January 2011 Newsletter

Happy New Year, Dear Purrfumery Friends!

Hope you all had a fun and festive New Year! The kitties and I toasted 2011 in the Purrfumery – we are all looking forward to a year full of love, happiness and of course, luxurious perfumes! Speaking of perfume, we are off to a very rosy start here at the Purrfumery – our newest limited edition scent, Bed of Roses, is receiving rave reviews! Thank you Suzanne Keller, ScentHive and CaFleur Bon for sampling Bed of Roses and putting your thoughts and feelings into words.

ScentHive's Bed of Roses Giveaway

I'm delighted to report that ScentHive will be giving away a 5 ml bottle of Bed of Roses nestled in a very special silk and velvet Valentine's Day pouch. ScentHive will announce the drawing on January 28. To put your name in the hat, look for ScentHive's announcement and leave your name with a comment about wanting a bottle of Bed of Roses. This is a very exciting giveaway, so be sure to leave your comment at ScentHive. Bed of Roses is a scent to enjoy and treasure— I created it from nine rare rose materials from around the world and cushioned it with aged sandalwood, dark chocolate and rich cognac. I also added accents of tuberose, boronia, orange blossom, and green mandarin and a touch of rose leaf absolute, a rare and incomparable material from the history of perfume, seldom made today. It could be yours! Good luck, my dear Purrfumery friends!

Purrfumery Specials Abound!

I have more specials to share with you – through the end of February, I will include a frosting and a hydrosol with each purchase of Bed of Roses. I am also offering free shipping on all orders over $75. It's my way of saying "Thank You!" to my dear Purrfumery friends. Let's start this year off right!

Get Flowers and Chocolate for Valentine's Day

What could be better than a day dedicated to love and treats? I've been so excited about Valentine's Day 2011 – I spent the first days of January planning for it! I wanted to offer my Purrfumery friends flowers and chocolate on this special day, so I created a yummy Black Cat solid perfume that I will include with all orders through Valentine's Day. If you haven't tried Black Cat from my Kittylicious line, you must! Black Cat is a bewitching blend of mouth-watering cocoa, sensuous ylang ylang, juicy blood orange, with a hint of sweet, surprising aniseed myrtle. (Psst! I read somewhere that the scent of licorice, or anise, has an aphrodisiac effect on men…) Like fun, sexy, sophisticated candy, Black Cat stays fascinating! And, as a handy solid, you can carry it in your purse or pocket and dab it on here and there… Happy Valentine's Day!

The Petals of a Rose

Perhaps it's the romance of Valentine's Day or the scent of Bed of Roses here in the Purrfumery, but I can't get roses off my mind… My love affair with these incredible flowers began when I moved to Berkeley in 1975 to attend the California College of Arts & Crafts. Gary, my future husband, would wake up before sunrise, cruise around the neighborhood and clip the most gorgeous roses. I would wake up to the most magnificent rose bouquets in the universe! Gary eventually became a landscape architect. And I opened a flower stand, Bed of Roses, that grew into an amazing wedding flower business. We now have a beautiful garden overlooking the San Francisco Bay that brims with fragrant antique roses. I spend my days making perfumes with the most rare and aromatic roses in the world! What a treasure this is for me! My greatest wish is that others enjoy these tiny treasures that I fashion in my Purrfumery and in my garden. When I stand in my Perfumer's Garden, I can't help but compare nature, with its incredible beauty, design, colors, shapes and textures, to art. I have loved art since I was a child, and as you might have guessed, flower paintings have always been my favorite. I grew up in a museum-loving family and started going to museums at an early age. My older sister, Gail, eventually became a museum curator and director. When we were growing up, Gail and I always went to museums together – our favorite artist was Renoir. My sister loved the warm and loving emotions in his paintings and I loved the voluptuously sensual Bourbon roses tucked in his coquette's bosoms! When I touch my cheek to the petals of a rose and inhale its scent I remember youth, family, love… so many memories come flooding back. And, smelling a rose in any form always makes me feel like everything is going to be OK. Roses are completely calming, relaxing, comforting and deeply sensual. They are love, they are art, and they are ours to enjoy from January to December. Now you know what roses mean to me, my dear Purrfumery friends. Let's toast, shall we? Here's to sumptuous and fragrant rose bouquets in 2011 (that includes Valentine's Day)! Until next time, peace, love, purrfume and kitty cats… ~XOXO, Laurie