Vetiver Bath

Vetiver Roots 02, originally uploaded by Ayala Moriel.

This afternoon I blended some vetiver bath salts... You may remember from a short while back this summer, I mentioned how unpopular were the Lavender bath salts, and how I was going to replace them with a vetiver scent... The lavender is probably not the problem, but rather - the accompanying notes (or their names... go figure): licorice and vanilla. Vanilla is popular alright, but licorice tends to divide people: most either love it or hate it. Very few feel lukewarm, on the fence or just pleasantly ok about it. And for the most part, it is an acquired taste... There are some cultural preferences around licorice. I knew for quite sometime that most Asian cultures do not enjoy licorice candy or licorice flavour (though they seem quite fond of star anise! Go figure…). And just recently, I learned from my Swiss intern Olivier, that in Europe there is something that is called “the licorice border” that runs along the Elbe river: everyone north of that line loves licorice, and to the south of it – they cannot tolerate it… The border runs along a river.

Back to vetiver: the bath salts I’ve created are a simplified version of Vetiver Racinettes. It has a hint of coffee, spices, wild mushroom and tarragon (can’t escape the licorice, can I?) but really, just a hint. It’s all about vetiver, and a lot of Australian sandalwood to boot – which gives it this smooth woody scent which I find to work beautifully in body products. I used some special salts in this which I’m very excited about: Ancient Canadian bath salts from Saskatchewan, Dead Sea salts from Israel. So you can understand why I’m feeling really at home with this bath…

While my stuffed grapevine leaves were cooking on the stove*, I immersed myself in a Vetiver Ritual Bath this evening and the scent lingered for a long, relaxing hot bath even though I haven’t used that much salt; and my skin still smells delicately of vetiver and sandalwood as I write this.

* You won't believe it! I found some freshly picked leaves in the farmers' market last Saturday and I'm making them for my brother's birthday feast tomorrow... So excited: it's been 2 years since I had these last, probably 3 since I last made them from fresh leaves!!!

When the pricing is perfect...

Pricing is considered an art form by some. Not so much the art of crunching numbers and making sure that a business can be feasible with the price point it sets for each individual product, and the price range it offers to customers of various buying powers or whims... But more so: which price will be the winning number, which price tag will get more bottles off the shelf at the right pace - not painfully slow - but not exuberantly fast either.

After some soul-searching, there have been some price adjustments to some of the products. The main change is to the 10ml roll-ons and the 9ml extrait in the pretty French flacons... I decided to give them both the same price.
While the price increase ($120 instead of $110) for the flacons might be a little devastating to some, it reflects the exclusivity of the bottles (they are more hard to find than I can being to tell you... And I'm running very low on stock and having really hard time to re-stock). The 10ml roll-on bottles, on the other hand, went down by $10 (they are now $120 as well, but used to be $130 till recently). I have decided to change the price to make it more attractive in comparison to the 5ml roll-on. Getting the larger size saves me the trouble of packaging and labeling 2 bottles instead of just one - and you get $10 off!

Another labeling and packaging woe always goes to samples. From an introductory $8 a sample some 6 years ago, the price went gradually up to $10, $11 and finally, the actual price it costs me to put a sample together - considering the natural raw materials, alcohol, labels, vials and last but not least - labour!
It takes just as much work to bottle a sample that it is a full bottle. It is also just as much work to put together an order for a single sample (print order, do the customs form for the package, etc.). My prices now reflect that. And while I'm happy to send individual samples, I'm happier to put together a sample package which contributes more to the cashflow and is just about the same amount of work - so these will still be offered at a slight discount. Another reason, which actually more important, is that most of my customers like to have a fragrance wardrobe, so the sample package is an important step to help them choose this wardrobe. And for those who can't afford a full wardrobe just as yet - the sample package gives a little taste of the experience in a small portable size...

These days I'm working slowly but surely on restocking all my perfumes for the fall. The holiday rush seems to already have began, believe it or not! I am already getting fragrance wardrobe orders, and the holiday markets are going to begin in no time.

Therefore, I've decided to pre-package some of my 10ml roll-ons in some scents that are extremely popular in the oil base. I'm aiming to have everything in that size come fall, but for now, you will be happy to know that there are a few of them awaiting you in the abundance of 10ml pure perfume based in jojoba oil:
ArbitRary
Autumn
Bon Zai
Cabaret
Megumi
Rebellius
Rosebud
Roses et Chocolat
Tamya
White Potion

And of course, if you want to order anything else, I will gladly prepare it for you, but it might require a maturing time of 7-30 days (it depends on what materials are in each perfume - some require a longer aging process and even filtration, while other do not).

Frangipanni Gloves in Fragrantica

Frangiapnni Gloves is mentioned in Fragrantica's article about Plumeria, or Frangipanni. It's also featured in the website's fragrance directory.

