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"Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it."

-Mark Twain

Violet/Leather

Violet/Leather is complete. It will debut at Nationale on April 1st. It's actually already there and has been for months. I never planned for it to have a permanent place in the OLO line but it has been well received so it's here to stay. It finally has a proper label and everything! This Violet/Leather is a slightly different version from the original. The leather is a little darker and I added a touch of vetivert. It's still a pretty straight forward blend. It smells like violet, it smells like leather.

I made Violet/Leather on a whim because of the Mark Twain quote above. I don't really have a reason. I read the quote and decided to make it real. Violet, leather for the shoe and wood for the floor. An assumption was made regarding the type of shoes and flooring said violet was crushed upon. I doubt it was a sneaker on concrete that Twain had in mind. I could be wrong. Enjoy!

XO,
Heather

Leather/Violet

"Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heal that has crushed it."

-Mark Twain

Currently available

All OLO fragrances are currently available in 9ml bottles.

Nationale 6/7 $20
Victory Wolf $20
Forêt $30
Erastus $30
Valens $30

coming soon to Nationale only...

Violet/Leather $24
Jmaes $24

Valens

Valens will be available this weekend at Nationale. I will deliver a batch at some point Friday afternoon. Probably around 3pm. Set your alarms people!
I've been trying to get Valens out there since November. It's inspired by the original Old Spice. Old Old Spice. I haven't smelled it in years but I feel like I remember it. At least, I remember the way it made me feel. It always gave me a warm flush in my chest. It isn't a smell that I associate with any particular person, I just remember smelling it straight from the bottle. I don't recall where. It either belonged to my dad or my grandfather. It was the late 70's/80's so I assume every bathroom of every friend and family member had a bottle of Old Spice on the shelf. I know a few people that say they still wear the deodorant. I've never bothered to see how it smells now. I didn't want to copy the original, I wanted to make something from memory. I don't know if they smell the same but I do get a warm flush in my chest when I smell Valens so that's good enough for me.
Carnation, Geranium, Black Pepper and Cinnamon. Warm and spicy is the only way to say it. Valens will help us get through the last bit of Winter. We still have a ways to go. I have been in Portland for 10 years now but I am originally from the South. February was always the last of the cold weather. Maybe a few weeks in the middle of March but then Spring was in full force. My brain won't let it go. Every time February rolls around I think, "It will be warm soon". It won't. It will rain for the next 4 or 5 months. It's not like I mind the rain, I just anticipate the end of Winter a little too soon. Valens makes me not mind the cold. It's warm like a wool sweater. It makes me glad to bury my face in my collar to warm my nose.

February Release...Valens

The holidays are over and it's time to get back to work. I have been thinking a lot about what I want to do next. I have a few different ideas that have been in the works since last Spring but I am still having trouble finding an end point. I am inclined to complete these fragrances before I begin new ones.
The main thorn in my side is Leather/Violet. It still doesn't feel complete to me. I've sold quite a few bottles and keep getting requests for more but it just doesn't feel right to me yet. I continue to stress over the leather part of the equation. I know how I want it to smell but I haven't been able to make it happen yet. People seem to really like what I've done with it so far so I should probably just take the hint and be done with it.
I am also working with fennel. And ylang ylang. Together. It doesn't seem like those two would blend well with one another but they really do. At least on me. I get tons of compliments when I wear this combo so I'm working on one for a Spring or Summer release. This will be a pure essential oil blend, yay!
Valens will be released February 1st. It was supposed to be the December release but I got off track with Forêt and Erastus. I'm not going to give the ingredients now but I will soon. Valens is a Latin mans name meaning strength or valor. I'm into super old names that you never hear anymore. It's a faze I'm going through at the moment.

PAUPER fragrance!

Mr. Jason Kinney has informed me that he would like a fragrance for his line, PAUPER. Yay! I'm only in the thought process right now but we will begin blending soon.
This is an amazing line of scarves. Each piece is hand printed, dyed, sewn and painted by Jason. Every PAUPER scarf is unique and would make a great gift for the one you love...even if that is yourself! Check out francesmay.com or
etsy.com/shop/paupervoile. Jason would also probably love to take your picture as you touch a drop of OLO onto your neck and wrap it with a PAUPER scarf. jasonkinney.net

For real.

