Cottage Industries have long been a lifeline for many stay at home mums, but the advent of the internet, and the ability to create a product from start to finish then sell it without ever leaving your home, seems to be the way forward for mums, dads, grandparents, teens and start again businessmen to launch a minimal cost business platform from which to purvey your wares.

We know all of the high street big brand names, but lately these seem to be churning out fragrance after fragrance, candles, soap or other home fragranced products, with no time factored in to nuture it, build the potential and construct the illicit dream. This gives the inpression of them not really caring about us, their end customer. It all seems to be a money game – which of course we knew anyway, but all pretence seems to have been stripped away.

This is where the local industries have built their niche. They have the time to build a story based on local heritage, long forgotten customs and trends, and we are all more than happy to spend a few extra pounds to buy into their dreams instead.

Thanks to the interweb, anyone can become an overnight guru and because of this, the big brand names now seem to be for people who dont know any better, who are happy to follow rather than lead or consumers who lack the confidence to go with their convictions. The more educated that consumers become, the more they tend to seek out bespoke fragrance, wanting only the best in the field.

 The trend towards Indie perfumed products push the boundaries of defining scent and our perception of it. Home crafted products should be a magical blend of familiarity with a dash of quirkiness, something unique that draws the eye or indeed the nose in our case.

Local Heritage societies have launched their own collections with themes of castles and medieval market gardens, or you could look out for Scottish Moors, Glens and Thistles making an appearance, or Manx 3 Legged soaps. We are proud to invite guests into our homes and let them see that we support our local traders -it makes us feel that we are somehow making a difference - that we care about all things traditional.

Canny manufacturers have cottoned on at last, powering on towards the future whilst drawing nostalgic inspiration from the past – using a blend of locally sourced flora and fauna and basing new products around ancient practices and formulations handed down through the generations.

We have many collections of fragrances based around local themes such as the above. We prefer to create new fragrances with a story to back them up. It makes things easier for us and certainly easier for you to sell them in your end product with a bit of marketing blurb behind them.

We feel that the new trend direction that will run alongside the natural garden flowers that we expect to see dominating the spring 2013 shelves, will have a spicy Brazilian Party theme.

This will encompass various aspects of Brazilian Culture, in fact we may end up with 3 or 4 collections in order to cover everything! We wanted to bring the carnival atmosphere into our fragrances, as these are such a massive part of Brazil’s unique heritage. The main Rio carnival is held over a 6 week period culminating around the Catholic period of Lent. This legendary gala draws crowds of almost 5 million spectators, all keen to join in the festivities and parades.

 Our fragrances in these collections will include notes of sweet pink peppercorns, hot jalapenos, fiery ginger root and fresh cilantro. Floral notes will include the Brazilian national emblem, the sunshine yellow Ipe amarelo, an arm of the Tecomo genus of which there are almost 400 sub species, alongside amarylis, camelia rosa, almanda and tobacco flower.

Rich woody notes will arise from the Brazilwood – a native tree that in all probability gave the country its name. Its sultry red bark was used for many years in the 1500′s as the main source of red dye for luxury fabrics used throughout European Courts. Although now a lot rarer, it is still used to produce prime quality bows for violins throughout the world.

We will also incorporate food and drink flavour notes  such as the delicious caipirinha cocktail, which is an intoxicting blend of sugar cane rum and tahitian lime poured over crushed ice, along with passionfruit, chimarrao and cashew fruits.

If you would like any further information or would like to pre-order a collection tin, please contact either myself or Helen and we will be only too happy to help.

I love the Autumn Season….it brings with it a certain inevitability as Summer slips over the horizon. Nights start to draw in as the days get shorter, and carefree summer days become a distant memory.

Trees begin to shed their leaves in a blaze of fire hued glory - the final performance before they bare their souls to the wintry demons that lay in wait just around the corner.

That cold crisp early morning start with the sunrise shimmering just above the horizon. Sunday afternoon strolls inhaling the rich musty smell of the soil, a sweet cloying scent hinting at the decay yet to come - a whiff of woodsmoke or an early afternoon bonfire - the ritual burning of the last of the garden finery.

Iridescent cobwebs bejewelled with the gems of early morning dew, a vague haze of mist forming a make-shift blanket over meadows and streams.

Kicking crisp copper leaves underfoot, hunting for the biggest and best conkers to soak in vinegar overnight. Plump hedgehogs waddling across the back lawn into the rotting undergrowth. Spinning Jennys performing gymnastic displays as they fall to earth, twisting and twirling - the sound of geese honking overhead as they prepare to migrate from one location to another.

