A tender exchange of thoughts on the sustainability of scents between sensually gifted changemakers. As one approaches scent through acoustical empathy, another uncovers a language of smell. A regenerative perfume, in essence, seems to be a way to reconnect directly with our instincts and a wild encouragement of natural healing powers by way of the nose.

Photography & words by Anna Rosa Krau

RYOKO
Interview with Ryoko Hori of Ryoko

Anna Rosa: We know that some sensual qualities are connected and can not be experienced separately without missing out on the entire sensation. It is quite well known that smell and taste are such a couple. But are there also haptic or even sound qualities in your olfactive work?

Ryoko: Yes, there are. When I smell a scent, I hear tones, melodies and textures to touch. I also visualise colours or a special moment. Our senses are so connected. In the Japanese incense ceremony called Kodo, one of the three Japanese traditional arts, the term “smell” is not used, instead one “listens” to a scent. I have interpreted this in my olfactory creation as a fundamental practice – that I give attention and respect to each plant to hear how the plants speak. I also played on words and named our very first perfume series “Listening to Scent”. I developed this idea by working with my friend, Dayni Staddon, an American artist, and she wrote poems for each of the scents as if those scents speak to you, literately. Especially the poetry for Scent 03. It was specially created after a story of my trip to India with my father and our relationship. It was an unforgettable memory and I am still dreaming of it now. My olfactory creations are indeed so personal and close to my heart that I see them rather as my diary or just as works of art throughout my life...!

However, I also like simply smelling. Without trying to associate anything. Just closing my eyes to empty my mind.

Our sense of smell is not really developed compared to our other senses, I feel. We don’t have many opportunities to enjoy just scents. There are concert halls to listen to music, restaurants to explore our tastes, etc. The sense of smell though seems secondary. Hence we created a dark room in our place a few years ago and diffused scents with smoke and essences, just to enjoy scents more. It was an interesting meditation on scent and we want to do it again at some point.

Anna Rosa: If we look at sustainability through the ephemeral and sensual qualities of fragrance, what is it that you find essential in the early (conceptual) stages of creating a new scent? What’s the broader holistic philosophy that connects all of your work?

Ryoko: I work on 100% natural ingredients, especially essential oils which I believe to be described as the “souls” of the plants. It is part of my Japanese heritage. I owe it to the Shinto belief. This belief teaches that deities, in this case, Kami, reside in the natural world ever since ancient times. This is how respect and appreciation for nature are indeed deeply rooted in my olfactory practice.

For me as a therapist, it is thus fundamental to create scents derived from all-natural elements. I put great emphasis on the usage of folk medicine, therapeutic qualities, historical backgrounds and the meaning of each plant in my creations. It is a beautiful olfactive journey across time and place through the botanics – our ancient wisdom which is closely related to our cultures, civilisations, and simply our roots.

MYRAFLORES
Interview with Tash Keren of Myraflores

Dörte: Tash, you created Myraflores based on your knowledge of aromatherapy, homeopathy and Bach’s flower therapy. How would you say can botanical scents support our wellbeing and bring about greater emotional freedom?

Tash: The journey through emotional well-being starts by acknowledging and releasing your emotions. This process becomes increasingly important as we live our lives because what we don’t feel and release can stay repressed inside our bodies and manifest as physical and spiritual “dis-ease” over time. One of the best and most simple practices we can do to begin to release emotions is in the moment when we are feeling a shift towards anger, grief, sadness, etc. is to see the emotion for what it is and don’t try to suppress the experience, instead let it move through your body. According to Dr. Zach Bush, it takes seven seconds to let an emotion pass through your body. However, oftentimes we are too quick to suppress and limit this experience. That’s where botanicals can work their magic. As you are moving through the emotional changes that may arise unexpectedly or throughout your day essential oils and flower remedies can offer extra comfort and a friendly power through nature to give yourself the full seven seconds to release each emotion, wherever the day may take you. It is through daily participation and awareness that we can set ourselves free with the gentle support of botanicals and feel into our truest nature.

Dörte: And how are their healing powers transmitted?

Tash: The healing powers of botanicals have many special ways of being received by humans. They all activate different senses through feeling/absorption, smell and taste respectively. Our body is always looking for ways to help us heal and if we can connect with the right botanicals that match our current needs, physical, and emotional symptoms then our body will crave them and communicate this through a deep attraction to one aroma of botanicals over another as one example. In the end, nature has been around for longer than we can imagine and it has gentle wisdom to it, almost this non-spoken language and relationship with humans that can invite and facilitate great healing effortlessly.

