Yule 2023

Yule Image

A season of celebration hardly seems attainable at the moment, and yet perhaps that’s exactly what we need: an external source of joy and excuses to gather together, offsetting the dreadful uncertainty that has settled in ahead of the bone-deep chill of winter.

Never fear, this year’s Yule offerings are replete with the treats, tales, and fancies you have come to expect from us when the sunlight grows scarce. And because the days have been particularly dark as of late, we’ve also launched a series of fundraiser scents benefiting World Central Kitchen, a trusted organization which is supplying emergency humanitarian aid in places like Gaza where the bombardment of critical infrastructure is leaving people without basics such as food and water. You may donate directly here: https://wck.org/

It’s often said that what we give to others comes back to us in one way or another; it’s impossible to know whether that’s true, or if it even matters. What matters most is that year after grueling year, we all keep turning ourselves inside out searching for evidence that the spirit of generosity still persists — and whether it was there all along, or is summoned as a result of such strenuous searching, we end up reunited with it, receiving the natural blessings that it confers.

Receiving generosity isn’t easy either, and it can be especially hard to feel worthy of pleasure and contentment and at a time when so many are left without such basic human comforts. Our wish for everyone this year is that your spirits will be buoyed by opportunities for communal exchange, that your hearts will be warmed by proximity to goodness and safety, and that you will not refuse these consolations purely on ascetic principle. Accepting one’s deserved sense of connection and celebration is part of how we embody the enduring soul of hope — which very much belongs in each of us, regardless of how dire the news may be at any given moment.

So pull up a chair near our fireplace (set just off the Lavender Kitchen) and get cozy. Your anxieties are welcome here, but not needed; your contributions are appreciated, but not expected. Have some gingerbread! You don’t even have to help with the dishes, because none of this is entirely real… but isn’t it interesting how tangible these comforts can seem? And how much more motivated we are in our daily struggles, when we don’t feel like we must conquer them alone?

May you know such peace. May it gradually proliferate throughout the world.

  • Carved Wooden Holiday Village 2023

    Carved Wooden Holiday Village 2023

  • Gingerbread Cotillion 2023

    Gingerbread Cotillion 2023

  • Grove of Pomegranates 2023

    Grove of Pomegranates 2023

  • Holiday Vice Duets

    Holiday Vice Duets

  • Santa Doesn't Need Your Help 2023

    Santa Doesn't Need Your Help 2023

  • Snow on Snow, Snow on Snow

    Snow on Snow, Snow on Snow

  • The Lavender Kitchen

    The Lavender Kitchen

  • 21 SNOWBALLS
  • A DOLL'S DOLL

    A Doll’s Doll Perfume Oil

    Something to hold and play with during the solitude imposed by winter: cool porcelain cheeks glowing with a blush of spun sugar, lacy carnation frills delicately strung with pearlescent snowberries, and the faintest dusting of chimney soot.

    Out of Stock
  • BANANA GINGERBREAD

    Banana Gingerbread Perfume Oil

    Making banana perfumes makes me laugh.

    Out of Stock
  • bear prince

    Bear Prince Perfume Oil

    Shaggy fur, snow-flecked and rose-touched.

    Out of Stock
  • black julbocken alchemy lab

    Black Julbocken Alchemy Lab Perfume Oil

    Our winter mascot! 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.

    Out of Stock
  • BLACKBERRY APPLE SUFGANIYOT

    Blackberry Apple Sufganiyot Perfume Oil

    Sugar-sprinkled sufganiyot filled with blackberry jelly and spiced roasted apple.

    Out of Stock
  • blizzard

    Blizzard Perfume Oil

    Snow:

    years of anger following

    hours that float idly down —

    the blizzard

    drifts its weight

    deeper and deeper for three days

    or sixty years, eh? Then

    the sun! a clutter of

    yellow and blue flakes —

    Hairy looking trees stand out

    in long alleys

    over a wild solitude.

    The man turns and there —

    his solitary track stretched out

    upon the world.
    – William Carlos Williams


    A solitary track stretched out upon the world: grey amber and white oud, ti leaf, vanilla ash and white sandalwood.

    Out of Stock
  • Carved Wooden Alchemical Laboratory Perfume Oil

    The Lab isn’t open to the public, but you can smell it from the street: hundreds of tiny wooden bottles of Snake Oil, marked with wee paper labels and packed off in tiny cardboard boxes.

    Out of Stock
  • CARVED WOODEN BAKERY

    Carved Wooden Bakery Perfume Oil

    Be sure to visit early in the morning to watch as scores of flaky chocolate-filled croissant are rolled out on a walnut countertop with a maplewood rolling pin.