As hedgehogs, squirrels, badgers, foxes and bats prepare for their winter hibernation, so too do I. Warm cozy nights in front of a roaring log fire (I wish! It’s gas all the way – but a girl can dream eh?!) with the blinds drawn and a good book. Changing into PJ’s as soon as you get home from work with the odd glass of wine thrown in for good measure. Autumn is a time to take stock, recharge your batteries and plan for new beginnings that only the Spring can bring.

I’d like to share this beautiful poem that I’ve recently found, that sums up the season perfectly

Come Little Leaves

Come little leaves said the wind one day,

Come O’er the meadows with me and play,

Put on your dress of red and gold,

For the Summer is gone and the days grow cold,

Down they came fluttering one and all,

Over the brown fields they danced and flew,

Singing the soft little songs they knew,

Dancing and whirling the little leaves went,

Winter had called them, and they were content,

Soon, fast asleep in their earthly beds,

The snow laid  a coverlet over their heads

…By George Cooper

We have some lovely evocative new fragrances that are suitable for burner oils, candles, soaps and reeds to help you relax and unwind whilst enjoying the scents of the season. If there are any that you would like to try, then please just contact either myself or Helen and we will arrange a small sample for you.

Library 34308

Come on in – sit yourself down and let this enveloping scent settle around you like a comforting blanket. Immerse yourself in leather backed books and well worn furniture. Contains essential oils of cedarwood, guaiacwood, smooth sandalwood, earthy patchouli and spicy ginger.

Oakwood 20497

Close your eyes and imagine relaxing into an oversized chesterfield sofa. The scent of vintage leather and tweed overcoats combine with rich woody undertones – a timeless masterpiece containing essential oils of cedarwood and geranium.

 Autumn Leaves 33092

Take a bracing walk through russet and copper coloured fallen leaves. This scent encompasses smouldering leaves, damp softwood and the fresh clean herbal notes of crisp october mornings. Containing essential oils of rosemary, eucalyptus, geranium, mimosa, bergamot, cedarwood and sandalwood.

Cocoa & Log Fire 24313

Curl yourself up in front of a crackling blazing log fire and cup your hands around a sweet mug of hot chocolate. This wonderful aroma is warm and comforting with essential oils of patchouli, cedarwood, lemon, sweet vanilla, clary sage and olibanum.

We have a vast array of the more intense, heavier fragrances traditionally associated with colder seasons and are currently working on our Spring 2013 ranges – please email for further information on upcoming trends - our contact details are available here on the website.

We are always having a look at the latest fragrances on the market, whether that is a new washing powder, or a new shampoo or a new designer perfume launch. It helps us to know that we are keeping up to date with all the latest market trends. There is however, something that we have noticed over the past few months – there seems to be a merging of the sexes.

Many of the newer fragrances that are aimed at men seem to have become the new favourites of our female office staff, with many of us naming one of them as our spritz of choice at the minute, in particular Carolina Herrera’s 212 VIP for men and Viktor & Rolfs Spicebomb.

I decided to ask around family and friends and came up with the same results….it seems that spritzing a sneaky squirt of your boyfriend/husbands aftershave is as widespread as borrowing his razor!

Back in the early perfume heyday of the 18th century there was no dividing line between male and female fragrances – in fact the dividing line was one of class and social standing instead. The most powerful men drenched their lapels and handkerchiefs with fragrance – usually a heavy floral blend, whilst the downtrodden masses blended into the background with the unforgettable stench of ‘Eau de Filth’.

The notion of gender in perfumery only came around in the early 20th century, coinciding with the influences of modern advertising methods. Fragrance became intertwined with fashion and so the flapper girls of the 1920′s became the new target demographic. Ms Monroe heaped glamour onto fragrance by the bucket load in the 50′s with her now infamous quote of wearing only Chanel No.5 to bed - it would have had to have been a brave man to wear a floral scent after that revelation!

The first efforts to woo the male back onboard were heavily advertised as a shaving routine add-on. And so the humble aftershave was born and the whole world seemed to smell of either Old Spice, English Leather or Burma Shave.

Eventually more and more colognes (note – NOT perfumes!!) became available embracing notes that were considered to be a masculine domain – spicy, leathery, woodsy and musky.

Fresh and lighter citrus notes have been an attempt to close the gap – think CK1 – and even more recently the addition of woody and musk notes being added to many female targeted scents have closed it even further.

Ancient men and women knew the power of aromatics, smearing them all over their bodies without any regard for whether spikenard or myrrh were considered to be feminine or masculine. Its a matter of what works well on your skin – so the next time you are looking for a new bottle of perfume – why not check out some of the newly launched male intentions – i’m off to top up my spicebomb!!