Hybrid Mom of the Week + Giveaway!

As it turns out, I was chosen as the Hybrid Mom of the Week by Hybrid Mom online magazine & community for business-mothers...
And there is also a giveaway! As part of Win-It-Wednesday, I'm giving away a mini of Ayalitta parfum to one lucky commenter who shares with us your dreams about your own custom scent!
Answer the question of the week here, or on the Facebook page, or for an extra chance to win - comment on both pages!

What is Hybrid Mom?
"Hybrid Mom (hy brid mom, n.): An adult female who has discarded outdated and unrealistic conceptions of motherhood. She is parent, wife, volunteer, and sometimes entrepreneur, all in one. Known for her strength, sense of humor, and flexibility, a hybrid mom is actually a fusion of roles that suit her own individuality.

Hybrid Mom is a reality magazine for moms, by moms, Hybrid Mom magazine truly taps into the minds, hearts and emotions of today’s moms".

Are you a Hybrid Mom too? Leave a comment below and tell us how you do it all!
This will automatically enter your name to win yet another giveaway: a mini of your choice* (value of $48) from Ayala Moriel's collection.

* Not including the boutique exclusives.

Progress Report

Trying to get ahead of the game (aka the holiday rush), I did some serious blending of batches today: ArbitRary, Bon Zai, Song of Songs, Vetiver Racinettes... Last time I blended these was in April. It took only 4 months to sell out of the jus. Wow! And a particularly big wow for Bon Zai, which I make giant batches of (in my terms). I hope I will be able to keep up with the demand for these sparkling incense scent.

It's been a very busy summer so far (and it's not quite over yet). Some of my goals haven't even been remotely met (namely: filing my tax return). In other (and I think more important) areas, I have exceeded my expectations: opened in 4 stores in Vancouver (yay!): Gentille Alouette, The Velvet Room and Dream (the latter has two locations - one in Granville Island and the other in Gastown).

I also completed the first products in my body products line: 2 sugar scrubs and 4 anointing body oils. I'm excited to be adding a new bath salt scent (Vetiver) to replace the Lavender one. I've also come up with larger packaging for the bath salts (anywhere from 400-500gr, depending on salt involved).

This summer has been also busy with press - lots of interviews, almost one a week. The Georgia Straight article was certainly the highlight, it really makes me feel fuzzy inside to my bottles featured at the same week as Cirque de Soleil in Vancouver's most widely distributed and probably most widely read weekly newspaper. But this is just one in a list that is too long to mention, and it's all thanks to my publicist's wonderful work.

And when there's press, there is also more work to do... My Midsummer Tea Party has been more than just full, and there were lots of new guests to the studio in the summer months (weren't you all suppose to be on vacation somewhere?!). So I have to come up with a serious to plan as to how to stock enough truffles or other simple to serve yet decadent treats to whomever sets foot on my door.

And also, I've been lucky to participate in several exciting events, which I have enjoyed very much. The most fabulous of all so far has been Polymath's fashion show at the Opus Hotel, which I've sponsored with my fragrant truffles * gift certificates for the goodie bags. And in others, although I was merely a guest, I found very valuable for networking with like minded business people in the fashion as well as sustainable living and food industry... It seems like the city has come along way since I came here nearly 12 years ago (back than, nearly nothing was open past 9pm and there was nowhere, and I mean nowhere, to go to). So all in all - it's been a fantastic summer, and this week is going to be packed with more events, after which I think I will have to take a little break from all this over-socializing, as much as I enjoy it, and start getting my daughter ready for school etc.

But as long as summer is still here... I'm going to enjoy my summer routine as long as the sun will allow me to: doing the majority of my computer work in the patio or the courtyard by the lovely pond we got in the back of the building), work hard all day and than go and camp at the beach with a basket of cherries till sunset...

Winner of Summer Giveaway

The winner of our Summer Scents 2010 blog feature giveaway is:
Ankica
Congratulations!!!
You will receive a 15ml bottle of Song of Songs Anointing Body Oil.
Please contact me via email with your mailing address.

Let's Give Them Something to Blog About (Giveaway)

10pm. The phone rings. My brother is in a crisis situation: he forgot to put a scent on before leaving his house to go out with a bunch of friends. Good thing his sister lives only 4 blocks away... I get 2 minutes to pull out a scent that he will like and will be suitable for his dangerous mission.

The specifications: something from Hermes (he's really smitten with Poivre Samarkand, but I don't have that one). I bring down all my Hermes scents... Line them up. I picked up 2 things, and was hoping he would pick something that he has never worn before. What would that be?

Guess the answer correctly, and enter to win a purse-size of Andy Warhol Silver Factory.
If you haven't a clue, click here to listen to the song that inspired the title of this blog post!