Description This perfume was nearly something else entirely. For over a year, I had been creating, tweaking and re-drafting a blend of natural oils which would become the third perfume in the Leafology range (after wondrous Bloom and heavenly Eden). I knew what kind of mood I wanted it to have, and I had the title already in mind (sometimes things come together in a strange order!), but after countless drafts, I didn’t have the formulation ticking all the boxes I wanted it to. After a few months of forgetting about it (and merrily creating Firefly Gold and Captain’s Charm [Everything Balm] instead), I decided (amidst a heavy roster of in-person events in late 2024) to resume this line of formulation and have another play around with ingredients. I started mostly from scratch this time, scrapping all previous drafts, just seeing how the mood took me. It took me just one try only, this time around. After the final drop of essential oil had flitted from the bottle and swirled around in the mini glass beaker, and after I’d written down exactly how many grams of what had gone in to the medley (rule number one of creation: a haphazard process is fine as long as you write down everything you do, in case you want to recreate your success later!), I knew I didn’t want to change a single thing about it. (This is definitely not always the case!) With natural notes of blue lotus, coffee blossom, myrrh, blackcurrant bud, vetiver, bay, neroli, bergamot, clary sage, black pepper, mandarin & grapefruit, it smelled like absolute joy, paradisical love and total seduction. BUT: there was just one problem; it wasn’t anything like the perfume I’d intended to make, and it absolutely did not suit the name I’d had in mind for it. (Sidenote: I imagine this is what it’s like to have decided on your baby’s name before he or she is born; like deciding you are going to give birth to a ‘Sandra’, and then out, quite clearly, comes a ‘Francesca’.) Rebellious as this confusingly-birthed perfume was, in being something different from what I’d pictured or inwardly imagined, I was instantly, madly in love. I was under its spell. You can imagine my quandary… Do I let this rogue perfume creation (which was fully-formed, glorious and proud in its own right) out into the world, or do I keep it back because it messes up my plan of having a total of 3 perfumes in the range (and no more)? I already know I’m someday going to have to bring out the-perfume-whose-name-I’m-deliberately-not-disclosing-because-I-still-intend-to-make-it, but I also know that if I therefore have four perfumes in the Leafology range, I’m probably going to have to continue on until I have seven (a far more pleasing number). C’est la vie. Anyway, for multiple months (and totally failing to launch it before Christmas, despite off-the-record interest in this from customers), I conducted the most professional, scientific research of market interest: I wore it all the time, and took it around with me in my handbag and thrust it under the noses of all around me – friends, family and some regular Leafology devotees, many of whom asked straightaway when when when it would be available to buy. (This is, traditionally, the entire extent of Leafology’s market research approach, no extra budget required, but has historically worked nonetheless.) Without exception, the magic was cast (and the lab sent the official formulation to assess, document and certify as legal for sale). Unlike the aforementioned, incomplete perfume which exists in my mind in name/mood but not yet in content, Siren – by contrast – was immediately firm in its recipe (which seemingly fell out of the sky – or should I say ‘rose out of the ocean?’), yet not in its title, a conundrum I bothered a few people around me with for days/weeks. It felt so clearly and deeply watery, creational and deep, while evocative of waves lapping against a moonlit shore. It made me think of sea queens, the water nymphs surrounding Hylas, and even selkies, in their fantastical mystery. Ultimately, the name ‘Siren’ felt strong as well as seductive, powerful as well as mysterious, and gifted with music, like all good scents should be. It’ll smell distinctive on you, like it does on me. I hope you like it. Uses & Directions: Apply whenever you like, to wrists and pulse points. Expect the fragrance to linger for a few hours, or longer (it is not ‘fixed’ by alcohol, but does sink softly into the skin). The layered notes of essential oils play differently with every person on contact with skin, creating your very own chemistry which is unique and individual. It doesn’t travel far – you have to be close to smell it, so it’s perfect for sensitive skin and tastes; the base is ultra-gentle rice bran with an infusion of matcha green tea (because why shouldn’t a perfume impart goodness, nourishment and ‘do no harm’?). Choose, with me, nurturing nutrients over unhealthy chemicals which disrupt our systems. Another signature scent for those in love with plant-based goodness & gentle living. Key ingredients/benefits: RICE BRAN: Rich in natural plant sterols and antioxidant gamma oryzanol, rice branimparts rich plant nutrition to your skin. It’s notoriously soothing for sensitive skin which is easily irritated. ORGANIC MATCHA GREEN TEA: Full of vitamins and nutrients, tea has an endless plethora of benefits for your body; see here for a comprehensive overview. GRAPESEED OIL: Along with the rice bran oil and matcha green tea, a touch of grapeseed oil completes the base of the formulation. Full of vitamin E, it acts as a light moisturiser without overloading the skin. ESSENTIAL OILS: No synthetic fragrance, only plant power, distilled and extracted from petals, leaves, fruits, resins and bark. Ingredients: Ingredients: Oryza sativa (Rice) bran oil*, Caprylic/capric triglyceride (Coconut oil glycerin), Camellia sinensis (Matcha green tea) leaf powder*, Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Helianthus annuus (Sunflower) seed oil, Parfum (100% plant-sourced essential oils with no synthetic fragrance). Naturally present in plant oils: Benzyl alcohol, benzyl benzoate, citral, eugenol, farnesol, geraniol, linalol, limonene. *Organic All prices are in GBP. Related
