February 02, 2023
What We’ve Been Up To: February
On our recent return from holiday travel, Poppy, our 6 year-old, proclaimed, “It smells so good in here! Nothing smells better than home!” I deeply apologize for this humble brag, and granted, she probably hears a lot more fragrance talk than your average 1st grader, but it made me want to clap my hands and say “my work here is done.”
Feelings and emotion are deeply intertwined with scent — and scientists think the reason is the proximity between the olfactory gland and the hippocampus/amygdala (the parts of the brain responsible for processing memory and emotion.) Scent is basically hardwired to your brain and doesn’t require you to make sense of it to feel it or even just enjoy it.
I asked Poppy what it smelled like, and she just grinned at me and said “I don’t know! Home? And lavender. Yeah, lavender.” (S/o to Ojai Lavender.)
Scent is a way to tell your story in design. It connects to the emotional part of your home’s design, the part that you can’t put into words or color or form. A certain candle, perfume, or soap may remind you of your travels or a family member. You may use it for function, to relax, or perk you up.
Right now, I’ve been burning Wild Herb Tonic non-stop. It happens frequently with our new releases, but Jade (P.F.’s Development Manager, who’s celebrating 7 years with the company this year!) and I were very deliberate when creating this scent. We sat together and asked ourselves not what scent we needed to fill out our line, but how we wanted people to feel and the energy we wanted to give to the world. The answer: chill, relaxed, and luxe.
Lately, the team has been pouring lots of new releases, we’re working on two excellent collaborations with legendary California brands; we’ve dealt with floods and burglaries all within a week span; we’re planning a pop-up with one of my favorite brands, Fat & the Moon, at our Echo Park shop for the week of Valentine’s Day, plus a pop-up from local floral truck, Lenita by Grita, on Valentine’s Day itself; and I’ve been meeting with P.F. leadership to build our vision and dreams for the future — thinking about how we grow consciously with respect to our staff, our environment, and our customers.
Some recs for your atmospheric pleasure:
Watching: “Derry Girls” - Goes down easy and makes me think of our distributors in the UK, who are based in Northern Ireland Reading: “Slow Days, Fast Company” by Eve Babitz (I’m self conscious about recommending her twice to y’all, but this book feels like a love letter to Los Angeles and California in all its gritty glory.)
Listening: A chill playlist for calm moments + Shopify Masters podcast where I share advice on how to scale your craft.
Burning: Wild Herb Tonic candles and incense
An Extra: Calm Kid Mist from Fat & The Moon. It smells like lavender and lemon balm and I sprayed this on Poppy’s pillow every single night for the first couple years of her life, and now she is a pretty cool kid and talks about how good our house smells. Coincidence? I think not!
Over ‘n out,
Kristen
Feelings and emotion are deeply intertwined with scent — and scientists think the reason is the proximity between the olfactory gland and the hippocampus/amygdala (the parts of the brain responsible for processing memory and emotion.) Scent is basically hardwired to your brain and doesn’t require you to make sense of it to feel it or even just enjoy it.
I asked Poppy what it smelled like, and she just grinned at me and said “I don’t know! Home? And lavender. Yeah, lavender.” (S/o to Ojai Lavender.)
Scent is a way to tell your story in design. It connects to the emotional part of your home’s design, the part that you can’t put into words or color or form. A certain candle, perfume, or soap may remind you of your travels or a family member. You may use it for function, to relax, or perk you up.
Right now, I’ve been burning Wild Herb Tonic non-stop. It happens frequently with our new releases, but Jade (P.F.’s Development Manager, who’s celebrating 7 years with the company this year!) and I were very deliberate when creating this scent. We sat together and asked ourselves not what scent we needed to fill out our line, but how we wanted people to feel and the energy we wanted to give to the world. The answer: chill, relaxed, and luxe.
Lately, the team has been pouring lots of new releases, we’re working on two excellent collaborations with legendary California brands; we’ve dealt with floods and burglaries all within a week span; we’re planning a pop-up with one of my favorite brands, Fat & the Moon, at our Echo Park shop for the week of Valentine’s Day, plus a pop-up from local floral truck, Lenita by Grita, on Valentine’s Day itself; and I’ve been meeting with P.F. leadership to build our vision and dreams for the future — thinking about how we grow consciously with respect to our staff, our environment, and our customers.
Some recs for your atmospheric pleasure:
Watching: “Derry Girls” - Goes down easy and makes me think of our distributors in the UK, who are based in Northern Ireland Reading: “Slow Days, Fast Company” by Eve Babitz (I’m self conscious about recommending her twice to y’all, but this book feels like a love letter to Los Angeles and California in all its gritty glory.)
Listening: A chill playlist for calm moments + Shopify Masters podcast where I share advice on how to scale your craft.
Burning: Wild Herb Tonic candles and incense
An Extra: Calm Kid Mist from Fat & The Moon. It smells like lavender and lemon balm and I sprayed this on Poppy’s pillow every single night for the first couple years of her life, and now she is a pretty cool kid and talks about how good our house smells. Coincidence? I think not!
Over ‘n out,
Kristen
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[ KEEP ME IN THE LOOP ]1 comment
Sending along another request for you to bring back sweet grass & patchouli reed diffusers (and spray). It is a classic and divine scent! l want it, miss it, and hope you’ll bring it back! My home isn’t the same without it!
Bethany Simpson Johnson
February 28, 2023