Faithfully Yours, Charles Dickens Perfume Oil

FAITHFULLY YOURS, CHARLES DICKENS

48, Rue de Courcelles.
Eighteenth January 1847

My Dear Mrs. F.

I send you, on the other side, the tremendous document which will make you for ninety years (I hope) a beautiful Punchmaker in more senses as one. 

I shall be delighted to dine with you on Thursday. Mr Foster says amen. Commend me to your Lord, and believe me (with respectful compliments to Lord Chesterfield) always Mrs. F.                                            

Faithfully yours, Charles Dickens.

To make three pints of Punch

Peel into a very strong common basin (which may be broken, in case of accident, without damage to the owner’s peace or pocket) the rinds of three lemons, cut very thin, and with as little as possible of the white coating between the peel and the fruit, attached. Add a double-handfull of lump sugar (good measure), a pint of good old rum, and a large wine-glass full of brandy – if it not be a large claret glass, say two. Set this on fire, by filling a warm silver spoon with the spirit, lighting the contents at a wax taper, and pouring them gently in. Let it burn three or four minutes at least, stirring it from time to time. Then extinguish it by covering the flame. Then squeeze in the juice of the three lemons, and add a quart of boiling water. Stir the whole well, cover it up for five minutes, and stir again. 

At this crisis (having skimmed off the lemon pips with a spoon) you may taste. If not sweet enough, add sugar to your liking, but observe that it will be a little sweeter presently. Pour the whole into a jug, tie a leather or coarse cloth over the top, so as to exclude the air completely, and stand it in a hot oven ten minutes, or on a hot stove one quarter of an hour. Keep it until it comes to table in a warm place near the fire, but not too hot. If it be intended to stand three or four hours, take half the lemon-peel out, or it will acquire a bitter taste. 

The same punch allowed to cool by degrees, and then iced, is delicious. It requires less sugar when made for this purpose. If you wish to produce it bright, strain it into bottles through silk. 

These proportions and directions will, of course, apply to any quantity.
5ml Perfume Oil
Price
Regular price $31.00
Regular price Sale price $31.00
/
Yule 2025

No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn. Hal Borland’s reassurance feels especially poignant now, in a year that has asked so much of us. It has been a challenging season in countless ways: globally, locally, intimately. The darkness has felt long, the chill of countless terrors freezing the breath in our lungs and the beat of our hearts. And yet, threaded through every difficult moment is a truth that refuses to dim: we are not meant to walk through any of this alone.

Community is not a luxury in times like these; it is a lifeline. It is the network of hands that lift us up when we falter, it is the shelter against the storm. In dark times, community becomes the architecture of hope, built from small acts of care: a meal cooked, a message sent, a burden shared.

Love, too, becomes a form of courage during periods of extreme upheaval. It is the choice to remain open-hearted despite the horrors. Compassion is love’s companion; supporting those who are vulnerable, asking for help when we need it, offering comfort without being asked… this is what will keep the cold from taking root inside us.

No winter lasts forever. And when the thaw comes – when sunlight returns to the edges of our days – it will be because we kept one another warm. With the strength we find in each other, with the communities we build and nurture, we will see spring again together soon.

Hold onto each other. We’re all we have.
You may also like
More from Yule 2025
A Date With Krampus Perfume Oil A filthy-sweet gourmand gone feral: scorched caramel and dark cocoa nibs tangled with warm, skin-slick musk, a crack of black leather, a swirl of brandy, and the faint metallic scrape of chains dragged across a bedroom floor. $31.00
Amber Incense and Honeycakes Perfume Oil An offering made in the depths of the year’s darkness to honor the Solstice sun. $31.00
Bananas Foster Hair Gloss Caramel-soaked banana slices sizzling in butter and brown sugar, flamed with dark rum, and poured over warm vanilla ice cream. $35.00
Bear Prince Perfume Oil Shaggy fur, snow-flecked and rose-touched. $31.00
Black Julbocken Alchemy Lab Perfume Oil A musky, snow-touched, forest-deep Yuletide blend: shaggy black wool and a slushy tangle of juniper, mistletoe, winter sage, spikenard, white moss, and terebinth. $31.00
Recently viewed
Back to Yule 2025