops of Maak Soap Lab and Wood & Faulk.  There are other makers in house so check out the website to see who's busy.  Everyone involved has been a pleasure to work with and are super sweet, talented people.  I'm glad they included OLO in the mix.  A toast to what's to come!

It's been a while but I'm finally releasing a new fragrance. This one has actually been ready for months but I've been too busy with other things to give it proper attention. Tulare will hit stores June 1st and the website soon after. Exciting!

This is my first collaborative scent with my husband, Jonathan Sielaff. I made Victory Wolf for him but Tulare is the first fragrance we've set out to make together. As OLO grows, he will play a larger role in the business. I have finally made the last steps in leaving my old career behind to focus on making perfume. Until now, OLO has been a side project so I'm excited for Jonathan to help me take the business to the next level. He has worked in tea and coffee for years so his sense of smell is already well developed. In some ways, much more developed than mine! We go on walks just to smell things. Weirdo's. So, welcome Jonathan to OLO!

Anyway, about Tulare. Jonathan lived in Tulare county California very briefly as a child. He has a particular memory of playing deep in the orange groves. He would be surrounded by the smell of warm earth, dry grass and sun baked oranges. There was always the faintest trace of jasmine wafting up the hill from the houses below. The sun would drift low in the horizon and all of these things combined smelled golden. When Jonathan thinks of California he thinks of this smell.

Instead of a monthly giveaway I am offering a free 1ml sample of Tulare with any online purchase from now until May 31st.

XO
Heather

I met Jason, owner and creator of 2550 Degrees Artisanal Candles, last month at the House Spirits event we both participated in. I love his candles! They are named and inspired by different personalities of men. I brought Clive home with me. A warm blend of tobacco, black tea and vetivert with a hint of bergamot, Clive is one of my all time favorite scented candles! Although, I'm also into the smokey leather and whiskey style of Joe. I just can't decide!

OLO customers are always asking for candles and I've definitely considered taking the project on. I love candles hard but I have no interest in actually making them myself. I am messy enough when I make perfume so I don't want to even imagine what I would do pouring candles! Jason and I have a very similar approach to fragrance so we have decided to join forces to create a complimentary candle and perfume set. We have finally nailed down our fragrance profile. Let the blending begin! More details will be available soon.

XO
Heather

Spring is here...Ah ha ha haha ha!

Almost every February/March here in Portland we receive what is referred to as the "Fake Out". It appears as if Spring has ambled it's way right around the corner. The sun is out, the skies are blue. Birds chirp and children play outside. The whitest people in the world frolic happily in public parks wearing next to nothing in terms of clothing. All the ennui of the rainy season is forgotten. Totally forgotten. We all know it's too good to be true but the collective optimism of Spring pushes us forward like a parade of innocents. We stumble bleary eyed from cozy coffee houses and sour smelling bars and bask in vitamin D. "Fake Out 2010" has been particularly cruel. Flowers had the audacity to bloom. The stamp of Spring. So very cruel. However, some good has come of this...Daphne. Daphne has been blooming all over my neighborhood and it is my mission to bottle it's essence. I am obsessed. As the rains fall upon us once again, I will hole up in my apartment and try to recreate "Fake out 2010". Wish me luck.

XO
Heather

as described by YACHT

“brooding, unisex, hazed fragrance, mixing regretful tip records of jasmine, vetiver, ylang yang, as well as hiba wood, with the bottom of misty cade, sumac, peruvian balsam as well as siam wood. The outcome hovers in the air similar to the shift in the weather, similar to flowering plant offerings crushed fast upon the belligerent in the church upon fire. It unfolds quietly, relocating gently from the splendid floral tones to the own dim underbelly. It’s for everyone.”

How would you describe your favorite OLO fragrance?

One thing I have learned since entering the world of perfume, no one really describes their favorite OLO fragrance the same way I would. Like other art forms, it is a very much about personal interpretation. I'm not even referring to the actual notes of the perfume. It's often more about the feeling or memory each smell conjures up. I'm so interested in how every person has a very specific reason for wearing the perfume they choose to wear. They find the smell pleasant but it is often something else that compels them to wear it daily or on certain occasions.

People often tell me what their favorite perfume smells like to them. Sometimes I have no idea where these descriptions are coming from. Often though, I'm inclined to say, "you know, I never thought of it before but Victory Wolf actually really does smell like that!" I was recently told of the description a young man gave for the new YACHT anointing oil..."It smells like Bible Camp burning down!" I was delighted. Simple, personal and right on the nose. I never would have described it that way though!

For the March giveaway, describe your favorite OLO fragrance. It can be short and to the point or an epic novel. I will be using these on the website so just know that. The prize will be any 9ml OLO fragrance you want. The winner will be announced March 16th!

Uh oh, I forgot to announce the winner! Names were drawn at random. Thank you all for participating! The winner is...Caroline!!!!!