    Out of Stock
  • CARVED WOODEN BARBER SHOP

    Carved Wooden Barber Shop Perfume Oil

    Many an hour has been whiled away in this gentlemanly retreat: skin-warmed steel, fresh cedar shavings, a creamy fougere lather, a soothing splash of orange blossom water, and the distant memory of blood and bandages.

    Out of Stock
  • CARVED WOODEN BAWDY HOUSE

    Carved Wooden Bawdy House Perfume Oil

    Let your fingers wander along this ornately carved teak banister, polished to a high gloss by the rough hands of countless miniature clients being led upstairs to taste trickles of sugar maple sap, illuminated by a cherry-red light and suffused with decadent, lustrous perfumes.

    Out of Stock
  • CARVED WOODEN POST OFFICE

    Carved Wooden Post Office Perfume Oil

    We owe everything to the USPS! And we certainly wouldn’t mind waiting in line surrounded by this ink-smudged, papery shuffle of letters, parcels, and holiday cards stuffed into a mahogany mailbox cabinet covered in shiny brass doors with a faint whiff of fruitcake.

    Out of Stock
  • GELT

    Gelt Perfume Oil

    A bounty of chocolate coins! Dry cocoa and golden amber!

    Out of Stock
  • GINGERBREAD AND LEATHER

    Gingerbread & Leather Perfume Oil

    They ride again! Black leather, gingerbread, clove, and tobacco.

    Out of Stock
  • GINGERBREAD GHOST

    Gingerbread Ghost Perfume Oil

    An otherworldly snack: gingerbread twisted in ivy and chilled by white iris, osmanthus, calla lily, gladiolus, lisianthus, and delphinium.

    Out of Stock
  • GINGERBREAD HOT COCOA
  • GINGERBREAD LONDON FOG

    Gingerbread London Fog Perfume Oil

    Steeped a bit too long because I wandered off and forgot about it.

    Out of Stock
  • GINGERBREAD MILK
  • GINGERBREAD OUD

    Gingerbread Oud Perfume Oil

    An almost grotesquely sensual, indolic cookie perfume.

    Out of Stock
  • GINGERBREAD SNEK

    Gingerbread Snek Perfume Oil

    Gingerbread thickened with molasses and patchouli, spiced with Snake oil, and frosted with sugared vanilla bean.

    Out of Stock
  • HARD LUCK LOLLIPOP

    Hard Luck Lollipop Perfume Oil

    Each year, the organization Transanta gathers holiday wish lists from young trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming people, setting them up with registries so that well-wishers online can provide everything they can’t count on from their family or community — including gender-affirming items which might otherwise elude them. You may more and/or donate directly here: https://www.transanta.com/

     

    You can view the wish lists here:

    https://www.instagram.com/transanta/

     

    This year’s fundraiser scent is a wish for enjoyment that transcends hard conditions: a cotton candy-flavored lollipop blessed with a pinch of grit and petrichor.

     

    Proceeds from this scent will be donated to Transanta through their fiscal sponsor, Allies in Arts, a 501(c)3 non profit.

    Out of Stock
  • hearth

    Hearth Perfume Oil

    Sweet pipe tobacco, cherry wood, the warm, worn leather of an easy chair and a pleasant, subtle waft of fireplace smoke.

    Out of Stock
  • HILDEGARD’S CAKES OF JOY

    Hildegard’s Cakes of Joy Perfume Oil

    Nutmeg (Nux muscata) has great heat and good moderation in its powers. If a person eats a nutmeg, it will open up his heart, make his judgment free from obstruction, and give him a good disposition. Take some nutmeg and an equal weight of cinnamon and a bit of cloves, and pulverize them. Then make small cakes with this and fine whole wheat flour and water. Eat them often. It will calm all bitterness of the heart and mind, open your heart and impaired senses, and make your mind cheerful. It purifies your senses and diminishes all harmful humors in you. It gives good liquid to your blood, and makes you strong.

     

    The best grain is spelt (spelta). It is hot, rich, and powerful. It is milder than other grains. Eating it rectifies the flesh and provides proper blood. It also creates a happy mind and puts joy in the human disposition.</em>

    – Hildegard von Bingen’s Physica, translated by Priscilla Throop

     

    A hearty, humor-balancing, cheer-inducing cake crafted with spelt, nutmeg, clove, and a dollop of honey.