We have a large range of fragrance submissions here at Carvansons that are designed to be the creme de la creme of the current trending scents – if you have any new products that need a fragrance then please contact either myself or Helen, and we will be more than happy to send some samples for you to have a look at – all of which comply with current IFRA regulations.

From humble beginnings preparations began,

Rising before dawn, Rebecca swam.

Over fields and mountains the Brownlee boys ran.

Early mornings,

Late nights,

As they all prepared to fight the good fight.

Victoria cycling, Hoy rowing,

Wilson shooting, Okaye throwing.

Farah & Murray, Wiggins and Trott,

Jessica Ennis all giving their best shot.

Nations unite in the spirit of the games,

The stadium roared to life with just a single flame.

Dreams of silver, bronze and gold,

Last chances for some – next time too old.

Olympic rings, colours five,

Keeping hopes and dreams alive.

The flame now extinguished, the crowds all gone,

The TV back to normal BBC1

Only 4 more years then it’s Rio’s time to shine

And it’s “Go Team GB” one more time.

Congratulations to all the athletes spectators and volunteers who took part and helped the world to see what a wonderful place our country can be.

From all of us here at Carvansons.

Did you know that smell was the first and only existing sense? In the oceans of way back when, sight and speech had not yet been developed. Multicelled organisms relied on the detection of odours and chemicals to eat, and to stay out of harms way.

In our modern times, the sense of smell has lost its predominance in most western cultures, and we tend to rely heavily on our vision - defining and describing our surroundings in a highly visual manner. There are, however, still pockets of olfactory reliance around the globe…..

For example, there is a tribe known as the Ongee from the Andaman Islands where their whole world is defined by smell.

 Their calendar is based around the odours of flowers that come into bloom at specific times of the year. Each season is named after a particular odour. Personal identity is also defined by smell. In order to refer to oneself, one touches the tip of one’s nose - a gesture interpreted as ‘me and my odour’.

When first meeting a member of the Ongee tribe, instead of asking ‘how are you?’ you would instead ask ‘konyune onorange-tanka?’ which means ‘how is your nose?’ This is followed by a strange etiquette. If the person responds that they feel heavy with odour, then the greeter must inhale deeply in order to remove some of the surplus, but if the greeter feels a little short on odour then the only polite redress would be to blow on them to bestow a little extra scent.

In India, an ancient text declares ‘I will smell thee on the head, that is the greatest sign of tender love’, and is considered the equivalent of a western hug or kiss.

In certain Arabian countries it is considered impolite to deny someone the smell of your breath whilst speaking as it conveys a shameful avoidance of involvement.

In cultures where the sense of smell is still highly valued, the mixing of odours is often very carefully regulated. In the Amazon, each tribe is believed to share a similar odour, and so marriage is only allowed between persons of different odours which prevents relationships between close family members from occuring.

The Malay Temiar people go one step further……they believe that everyone has an odour soul located at the base of the spine. If you pass too closely behind a person then this soul is disturbed and mingles with your body often causing disease. This is prevented by calling out ‘Odour Odour’ whenever you approach a person from behind, which then forewarns the odour soul of the impending intrusion.

Our western interpretations of which perfumes and aftershaves cause an attraction effect would be way off the mark if you wanted a night out in Ethiopia. Here there is no scent more beautiful, than the odour of cattle. Men wash their hands in the urine and smear their bodies with manure. The women get off a little more lightly, rubbing butter into their heads, shoulders and various other body parts in order to make themselves smell more attractive (or maybe just to mask the smell of the manure?!?)

If you are invited for a meal in certain Arab countries, a perfume box containing between 4 and 8 bottles of oils is passed around, and each guest anoints herself with different scents using a glass dropper. This signifies the end of your visit and guests must depart as soon as the perfume ritual is completed. The  ritual serves to promote a feeling of bonding and unity, and the social prestige of the hostess is enhanced by the pleasant smells she imparts to her guests.

So, the next time you are invited round to a dinner party and your host brings out the perfume – that’s your cue to order your taxi!

Do you have any smell or scent rituals that you’d like to share with us?

 Well we had a wonderful week in Wales but the weather was torrential on a couple of days, luckily our campsite stayed put (even though the wind was certainly threatening to tip the caravan on Friday morning!

The days that mattered stayed nice and dry, so we watched the Queens Beacon being lit on the top of Oystermouth Castle…a lovely memory for the children for the Jubilee. I hope your celebrations were as good as ours.

I penned a couple of lines to sum up the washed out bank holiday weekend (how long ago does that seem now!)

