six reads:
DESIGN & SCENT immersion
We’ve put a short collection of readings together to indulge your curiosity about scent and design and their ever increasingly critical place in elevating our every day lives.
We believe our environments should indulge the senses with light and colour, texture and sound. But also fragrance. Scent has the ability to transport us back to a moment in time, create ambience and mood - it is inextricably and poignantly linked to our emotions and feelings.
Loose yourselves in these pages: a ScenteScape during this Pause for Thought.
I have not linked these suggestions to any of the online retail giants.
If your local bookseller is still sending, please order it through them & support local businesses where ever you can.
A Frame for Life:
Ilse Crawford
Ilse Crawford has been one of my inspiration & learning points of choice since as long as I can remember:
The co-dependency of Human Wellbeing & the physical environments with which we choose to surround ourselves - and which we design to surround others - is lodged firmly at the heart of my own design practice and equally underpins each and every facet of the design and production of the objects and Scentscapes in my own collection.
This book speaks to the ‘Prioritisation of Wellbeing’ in design and extends this to each and every facet of the home:
“Fascinated by what drives us and makes us feel alive, Crawford says: When I look at making spaces, I don't just look at the visual. I'm much more interested in the sensory thing, in thinking about it from the human context, the primal perspective, the thing that touches you”
Indulge your time with this read and adorn your space with our No. 7 Candle. It Opens with luminous freshness of citrus fruits and floral vibrancy of geranium this zesty fragrance is tempered with the woody warmth of patchouli, imbuing your inner sanctum with a sense of heady sensuality.
The Perfect Imperfect: Karen McCartney
I helped a friend with the design of their home when I first began this intoxicating journey I find myself on. She bought this Perfectly Imperfect book for me as a thank you (it was in the times when I wanted the practice for my Practice more than a Fee) and this gift is one I have turned to again and again for inspiration. I have since gifted it many times for friends who have - in turn - offered me their help and support. It’s a beautiful, peaceful read …..and view.
Our No. 1 neroli | lavender | rosemary candle (and my personal favourite) is burning here.
“Wabi-sabi and new creative interior design expressions: Perfect Imperfect is a stunning collection of homes and studios of creatives from all over the world, with thought-provoking text by Karen McCartney and stunning visuals by Sharyn Cairns and Glen Proebstel. Perfect Imperfect takes as its founding principle the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi. Wabi-Sabi advocates the beauty to be found in imperfection, impermanence and the authentic. Importantly this is done without losing sight of the benefits of living in the 21st century; where designers are merging digital technology with the handmade, rethinking how to use space and accommodating the natural world”.
Increasingly relevant concepts and intentions that more & more of us are adopting as we create and enjoy more time in our homes.
I was generously introduced to this invaluable but little know collection by one of our partners. I will be forever grateful. The heady notes of pure, intoxicating rose are duplicitous in our No. 12 Rose Geranium candle.
“Nez Éditions has teamed up with LMR (Laboratoire Monique Rémy (LMR), the gold standard in natural ingredients for the perfume industry, to present a collectioin tha is unique in the field: The Naturals Notebook.
Beyond compare and rich with symbolism, the rose is without question one of the most emblematic flowers in perfumery. Immerse yourself in the world of the famous Damask rose: botany, history, art, gastronomy, literature, agriculture, economy and chemistry, not to mention perfume and perfumers”.
Perfume:
Patrick Suskind
Patrick Süskind's Perfume is a classic novel of death and sensuality in Paris
”In eighteenth-century France there lived a man who was one of the most gifted and abominable personages in an era that knew no lack of gifted and abominable personages. His name was Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, and if his name has been forgotten today, it is certainly not because Grenouille fell short of those more famous blackguards when it came to arrogance, misanthropy, immorality, or, more succinctly, wickedness, but because his gifts and his sole ambition were restricted to a domain that leaves no traces in history: to the fleeting realm of scent . . .”
Confession Time: I have not read this but a dear friend has kindly sent me a copy and compelled me to read during our Pause for Thought. Will you join me?
I can’t remember who and how I was introduced to Ben Pentreath and his inimitable style.
This is a book I dip in and out of when I need an injection of bravery for a scheme…. or for myself.
The collection of homes (both city and country) he has brought together in this inspirational tomb never fails to captivate or motivate me to push my or my clients boundaries to create a sanctuary space which never dates and never bores.
Pair this read or gift it with our No. 4 Frankincense Candle.
This has been on and off my shelves more times than I care to imagine as I learned and continue to learn about the Steam-Distilled Plant Based Extracts we use time and again in our plant based wax, Interior Fragrances.
It is one of the clearest and most comprehensive reference guides I researched (and continue to) to help guide me through the seeming melée of information there is about Essential Oils; their benefits; how they are derived; how to successfully blend them and their constraints.
It’s a book I have turned to numerous times with my children during this pause we are all experiencing and in some cases enduring. We have used it to mix washes and lotions to cleanse and nourish our hands …..and our minds. I can thoroughly recommend it for all of the above and would pair this read with our No. 5 geranium | orange | lavender | ylang ylang candle. It leads with the fresh floral accord of sweet orange, crisp vibrancy of geranium and soft aromatics of lavender, the base notes of beautifully fragrant ylang ylang are heavy and sweet, creating an indulgent, soothing atmosphere perfect for evenings spent soaking in the bathtub.
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