    Out of Stock
  • hymn to st brigid

    Hymn to St. Brigid Perfume Oil

    Far above enthroned in glory

    Sweetest Saint of Erin’s Isle

    See thy children kneel before thee

    Turn on us a Mother’s smile.

    Sancta Mater, hear our pleading

    Faith and hope and holy love

    Sweet St. Brigid, Spouse of Jesus,

    Sent to us from Heaven above.

    Sweet St. Brigid, Erin’s children,

    Far and near o’er land and sea

    In the world and in the cloister

    Fondly turn with love to thee.

    Sancta Mater, sooth the mourner

    Shield the weary tempted soul

    Sweet St. Brigid, guide thy children

    To thy bright and happy home.

     

    A bounty of butter, honey, and sweet cream.

    Out of Stock
  • krampus

    Krampus Perfume Oil

    Happy SEVENTEENTH ANNIVERSARY to our Krampus perfume!

     

    This scent is anything BUT jolly! Draped with chains and bells, wielding both whip and rod, this rag-clad, horned, red-skinned, soot-covered leering creature is both the companion and the antithesis of rosy-cheeked and ebullient Kris Kringle. He is called by many names, and, in a myriad of cultures, he is seen with different robes and faces, but he is nevertheless always a sinister and fearsome instrument of Santa’s wrath: he wields a switch on all irredeemably naughty children before tossing them into his large black sack and whisking them away.

    Be good, or Krampus will toss you in a river! Sinister red musk, black leather, dusty rags, and wooden switches.

    Out of Stock
  • LAVENDER BROWNIE

    Lavender Brownie Perfume Oil

    A chewy-edged brownie that gently bites back, studded with cacao nibs and lavender baking morsels

    Out of Stock
  • LAVENDER COCONUT CREAM PIE

    Lavender Coconut Cream Pie Perfume Oil

    Billows of lavender-tinged whipped cream luxuriating on a silky bed of coconut custard.

    Out of Stock
  • LAVENDER EARL GREY COOKIES

    Lavender Earl Grey Cookies Perfume Oil

    A bitter, tea-stained ache soothed by softly herbaceous sugar cookies.

    Out of Stock
  • LAVENDER HONEY CAKE

    Lavender Honey Cake Perfume Oil

    Every crumb sticks to the fork: a dense, lightly-spiced cake glazed in raw honey gathered from bees who thrive on lavender nectar.

     

    [This blend is vegan!]

    Out of Stock
  • LAVENDER LEMON BAR

    Lavender Lemon Bar Perfume Oil

    Ribbons of thick curd cooling in a crust flecked with crystallized purple buds.

    Out of Stock
  • LAVENDER PLUM GALETTE

    Lavender Plum Galette Perfume Oil

    A mouth-watering mixture of glistening plum wedges and ground almonds, enfolded in flaky crust and drizzled with lavender sea-salted caramel.

    Out of Stock
  • LAVENDER ROSEMARY BAGUETTE

    Lavender Rosemary Baguette Perfume Oil

    Perfectly crusty and yeasty with a pillowy-soft interior, sprinkled with lavender sea salt and brushed with herbed olive oil.

    Out of Stock
  • lick it with consent

    Lick it With Consent Perfume Oil

    A sugar-crusted vanilla peppermint stick!

    Out of Stock
  • MARI LWYD

    Mari Lwyd Perfume Oil

    An echo of the rites of Rhiannon, the Great Queen and Mother of Horses, the Mari Lwyd is a Midwinter tradition in Wales. The beribboned Grey Mare travels door to door with her entourage, seeking permission to wassail and initiate a contest of wit: the pwnco, a battle of improvised verses filled with good-natured ridicule set to song. If the Mari party were victorious, they were invited into the home to partake of ale and cakes and provide entertainment for the family.

    Welsh cakes and ale with a smattering of dried lavender.

    Out of Stock
  • marshmallow snow
  • merlot and frankincense
  • midnight mass

    Midnight Mass Perfume Oil

    I will wash my hands among the innocent; and will compass thy altar, O Lord: That I may hear the voice of thy praise: and tell of all thy wondrous works. I have loved, O Lord, the beauty of thy house; and the place where thy glory dwelleth. Take not away my soul, O God, with the wicked: nor my life with bloody men: In whose hands are iniquities: their right hand is filled with gifts.

     

    But as for me, I have walked in my innocence: redeem me, and have mercy on me. My foot hath stood in the direct way: in the churches I will bless thee, O Lord.