Jmaes limited edition arrives December 11th!

Jmaes is a scent inspired by artist Ty Ennis. Ty was given the middle name of James at birth but, due to a typo, his legal middle name is Jmaes. The odd spelling and difficulty to pronounce makes it the perfect moniker for a custom fragrance.

The scent itself begins with a crisp, clean burst of orange. It quickly warms to the complexity of black pepper. Black pepper is all about taking what is given and enhancing it to make it a more nuanced experience. It draws out the juiciness of juniper berry and the herbaceous wholeness of clary sage. The rich wood of vetivert is contemplative and serene in its dark vapor. Alternately light and heavy, Jmaes is the reflection of the work and being of Ty. At least it is MY interpretation.

Jmaes is a limited edition fragrance created for the Portrait show at Nationale. There are five 5ml bottles and five 9ml bottles available for sale. I priced them low,$5 and $15, so they may be purchased on a whim! It is a great show and will be quite the party and I want people to be able to take at least a small piece home.

Forêt and Erastus are here!

I stopped by Nationale yesterday with a little surprise for May. Forêt! I wasn't planning on bottling it yet because I couldn't decide on a name. I've been calling it "all the woods" but that wasn't ever going to be the real deal. Jason and Mark were at my house on Thanksgiving and we were brainstorming. We had quite the list. Everything from "moss beard" to "Norwood". It got kind of crazy as the night progressed. Nothing stuck though. I wanted to release it but the name was really bothering me. Jason called me a few nights ago with "Forêt". They were watching a French film and someone said it and he called me right away. Perfect! Nationale carries a lot of products from France and the owner is French so it all fit. May was also very pleased that the "l'accent circonflexe" was correct. I can't take credit for that. Jason did a great job with the font and finding the most fitting name. That's why he does my branding. Visual! If you ever need designs or photographs or scarves or a front man for your music video, contact Jason! For real. www.jarkandmason.blogspot.com

Erastus and Forêt are very much a pair. In my last post, I spoke of how I envisioned Erastus walking through the woods and taking a smoke. Forêt represents that place. I suppose he is now somewhere in France as opposed to the Cascades. Erastus can take a walk wherever he wants because he is a figment of my imagination based on the name of a man long since passed to some other realm of existence. Take him anywhere you want. The main notes of Forêt are scotch pine, cedarwood, silver needle and juniperberry. There is a touch of ambergris as well as many, many other wood notes. It has the clean, crisp aroma of pine that reminds me of the woods behind my house in NC. It warms to a heavy but still fresh cedarwood. I love it!

Both Erastus and Forêt are $30 for 9ml at Nationale.

xo
H

Erastus premiere at Nationale December 5th!

I've pushed back the Erastus debut to Saturday the 5th because I messed up. I don't know what I did wrong but the batch I had ready to bottle was not quite right. It smells good but it is not Erastus! I prepared a new round and it will be bottled and ready by Saturday. I hope!
Also, I keep getting requests for a violet/leather blend I was playing around with this summer. I had put it aside because I was trying to change the leather. I want it to smell more aged. I plan on releasing this one in the Spring for sure. I did a few custom blends of violet/leather so I just bottled a few for May to keep at Nationale. There may be 5 bottles left. I haven't named it yet and it's still not what I want it to be but it is there. I like blending single notes together so I'm not opposed to putting three in a bottle for you. Just know that I know that violet/leather is not a proper blend yet!

Available now:
Victory Wolf $20
Nationale 6/7 $18
violet/leather $20

Available December 5th:
Erastus $30
Forêt $30

The price difference for these two is due to the cost of my ingredients. Ambergris($$$) is in Forêt. These blends are also more complex so I used a variety of different/more costly fragrances.

The Portrait blend will only be available at the Nationale anniversary show. This is a one batch deal. I won't bottle this one ever again, even on request. I don't know why I made this rule but I did and I'm sticking to it! Portrait will most likely be in 5ml bottles and go for $10. I went two different ways with this one so I haven't even decided yet which blend I want to represent Ty. It will be a surprise!

xo,
H