Dörte: Do you have any advice on how we can include essential oil scents in our daily lives as a practice of mindfulness and self empowerment?

Tash: Our skin is our largest organ so when you are using rollers which include essential oils in their most concentrated form (80 times more potent than the herb itself), mixed with carrier oil, you can apply this directly to your skin throughout the day including your temples, hairline, under the chin, under the soles of the feet, on the palm of your hand. Your skin will absorb all the benefits which will get to work in different parts of your body, including vital organs, the nervous system and mind. It’s also okay not to be turned on by various aromas, oftentimes it’s also a sign that it’s not the right blend for you in that season of your life.

When it comes to inhalation, it can be so powerful to connect with essential oils and use them in various mindfulness practices or when you have a moment of stress, hormonal imbalances, or energy dips (to name a few scenarios) throughout your day. I would recommend applying the oil on the palm of your hand generously, followed by a deep inhale or box breathing (inhaling for four breaths, holding at the top, exhaling for four), repeating this a few times.

What botanicals can offer at this moment is a state change back to nature, encouraging the mind to be present and release the weight of daily stressors and the events life can bring your way. For the mists, I would recommend spritzing around your aura before or after yoga/meditation to wake up the spirit, or spritz on bedsheets to ease into a state of calm and well-being as you transition from morning to evening. In the end, the goal of self-care with botanicals is not to ignore the experiences of daily life but to find gentle and supportive ways to move through these moments with a greater connection to our bodies, minds and spirits.

LINGUA PLANTA
Interview with Merle Bergers of Lingua Planta

Anna Rosa: Your brand is called “Lingua Planta”. Tell me a little about this name, what is behind it?

Merle: I have often felt guided by intuition in choosing my topics and love to use the senses to create tangible experiences of scientific findings; mostly aimed at a more attentive and empathic way of living, exceeding our own species. Lingua Planta came together after research on plant intelligence and the molecular language of plants, which we can often perceive as scent. As I was researching how to be more connected with plants, I stumbled upon this mysterious language and wanted to study the meaning of scent in nature.

Anna Rosa: So is the business of creating regenerative perfumes more a case of back to the future? What I mean is, do you look back at a time “before synthetic oil” to find inspiration for an organic process of creation? Where do you find inspiration for your work? Can you tell us a little about your work process?

Merle: As Lingua Planta’s underlying motivation was to reconnect with plants as an intelligent species, it felt only natural to look at how I could make these fragrances in the most kind and sustainable way possible – always favouring regenerative practices, organic, wild-crafted or plant materials made from waste-streams and small distillers over more current/conventional ways of production.

To be partaking in this long tradition in perfume making, I feel it connects me with not only the plants but also the persons that did this before me, the original healers, witches, botanists and alchemists. I feel very connected with artisan perfumers from the past and feel there is a lot of wisdom carried through these botanical essences, layered with meaning, spirituality and sacredness. At the same time, the world has changed drastically, and environmental changes lead me to always stay attentive and open to learning.

Anna Rosa: Talking of change, many are concerned about the abuse of the term and concept of sustainability, including us. What would be the essential ingredients for your bouquet if this scent was called: “Sustainability” ... and why? Could you explain, please?

Merle: The most sustainable way to experience scent would be to live in reciprocity with nature, to just inhale the air of flowers, sun-heated resins or aromatic herbs and appreciate this as a gift of plants in itself. Some plant materials are more sustainable than others; I am thinking about small-scale local distillers I have met making wildcrafted oils from branches that fell off a tree, certain plant clippings or flowers that are regenerating each year.. but still, all we do as human beings has an influence the whole, and the most sustainable thing we can do is buying less and appreciating more of what is already provided for so beautifully and abundantly by plants.

MAX and Me
Interview with Tanja Gruber of Max and Me

Dörte: You intentionally work with high vibrancy and describe your skincare as a vibrational tool for energy healing. How does the high vibrancy come into being?

Tanja: Our high-vibe treats pioneer the fusion of skincare and energy work. With high vibe ingredients, a stunning new dimension comes to life. We render homage to the highest frequencies of the plant world and bring them to you in our beautiful bottles to delight skin, soul and spirit by knowing that high vibrations bring out the genius in ingredients, amplify their talents and carve out a potency unknown before. Using skincare with high vibes also alters your own frequency to help you heal, grow and evolve. The high vibrancy comes into being via our intimate Garden Studio where each tool for formulation and production is carefully chosen due to its energy.