     

    In Roman Catholic tradition, the Christmas season begins liturgically on Christmas Eve, though it is forbidden to celebrate the Christmas Mass before midnight. The most devout attend Midnight Mass, celebrating both the Eucharist and the drama of the Nativity.

     

    This perfume is a traditional Roman Catholic sacramental incense, most often used during a Solemn Mass. Traditionally, five tears of this incense, each encased individually in wax that has been fashioned into the shape of a nail, are inserted into the paschal candle. This is, of course, represents the Five Wounds of Our Risen Savior. Symbolically, the burning of the incense signifies spiritual fervor, the fragrance itself inspires virtue, and the rising smoke carries our prayers to God.

     

    Credo in unum Deum, Patrem omnipotentem, factorem caeli et terrae, visibilium omnium et invisibilium.

     

    Et in unum Dominum Iesum Christum, Filium Dei unigenitum, et ex Patre natum ante omnia saecula. Deum de Deo, Lumen de Lumine, Deum verum de Deo vero, genitum non factum, consubstantialem Patri; per quem omnia facta sunt. Qui propter nos homines et propter nostram salutem descendit de caelis. Et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto ex Maria Virgine, et homo factus est. Crucifixus etiam pro nobis sub Pontio Pilato, passus et sepultus est, et resurrexit tertia die, secundum Scripturas, et ascendit in caelum, sedet ad dexteram Patris. Et iterum venturus est cum gloria, iudicare vivos et mortuos, cuius regni non erit finis.

     

    Et in Spiritum Sanctum, Dominum et vivificantem, qui ex Patre procedit. Qui cum Patre et Filio simul adoratur et conglorificatur: qui locutus est per prophetas. Et unam, sanctam, catholicam et apostolicam Ecclesiam. Confiteor unum baptisma in remissionem peccatorum. Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum, et vitam venturi saeculi. Amen.

    Out of Stock
  • POMEGRANATE INK
  • POMEGRANATE, FIR NEEDLE, AND CYPRESS
  • POMEGRANATE, GOLDEN SANDALWOOD, AND AMBER
  • POMEGRANATE, KYPHI, AND OUD
  • POMEGRANATE, WILD PLUM, AND GREEN TEA
  • PUFF PASTRY APPLE ROSES

    Puff Pastry Apple Roses Perfume Oil

    A deceptively simple recipe: paper-thin red apple slices pulled from a bath of lemon juice and rosewater, sprinkled with cinnamon, layered just so in syrup-brushed strips of pastry, and then rolled into perfect rosebud shapes that crisp up into a red-gold bouquet in the oven.

    Out of Stock
  • RED VELVET TUXEDO

    Red Velvet Tuxedo Perfume Oil

    A very special Yuletide sponsorship scent, dressed up for a scandalous night on the town:

    red velvet fruitcake with buttercream and a splash of cologne.

    Out of Stock
  • ROSE RED

    Rose Red Perfume Oil

    The perfected winter rose, dew covered and freshly cut.

    Illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith.

    Out of Stock
  • santa doesnt need your help

    Santa Doesn’t Need Your Help Perfume Oil

    A calming, affirming fragrance to help motivate Santa through the daunting tasks which await him year after year: sugar plum lavender marshmallows.

    Out of Stock
  • SKOGTROLL

    Skogtroll Perfume Oil

    Our gruesome blend of ghastly greens and blacks, now streaked with blue-white: frozen and snow-packed vetiver, pine pitch, troll musk, elemi, camphor, black basil, eucalyptus blossom, clove smoke, and scorched cumin.

    Art by Ashton Hansen!

    Out of Stock
  • slug

    Slug Perfume Oil

    A relaxed, lazy scent; slightly sebaceous and sweetly slimy: warm, buttery honey cream and dribbles of amber. May we all have at least a few gentle, sweet slug moments throughout this holiday season.

     

    Painted by Nagasawa Rosetsu.

    Out of Stock
  • SLUSHY SNOWBALLS

    Slushy Snowballs Perfume Oil

    Chilly vanilla frankincense snowballs polluted with raw cacao, labdanum, and myrrh.

    Out of Stock
  • snake oil hot toddy

    Snake Oil Hot Toddy Perfume Oil

    BPAL’s perennial favorite, Snake Oil, soaked in whiskey, honey, and a twist of lemon.

    Out of Stock
  • SNOW LOTUS

    Snow Lotus Perfume Oil

    Frost-blue lotus petal, lotus root, amber, myrrh, and black sandalwood.

    Out of Stock
  • SNOW SNAKE

    Snow Snake 2023 Perfume Oil

    A chilly interpretation of BPAL’s Snake Oil: sweet, spiced musk with a crunch of snow and frost-hardened patchouli.

