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
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!!!!!
As most people are well aware, there is a portal that directly connects Portland, OR to Brooklyn, NY. They have a lot of similarities to be located so far from one another. I have tons of friends that move back and forth between the two places and I often run into people I haven't seen in years while walking around Williamsburg. I feel perfectly at home when visiting. I've also grown to love a few stores and restaurants over the years and I always make sure I pay a visit on my travels. Marlow & Sons became a favorite years ago and I always eat at Diner at least one time per trip.
Marlow Goods is my newest love. This latest incarnation of Marlow & Sons takes the commitment to serve only 100% grass-fed meat one step further. They have developed a whole animal program, creating quality, handcrafted goods from the animal hides they butcher in house. The leather bags are tanned from the hides of the pigs and cows served in the restaurant. Wool from some of the lambs and ewes is turned into yarn, sweaters, blankets and rugs. I'm getting the hand-loomed wool blanket if it's the last thing I do!
This little general store is located in the front of Marlow & Sons restaurant. If you find yourself in need of some OLO, it is situated on a little shelf amongst all of these other goodies. Marlow Goods is the only store on the East coast offering the OLO fragrance 100% pure essential oil line. Lavender, Peppermint and Port Orford Cedar are all sourced here in the PNW. These are the perfect oils to scent a bath or just inhale when fighting off a cold. Marlow Goods also stocks the Argan Oil Hair Tonic and a few perfumes if you need to get your apothecary on!
Go visit!
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