The summer sun, has come and gone, the wind has seen to that.

 In the blink of an eye, the clouds in the sky,

have turned an indelible black.

The rain it fell, so we ran like hell, grabbing the bunting & butties as well.

Into the door of a welcoming Inn, we sat with the locals and dried ourselves off whilst sipping our tonic & gin!!

I think thats the thing about Britain – Keep Calm & Carry On, we just dry ourselves off and have a laugh about it and then just adapt to the new situation instead.

Anyway, so after a lovely week away, it was straight back to work and so I didnt have chance to have a look around the garden apart from noting that the grass was lusciously green and about 2 foot tall after all the rain. It was only this weekend that I began to notice small grains of what look like poppy seeds all over my paving flags under the trees. As I looked up to work out where they had come from, I noticed that one of trees has been completely decimated by small pea green caterpillars! They have chomped the leaves right to the stalk and stripped whole branches to boot. The floor is littered with the little blighters, even Bruce isnt interested in a bit of natural culling, he just sniffs them and wanders off. I was hoping the birds would just have a field day and they would all have plump lovely baby birds but they dont seem too interested either. So, my problem is this – I dont want to start stamping on them and spraying them with poisons as I dont think it’s up to me to decide that my life (or garden) is more important than theirs, but I do need to control them in some humane way…..

I’ve checked online and there are a few natural remedies, such as making up a white vinegar solution or a soap solution and spraying that to get them off the plants, then collecting them up off the floor. My mum suggested collecting them and then popping them in the garden refuse bin so they could chomp away to the hearts content before being carted off to who knows where. If you have any ideas then please let me know, i’d be very interested to see how other people deal with them.

And whilst we are on the subject, I found an article about deterring ants (another garden problem for me). Apparently they hate the smell of cucumber (especially the rind), and so if you leave some around the area of your home that has ant issues, this should be enough to send them packing….consider it an ANTi-welcome mat

Well thats all for this post, dont forget that even if summer is turning out to be a bit of a wash out, you can always get your oil burner out and try some of our fruity carvansons cocktail range of fragrances and pretend to be on some sunsoaked beach sipping a nice ice cooled daiquiri or two.

Till next time……

 As the long weekend beckons,

we’re all counting the seconds,

as the Jubilee celebrations

begin across our Great British nation.

From South to East, and North to West

We’ll all be there in our Sunday best.

Whatever the weather,

We’ll all come together,

union jacks flying

we’ll all be trying,

to catch a glimpse of the Prince or the Queen,

(probably wearing the Windsor Green)

as they pass by on the  River Thames,

Glittering and sparkling in  her very best gems.

 Not so me – I’m off to welsh Wales,

so i’m afraid i’ll miss her as she sets sail,

but in my caravan i’ll raise a glass or three,

to wish you one and all – A Happy Jubilee…

Happy holidays from all at Carvansons.

Chanel has just announced that Brad will be their latest new face  – no shocker that a male A-lister has been chosen to front a fragrance campaign you may think, but this is Chanel No.5!  It is probably the world’s best known perfume and at its original launch, Coco Chanel described it as ‘a woman’s perfume, with the scent of a woman.’  Marilyn Monroe boosted its sales after provocatively answering an impertinent reporter that the only thing she wore to bed was indeed Chanel No.5

We know that ladies love their perfume and fragranced toiletries, but todays modern man has been catching up in leaps and bounds. Just take note of the groaning supermarket shelves the next time you nip in to do the weekly shop…you’ll find many a man loitering with intent, eyeing up the plethora of products on offer.

So, have Chanel read the marketplace correctly? Are we ready to have a male selling us a female scent….to be honest, i’m not sure i’m with them on this….maybe the bandwaggon heading toward a Jolie/Pitt wedding might have tipped the balance for them. Its a bold, if somewhat strange path to tread, and it will be interesting to see what happens.

Chanel No.5 is a plush elegant juice including extremely feminine accords of jasmine, rose and ylang, and has stood the test of time since it was first introduced in 1921, but with well over 1000 fragrances being launched every single year, maybe this is needed to lifts its head above its rivals.

Whatever happens, we’ll soon find out, as its been reported that Brad and his family have already encamped in Richmond as shooting the ad campaign begins this week. Part of the 7 figure deal has, apparently, been 4 tickets to see the Stone Roses in Heaton Park, much to Helens delight as she has tickets for the same day!….Just make sure you are wearing Chanel No.5 Helen and you’ll soon be in the VIP area

I’d be delighted to hear any thoughts you may have on this…….

It’s always good to be British, but 2012 seems to be the year for us Brits to show off our fine country as eyes from all over the world will be upon us as we celebrate our Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and of course the hosting of the Olympic Games.

