Happy birthday to our beloved little angel! Five already!? Where does the time go?

++ LILITH’S BIRTHDAY UPDATE
BLUE LOLLIPOPS
Preschool graduation celebration! Blueberry-swirled blue lollipops!

BUTTERFLIES, FLOWERS, AND JEWELS ATTENDING
Take the Fair Face of Woman, and Gently Suspending,
With Butterflies, Flowers, and Jewels Attending,
Thus Your Fairy is Made of Most Beautiful Things

Inspired by the moment in time frozen in this photo – my fairy child, laughing and playing amongst gargantuan flowers. An ethereal, iridescent, twilit scent, sparkling with mystery and innocent joy: white patchouli with provence rose, delicate freesia, pink tuberose, jasmine sambac, orange blossom, butterfly musk, vanilla orchid, and delicate spices.

THE FUTURE BALL
One day, Lilith digs up one of my old crystal balls and asks me what it does. I tell her that some people read the future in crystal balls, so she asks me to tell her what’s going to happen tomorrow.

“I see a little girl waking up and asking for spaghetti for breakfast.”
“I see a yellow building and a yellow toy bus.”
“I see a big brown dog. The dog is trying to steal a little girl’s dinner.”
“I see a little girl surrounded by stuffed animals. Her mother is trying to get her to go to sleep, but the little girl keeps asking for more stories.”

This went on every day for weeks. She’d pull out the ball, and ask (demand) that I tell her what was going to happen to her tomorrow. Fun stuff, motherhood!

Crystalline white musk, Somalian olibanum, smoky benzoin, Damascus rose, dark myrrh, sacred sandalwood, life everlasting, rock rose, and gummy bear fingerprint residue.

LILITH’S BUBBLEGUM AND ROSES
This summer, Lilith spent Tuesdays and Thursdays with us here at the Lab. One day, she decides that she wants to make a perfume for herself that all her friends can wear, too. We talk for a little while, and I let her smell some components before she finally decides that she wants her fragrance to smell like bubblegum and roses.

Little lady, your wish is my command.

Lilith’s creation: a spray of pink roses, red rose petals, and pink sticky bubblegum!

LILITH’S FEEL BETTER FLOWERS
I’ve been trying to teach Lilith a little bit about herbalism, aromatherapy, and plant lore. We talk about all the plants that are growing in the yard, we talk about all the tinctures, simples, and other concoctions that mom makes, and we play a board game that’s all about wildharvesting herbs.

Lilith and I were talking about oils one day at work, and she told me that she wanted to make a perfume with all the “feel better flowers”. I told her that I’d put in every flower whose purpose she could remember…

… so here’s what she made:

+ carnations (to make people happy)
+ lavender (for sleeping and keeping away bedroom monsters)
+ honey (it’s for smiles and good throats)
+ ginger (for tummies)
+ aloe (for too much sun)
+ blessed thistles (for buronic (sic) plague)
+ chamomile (for happy families)
+ chocolate peppermint (because mom grows it just for me)

Please remember! – this is a perfume, not a medicine! Please don’t drink, rub on wounds, use as a suppository, or anything else nutty.

LITTLE PYTHIA
Ever since toddler’dom, Lilith has had a thing for tarot cards. What kid wouldn’t? They’re big, they’re colorful, and each of them has a story to tell. She has her own decks now (Rider Waite and Thoth), but she still steals mine all the time.

This pic was accidental, and, to me, hilarious. She was playing with her Thoth deck when out of nowhere, she grabbed these cards and smooshed them on her cheeks. I’m not sure why she did it, but I’m hella glad I had a camera handy! Channeling Uncle Al, perhaps?

An incense for a budding baby magus: vanilla frankincense and rose champaca with a little bit of red licorice.

TARANTULA FASCINATOR
This summer, Lilith got to play with a ton of bugs, reptiles, and other wigglies during a special event at her preschool. She made a new friend that day – Ursula the Tarantula.

“Lilith, what would a tarantula smell like?”

“Maybe fuzzy chocolate? With stripes?”

Done and done: fuzzy cacao-drenched hazelnut with hay absolute, black pepper, and nutmeg, laced with stripes of wild plum and white sandalwood.

Ted’s Lilith-celebratin’ scent will debut at BPTP soon!

Coming next at BPAL… Halloweenies…