    Out of Stock
  • SNOW WHITE

    Snow White Perfume Oil

    A chilly, bright perfume: flurries of virgin snow, crisp winter wind and the faintest breath of night-blooming flowers.

    Illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith.

    Out of Stock
  • SNOW-COVERED CATHEDRAL

    Snow-Covered Cathedral Perfume Oil

    Ecclesiastical incense wafting behind candlelit stained glass and icicles thrusting from stone archways.

    Out of Stock
  • SNOWBOUND

    Snowbound Perfume Oil

    Black Phoenix’s rapturous blend of three roses, radiant amber, and sensual red musk strapped in leather and covered in snow.

    Out of Stock
  • SNOWY CROSS

    Snowy Cross Perfume Oil

    Snow-dappled rose and frankincense.

    Out of Stock
  • SUGAR COOKIES AND BOURBON
  • peacock queen

    The Peacock Queen Perfume Oil

    In dramatic contrast to the soft innocence of Snow White and the dew-kissed freshness of her sister, Rose Red, this is a blood red, voluptuous rose, velvet-petaled, at the height of bloom. Haughty and imperious, vain, yet incomparably lovely to the eye, but thick with thorns of jealousy, pride and hatred.

    Illustrated by Franz Jüttner.

    Out of Stock
  • THE PICTURE OF DORIAN SUFGANIYOT

    The Picture of Dorian Sufganiyot Perfume Oil

    It has mysteriously stayed fresh for decades… but you REALLY don’t want to see the pastry in the attic.

     

    A deep-fried fougere with three pale musks and dark, sugared vanilla tea.

    Out of Stock
  • THE POINSETTIA GOWN

    The Poinsettia Gown Perfume Oil

    A perfume simply inspired by a vintage Christmas postcard. Rose cream, jasmine cream, mallow, vanilla foam, and sweet amber.

    Out of Stock
  • TKSNOW

    TKSnow Perfume Oil

    Our most potent lavender sleep blend, frozen.

    Out of Stock
  • to a wreath of snow

    To a Wreath of Snow Perfume Oil

    O transient voyager of heaven!

    O silent sign of winter skies!

    What adverse wind thy sail has driven

    To dungeons where a prisoner lies?

     

    Methinks the hands that shut the sun

    So sternly from this mourning brow

    Might still their rebel task have done

    And checked a thing so frail as thou

     

    They would have done it had they known

    The talisman that dwelt in thee,

    For all the suns that ever shone

    Have never been so kind to me!

     

    For many a week, and many a day

    My heart was weighed with sinking gloom

    When morning rose in mourning grey

    And faintly lit my prison room

     

    But angel like, when I awoke,

    Thy silvery form so soft and fair

    Shining through darkness, sweetly spoke

    Of cloudy skies and mountains bare

     

    The dearest to a mountaineer

    Who, all life long has loved the snow

    That crowned her native summits drear,

    Better, than greenest plains below –

     

    And voiceless, soulless messenger

    Thy presence waked a thrilling tone

    That comforts me while thou art here

    And will sustain when thou art gone

    – Emily Brontë

    Morning rising in mourning grey: tobacco flower, white oud, lavender bud, and ambergris accord.

    Out of Stock
  • VINTAGE BLOW MOLD CANDY GARLAND

    Vintage Candy Garland Blow Mold Perfume Oil

    This tangled string of hollow plastic sweets is sure to conjure childlike fantasies of cartoonish opulence! An enticing swirl of multi-hued fruit and mint flavors, illuminated from behind by twinkling amber tree lights.

    Out of Stock
  • VINTAGE MRS. CLAUS BLOW MOLD

    Vintage Mrs. Clause Blow Mold Perfume Oil

    A shell of milky plastic encasing fond memories of bread pudding with strawberry cream, illuminated from within by 40 watts of glowing amber.

    Out of Stock
  • VINTAGE SNOWMAN BLOW MOLD

    Vintage Snowman Blow Mold Perfume Oil

    He’s just pretending to be cold! A milky plastic shell of frosted blue spruce, illuminated from within by 40 watts of glowing amber.

    Out of Stock
  • VINTAGE WISE MAN BLOW MOLD

    Vintage Wise Man Blow Mold Perfume Oil

    A sun-faded plasticky shell of lemony gold, frankincense, and myrrh, illuminated from within by 40 watts of glowing amber.

    Out of Stock
  • WEED AND FRUITCAKE