getting out of the funk

Today is the first day of Student Vacation, where students at my university have a week off between the last week of semester and the first week of exam to stress, binge eat/drink, and cram 13 weeks of knowledge in one night. For me, this will be a serendipitous week between my last day of tutoring, exam marking, and writing my conference paper, where I find myself with no pressing demands from work and am free to spend crafting to my heart’s content.

I was feeling a tiny bit despondent last week, irrationally frustrated with myself that I have not managed to recreate the explosive success I had with my jewellery store on Etsy last year. I think it’s a bit of a cliché—to do something that surpasses all your expectations but then its success dwarfs everything else you attempt after. I’m just trying to not let the funk cause Faunfare to implode. When I wondered aloud the other evening, “Why do I bother have an Etsy store anyway? Why not just make perfumes for my friends?”, it was up to The Cat to remind me that I have met and made friends with a small handful of people I met through Faunfare already, who took the time to write and tell me how much they appreciate what I do. That notion cheered me right up! I sent off two amazing trades last week for some very cool feather jewellery and accessories and am putting the finishing touches on a felted forest playscene for an incredible woman who is making me a sweater in return.

Nevertheless, I would still like to challenge and drive myself further out of this funk and see whether or not I can turn it around, but I can’t do this without your help. It would mean a lot to me if you could provide me with some of your personal insights into what you are looking for in a perfume store and what makes you swoon, delight and covet! :) Please feel free to take a stab at these questions even if you have never purchased perfume oils from me, or ever, in the past.

• Product range: Which do you find more appealing? A limited perfume line with 6-10 scents, but which all appear to be really refined, or a vast collection of scents that could have you trying samples for the next year?
• Descriptions: Succinct descriptions of what the perfume smells like with attention on its concept and the emotions evoked (e.g. “Bitingly venomous ambrette seed smoulders in this cruel blend of poisonous root and bittersweet sin”) or extensive profiles of the oils used and their history and/or therapeutic qualities (e.g. “Petitgrain: This fresh and woody oil comes from the green twigs of the bitter orange tree. It is uplifting and reduces fatigue and stress. Ambrette seed: etc.”)?
• Photographs: Do you mind perfume stores that take photographs of unlabelled bottles and use those images for all their perfumes, or do you appreciate it significantly more when they take individualised photographs of each of their scents?
• Materials and price: My current perfumes cost $12 USD for a 5ml bottle, using all natural essential oils with a carrier base of golden jojoba, vitamin e, and glycerine. Variations on the carrier oil, and thus the final cost include, a) fractionated coconut oil—$10, b) grapeseed—$9, and c) rice bran oil—$8. Jojoba is extremely nourishing for the skin and has the longest shelf life, but there is little discernible difference between the oils.
• Essential oils: Do you prefer perfumes made exclusively with essential oils, or a blend of high quality (synthetic) fragrance oils that will ultimately allow for a wider range of exotic notes that cannot/should not be found naturally (e.g. apples, amber, musk) and create a longer-lasting perfume?
• Packaging: Do you like beautifully wrapped and packaged perfume bottles with ribbons, charms, rose petals lining the box, tags and/or gift cards, knowing that it will be absorbed into the price, or would you rather know you are paying for little else aside from the perfume oil?