To create ORTIR Apothecari niche perfumes I have learnt to grow and to distil aromatic crops. A pretty unique take on perfumery as well as a huge learning curve.
Earlier this year I was asked by The Fragrance Foundation to document the harvesting and distilling processes and I was really looking forward to capturing my summer activities on film (I love a challenge).
But we have really struggled this year with the weather and this was highlighted when we tried to film what we were doing on top of everything else.
Because when it wasn’t pouring with rain, we had very high winds. The former hindering our ability to harvest the crop and the latter making it nigh on impossible to collect when we did have a window to cut.
But the real take home was that in the ten years we have been here, we have never experienced anything like this weather pattern before. And then there is the global picture to consider.
I’m quite sure you will agree that if nothing else, this summer really underlined the absolute importance of sustainability in perfumery.
Saying that some of my aromatic crops yielded copious amounts of oil this harvest (some producing for the first time) and I know that British vineyards are looking forward to a bumper crop this season.
Underlining the fact that it’s about learning to work with and not against nature.