august notes

At any given moment, there are usually dozens of drafts of various projects around the studio. Experimental aromatic tinctures infusing quietly in their jars, perhaps a box full of ten different tiny vials exploring a minute difference in the concentration of a formula. To be able to send one final draft out into the world, many variations must come before. Amidst all this, I finally made a little time this month to finalize a scent project that I had been playing with for a while. Otherwise, behind the scenes, I’ve been doing a bit of late summer reorganizing to prepare for the bustling season ahead. Blending teas, infusing oils and pouring butters, nourishment for skin + spirit to share with you as the season begins to shift.

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reading:

on vanilla beans + climate change

Grace Paley: Goldenrod

attention liberation (I truly love NYRA, 100% worth giving them your email for 3 free articles, or even subscribing!)

the herb gardens of The Cloisters

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listening:

to the tenderness of Arvo Pärt’s Alina

and the lushness of Roopa Panesar’s sitar compositions

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above, clockwise from top left:

{ sending a parcel of treats on the way to Forest & Field Collective in Vermont }

{ cold-infusing a jar of our rose & chamomile white tea, a blend with a gorgeous natural sweetness to it }

{ a few of the many projects in progress }

{ a hint of dusky magic settling over our current vintage collection, perhaps you’ll find an heirloom treasure there for yourself… }

above, clockwise from top left:

{ houseplant musical chairs at the studio this summer. the gardenia & calmondin like to be outside in the heat, and the maidenhair fern loves the indirect light in this spot. meanwhile it’s nearly time to trim the rose geranium for distillation again! }

{ I’ve just received some more gorgeous, freshly harvested & dried chamomile blossoms from Lancaster Farmacy, and so I’ve started more of the oil infusion that forms the base of our balancing serum, together with organic sencha green tea from Japan & sustainably harvested frankincense from Somaliland. find the formula, here. it’s my favorite facial oil for summer days. }

{ a favorite corner of the studio }

{ sending off this sweet vintage treasure to a new home, filled with the rains botanical perfume. I just adore the little blue butterfly detail on the lid of this compact… }

In the garden this month, we’ve just finished harvested the first flush of blooming temperate tulsi. I grow this gorgeous herb from seed each season, and every year we blend it into several quarts of oxymel (a cider vinegar & honey herbal infusion) that we drink in our morning tonic at home throughout the year. A delicious and nourishing treat.

We also received another box of beautiful soap from Nablus, Palestine this past week. I continue to be so grateful for your support of our soap + solidarity efforts. If you’d like to learn more about how the funds from your soap purchases are being used, please follow along here, and continue to press your representatives for an end to sending arms to Israel.

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“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”

—MLK Jr. in A Time to Break the Silence: April 4, 1967

above, clockwise from top left:

{ The late summer brings a shift in the light in our studio, especially in the evening, and I stopped to watch recently as it filtered through the leaves in the park across the way and onto the table near the door. A moment of quiet observation can shift our entire perspective, if we allow it in. You’ll find the video version, here. }

{ I was delighted to send off a box full of our calming lavender & hinoki bathing salts to lovely stockist Cedar & Hyde. Be sure to stop in if you are in Boulder! }

{ Another marvelous vintage compact filled with our forest botanical perfume with notes of fir, himalayan cedar, labdanum, myrrh, frankincense & oud. Smoky & woodsy. A favorite for the cooler days ahead. }

{ I put together a special late summer skincare essentials kit this month including our cleansing grains, balancing serum and rose geranium sur fleurs hydrosol facial mist. this simple ritual is what I use myself during the hot days of late summer here in NYC to help rebalance after lots of heat, humidity & sunscreen use }

Above, a scene from a recent summer storm. I’ve finally been feeding the calamondin enough seaweed emulsion and between that and the sunlight on the fire escape, it is now full of blossoms and fruit.

Below, I’ll leave with you with just a few lush bits from the late summer city garden. Rudbeckia, echinacea & queen anne’s lace tangle with phlox and swamp rose mallow…

As always, with care,

(Do you remember
the look of August?)

— Federico García Lorca, from “Echo,” Songs (Humanities Press, 1976)

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