MELLIS

The Personal, the Process, The Gathered

As the perfume warms on your skin (which it will not display in the bottle … it must be worn! 🙂  the complex honey notes unfold. Gentle yet rich, Mellis displays delicate nuances of lemon flowers, champagne, , beeswax, and vanilla with a soft spiced background.
Sacred agarwood, sandalwood, and rosewood, with touch of ginger, benzoin, rose, and jasmine are reminiscent of the layered aromas of the beehive – the propolis lined edges, and the waxy comb, the creamy treasure of royal jelly, and of course the glorious honey itself.

The years I owned and tended a honeybee hive live in a very special place in my heart. Each day, checking in on their water supply, listening to their communal hum, and watching as they went about their daily dances, I was witnessing something ancient and sacred. The full and pure aroma of sweet nectar and propolis is galvanized in my senses. The waxy comb dripping with fresh, sun-warmed honey, is an experience of abundance and beauty that is hard to describe. Capturing this feeling, this scent, was a long time in the making.

I have always longed for honey scents. As a child, I called my shampoo ‘the honey shampoo’ and that was one of the few things that bribed me into the bathtub at night when I would have preferred to continue my adventures outdoors collecting caterpillars and climbing trees. When my on babies were little, I searched for natural honey shampoos for them, feeling a need to recreate this experience of sweet, innocent joy through scent.

The smell of honey is something that calls to the heart of life – it speaks to ancient traditions, to the riches of humanity, to the “honey moon”, to romance and the ambrosia of youth. The idea of sipping mead to celebrate a union, and the feeling of imbibing the alchemy of flowers is a primal romance between creature and plant and the unattainable desire for immortality. Fertility is one such doorway into the everlasting.

It is no mystery that honey, flowers, and spices blended with resins is a historical method of creating an amber accord – one of two traditional bases that build an Oriental* style perfume. Its sweetness built upon a powdery, alluring potion of delicate yet provocative ingredients tells the story of perfume through time. Mellis and Ambreine give life and depth to this popular and seductive fragrance family. I have taken liberty to exalt these time honored concepts, embellishing their qualities and fulfilling them into whole perfume compositions.

Mellis features hand gathered elderflower, vanilla bean, jasmine rice, and benzoin resin artisanal tinctures.

100% Natural Botanical Artisanal Fragrance by GATHER perfume