And just so that no-one feels left out here are a few versions from around our green and pleasant land of how to say Great Britain…

If you dwell in Wales you may know it better as Prydain Fawr, for Gaelic speakers it would be An Bhretain Mhor (there are spelling variations dependant on whether you are Irish or Scottish Gaelic )…even Cornwall has its own Cornish term, Breten Veur.

It is the time to celebrate our creative talents, our traditional industries and of course our eccentricities.

Parades and pageants will abound as Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her 60th year on the throne. A 3 day event involving dancers, musicians, equestrian and military displays will take place at Windsor Castle in May, but the thing I am most looking forward to is the Thames river pageant. This event takes place on Sunday 3rd June and will be one the largest flotillas ever assembled on the River Thames. Over 1000 vessels of all shapes and sizes will be beautifully dressed with streamers, flags and the like, recalling both its royal heritage and its heyday as a busy working, bustling river.

On the Monday there will be a live concert followed by the lighting of thousands of beacons around the world to commemorate her reign over the UK and to celebrate her role as head of the commonwealth. I do hope that some of our lesser well known traditions get an airing as well this year on the global stage. You cant beat a bit of welly wanging, or a good old hanky waving morris dancer prancing around on the cobbles.

We could always televise the world championship black pudding throwing contest, where the age old Lancashire / Yorkshire rivalry is played out by trying to knock Yorkshire puddings off a 20ft ledge with a Lancashire black pudding in the local town of Ramsbottom!  And if none of that appeals, then how about trying your hand at the dangerous sport of cheese rolling, a sedate game of lawn croquet or that peculiarly British phenomenon of a titilating streak across a cricket/rugby/football pitch!

Anyway, back to matters in hand. To celebrate with the nation we have created a very British collection of fragrances all based on Her Majestys (alleged) favourite flowers and fruits. They contain notes of lily, tulip and rose, with fruity notes such as watermelon, pomegranate and marmalade.

Tigers Eye

Classic Pearl

Pink Diamond

Emerald Jade

Sapphire Skies

Ruby Rose

If you would like any further information about these or any other of our fragrances, then please just give either myself or Helen a ring at the office, or just drop me an email at julie@carvansons.co.uk

I dont know about you, but for me cleaning the house is akin to painting the Forth Bridge. It’s a never ending job that causes me to be in a state of non stop guilt. As you know I work full time and with my daughter out at college I have to ask my mum to help out during the week to let Bruce out for a walk whilst the house is empty during the working week. No matter how much I try to get done at the weekend, it’s never enough to have a spotless house – in fact I am always amazed if I drop in to see a friend unexpectedly and find almost everything clean, tidy and in its rightful place, just how on earth does that happen! I swear that even overnight things appear to jump out of cupboards and off shelves ready for me to tidy away again. My mum is of a certain age that she doesnt work anymore and seems to have forgotten the plight of the working mother, always happy to point out a ceiling cobweb that she had noticed the day before ”and is still there Julie” - although to be fair, I do remember her often ironing at 10pm when she was working. To be honest, I can always find much more interesting things to do after I’ve had my tea and the hands of the clock are approaching 7pm than starting to get the dust removed and the hoover out or the iron warmed up.

So on this note I have been interested to read recent articles that cleaning products have for some while been upping their ante on the fragrance front. Apparently we have been a little too blase about the standard lemon or pine household fragrances of old for far too long, and so the supermarket shelves bulge and groan with an enormous array of products such as washing up liquids that all more or less do the same job, but now we have a choice of winter spices, pomegranate & passionflower, tea tree & peppermint, green tea, apple blossom - in fact you could almost name any aroma and find it on the aisle ready to brighten your mood AND your dishes.

The happier you are – the cleaner your house (so goes the theory) and so manufacturers vie for our attention with the biggest brightest fragranced products enticing you to pop into your shopping trolley.

I have to admit to never buying a product without taking the top off (off the product, not off me!!) and smelling it first. The fragrance rather than the brand name usually has the sway factor for me, but I have yet to find the aroma that would really lift my mood whilst washing the pots. I am, however the eternal optimist, and so my quest continues to find that elusive smell that will elevate my mood so much that I will dance around the house every night duster in hand, smile on my face .

PS..If you find it before me, please let me know

And to finish off here is a little poem, penned by my own fair hand, that kind of sums up my cleaning regime!

Time for dusting, mopping and sweeping

Wiping and swiping, completely spring cleaning,

Cupboards are wiped and the kitchen is gleaming

then the alarm clock goes off – Oh no, I’m just dreaming!