The Fragrance

There is something almost magical about scent’s ability to collapse time.

A single breath can return us to a room we haven’t entered in decades—to a dressing table, an old wooden drawer, a powder compact, or the lingering perfume of someone we once knew.

The Looking Glass began with one of those memories.

Its inspiration came from the distinctly powdery perfumes of the early and mid-20th century—the fragrances that once filled vanities with the scent of face powder, cosmetics and perfume. For me, that aroma is inseparable from memories of my grandmother’s vanity. Yet while I have always loved powdery fragrances, I wanted to reinterpret that familiar accord—to preserve its softness and elegance while allowing in more air, light and movement.

The Looking Glass opens with the polished rosy brightness of geraniol, lifted by the airy, softly woody character of Ho Wood. Beneath it, lavender and clary sage create a gently aromatic heart before settling into the warm, velvety powder of coumarin and Peru balsam.

And then comes the smallest flicker of black pepper.

That final touch transformed the perfume during its creation—adding the sparkle and expansion the original composition was missing and bringing the entire fragrance to life.

The result is unmistakably powdery, but not dusty.

Vintage, but not old-fashioned.

Soft, but never flat.

The Looking Glass takes the elegance of another era, shakes off the dust, and allows it to become something new.

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The Inspiration

The name The Looking Glass feels particularly fitting because this fragrance exists somewhere between memory and reflection.

It looks backward without trying to recreate the past.

The powdery perfumes that inspired it belonged to another generation, another vanity, another moment in time. The Looking Glass takes that olfactory memory and reflects it through a modern lens—asking what remains when nostalgia is given room to breathe.

Perhaps that is one of the quiet gifts of perfume: we can revisit a memory without having to remain inside it.

And from familiar materials, we can create entirely new memories of our own.

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The Notes

Top
Geraniol • Ho Wood • Black Pepper

Heart
Lavender • Clary Sage

Base
Coumarin • Peru Balsam

Character
Powdery • Aromatic • Softly Floral • Airy Woods • Warm • Elegant

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The Composition

The Looking Glass is a natural solid perfume, created by blending botanical aromatic essences into a base of jojoba oil and beeswax.

Unlike an alcohol-based perfume, a solid fragrance remains especially close to the skin. The wax and jojoba soften the aromatic materials, creating an intimate scent experience that reveals itself through warmth and proximity rather than projection.

Apply a small amount to pulse points—the wrists, inner arms, neck or décolletage—and allow the warmth of the skin to release the fragrance gradually.

I especially like the solid format for this particular perfume. There is something about opening a little vessel of perfume and touching it to the skin that reinforces the vintage-vanity inspiration. It turns wearing The Looking Glass into a tiny ritual rather than simply a spray.

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Artisan Notes

Each V Botanicals fragrance is handcrafted in small artisan batches using natural aromatic materials. Because botanicals vary naturally with harvest, climate, soil and season, no two batches will ever be completely identical—a quality I consider part of the beauty of natural perfumery.

Some fragrances are made to order and may require 2–3 weeks for processing.

Formulations are crafted with applicable IFRA guidance in mind; however, individual sensitivities vary. A small patch test is recommended before broader skin application.