Each piece of our collection is an invitation to expand your awareness beyond the buffers of perception. Everyone is different in spotting the energy coming through. Some people feel a slight tingling sensation when touching the oils and balms, warming them between the palms of their hands, others sense the energy through the olfactory experience, the tones and notes offered to inspire them and instantly imbue them with awakeness, presence and creativity or see pictures in their mind’s eye, ideas they have been waiting for long, creative outbursts. Some just feel tuned to very fine and elevated energy and some might even see the aura of the potions, extraordinarily beautiful as they are.

Dörte: Could you give us some insights into what you are looking for when you source your ingredients?

Tanja: Speaking to the potency of our treats also means sharing the ethical methodology behind the sourcing of our treasured high vibe ingredients. Revering indigenous healers, organic, multi-generational farms and inspiring ingredient experts, we source from a very small handful of growers worldwide that are passionate, dedicated and holistic. The vibrancy of an ingredient is nurtured by the subtle energies of the surroundings, by the cosmic energies at a given time, and most importantly, by the practices of the people who seed, tend to and harvest each ingredient. It’s our privilege to work with such incredible humans around the world who trust us with the continued life cycle of their sacred plants.

Sourcing to us means getting into a relationship not just into contact with traditional distillers, multi-generational farmers and plant whisperers. I have to see them, feel their energy, and listen to their stories. So we traveled the world to find our sourcing partners. Foraging is a slow, intentional and very meticulous process. Sometimes it was a handwritten sign that said “essential oils” which was our guidepost, sometimes we found our source by tips from the people in the villages, and sometimes they found us.

It involves getting to know each other and opening up over time. We do not stop at finding wildcrafted and organic plant materials, we add an extra level of spiritual and sensorial quality: the high vibrational focus. These ingredients from the global gardens are like gems, so very hard to find. We were ever often invited by growers and distillers to witness how magic did unfold, how beyond the buffers of perception alchemy happened and plants offered their healing powers to the process.

Dörte: Could you introduce us to some of the ingredients in The Intuitive and their unique workings?

Tanja: The Intuitive, our botanical facial mist, is a composition, a symphony – and as in every good orchestra many players work together in synchronicity and harmony, supporting each other. But then there is the leading voice, the conductor, the one holding them all together – Palo Santo, South America’s most sacred tree. Palo Santo has long been worshiped by Indigenous cultures for its purifying, energy clearing and protecting powers. Additionally, Palo Santo oil will assist in slowing down the overly active mind and supports tranquility and peacefulness. Equally captivating are its emotional benefits that come with alternative medicine practices, energy healing and aromatherapy. Palo Santo helps combat depression and anxiety attacks as well as feelings of being overwhelmed. It’s mood-uplifting and supports heightened energy in the body.

Our distiller, a visionary alchemist, lives with his family in the heart of the Ecuadorian National Park in deep harmony with the tree. He is the primary researcher, innovator, distiller, and educator about Palo Santo oil in the world and the vast majority of information that is known about this oil has come from his work: the medicinal power, the therapeutic effect, the rich ethnobotanical knowledge. He has culminated this work into fine art, managing to produce an unbelievably beautiful essential oil and hydrosol.

You’ll also find other flower waters adding to The Intuitive’s exquisite character: Neroli, Rose, Myrtle, Hamamelis. Amongst the plant healers that define the fragrant bouquet, there is Immortelle which holds a beautiful sourcing story as we brought it with us from the island of Corse. With more than 600 species and subspecies Helichrysum bears a secret: there is an extremely rare species on the island of Corse that by far exceeds the healing talents of all the others and which is unique in this world, acknowledged for its special powers. We took our kids and traveled to the charming French island of Corse. After discovering the island’s mountainous areas where Helichrysum grows wild, softly dancing in the breeze, we finally found our distillery: a family-owned business, small, dedicated and deeply connected with the plants. Standing next to the extraordinary head distiller, watching as miracles unfolded, we knew, we had found our treasure.

Then of course there is Blue Tansy dancing in the formula. This master healer is known for its anti-histaminic, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, and anti-microbial talents. Calendula, one of the best-known herbal remedies for the treatment of local skin conditions like minor burns, cuts, bruises, rashes, and bug bites, should also be mentioned. Two more ingredients which are for sure ever so beautiful: Hyssop decumbens and Yarrow. Hyssop decumbens has been used in cleansing rituals since ancient times; ensuring mental and spiritual clarity and purity. Yarrow, a plant for visionary experiences, has protective properties. And Benzoe Siam, with its blue-purplish aura, fosters communication with the spirit beautifully and persistently encourages you to elevate your energy every day, think finer thoughts, act more kindly, to love yourself better while simultaneously managing skin irritations, chapped or itching conditions and wounding in an incredible way. Such magic in one beautiful bottle!