Bed of Roses

Laurie at the entrance to her Puurfumery

I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing Laurie Stern of Velvet and Sweet Pea's Purrfumery a few weeks ago. She was in the midst of preparing for Sniffapalooza's Fall Ball, but was kind enough to make time for me to chat. What a chat it was!  Her studio, aka Purrfumery, is a wonderland of beautifully made objects and smells and bottles. She told me about how she used to go across the street to Christopher McMahon's house to smell different oils. It made me jealous just hearing about it!

Laurie's organ

Oils are organized by scent types

 Laurie's organ was a total wonder and an eye opener. Instead of organizing her oils alphabetically, she organizes hers by scent type. I thought that was very smart and plan to do that with my oils one of these days. Right now mine are bunched together with no organizing principle. I also noticed a lot of antique and vintage oils in her studio. She told me that she loves going to garage sales and flea markets and finds them there. I go to garage sales and flea markets, but I've never seen anything! I've got to go shopping with Laurie!

Laurie's garden was another paradise. Her husband is a landscape designer, so she has a good excuse to have a fabulous garden, but wow! I found the different experiences that the garden provides with different plants and different areas to be very playful and very Laurie Stern.

Laurie keeps an outdoor tub with running hot water!

She also keeps bees that provide her with propolis, beeswax and honey.

Laurie let me test some of her perfumes. I was also very lucky to be the first one to smell her new perfume, Bed of Roses! I'm putting a little bit on my wrist now... The perfume opens with a light, brandy-like, sweet rose with a hint of vanilla, then morphs into a symphony of layers upon layers of complex rosy scents. I think I smell Mutabilis on a hot day, my apricot-colored hybrid musk rose, also something like Rosa de Recht. Do I smell rose leaf? Maybe a hint of fir absolute? Bed of Roses is indeed a bed of roses. Once I put it on my wrist, I can't keep from smelling it. I'm now a total fan of Laurie Stern. Thank you, Laurie!!!