The SlowCoast region of California is the fifty mile stretch between Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz, California. Its inhabitants are a collection of artisans, farmers, wildlife, botanicals and an intentional lifeometer which always tacks at easy-going. It's no surprise then, that Libby Patterson of Libby Patterson Organics (LPO) can be found collecting and teaching among the varied landscape nestled between sea and forest.
Libby Patterson of LPO Organics
Libby, like most people in the Slow Coast area, is very concerned with keeping her neck of the woods unspoiled, unhurried and in the case of the local Pumas- pure and spacious. Unlike most people, Libby responds to the situation as only artisan perfumers can- by creating a Puma terroir! “A portion of money from each bottle sold goes to The Puma Project which collars the big cats and releases them back to wilderness to watch them & insure their habitat remains pure and they have enough space.”
The scent of the puma's territory is the scent of the SlowCoast itself- it is the haze rising from the heated ground of an early morning run. It is the distant musk of animals in the woods and roaming the farmland. It is the sweetness of berries on a bush and the occasional hit of saline from the sea breeze. It is the amber light of dusk upon a day's worth of aromas rising from the coast of California.
Described as a 'rouge amber', Puma is a close to the skin scent of mountain trails and the seascape. It is a fruit and berry breeze of distant orchards and tender memories of connecting with nature. If this sounds vague, it is because memories can be vague, hazy and intensely sweet. With so much sensory input, one must focus attention on a note trail… this time cypress and woods… this time floral aspects… this time mushrooms and so on to encompass the entirety of what is happening on my skin. It is the outside, brought inside to journey through out the day.
Libby created a total of 32 ounces of Puma- the process taking over a year and including “ghosted echoes” of older designs by using the same bottles, albeit emptied, to provide a “molecular continuity”– which basically translates as modern alchemy. Puma retains the memories of these voyages into her own terroir- the same lands Libby and the Puma roam and call home.
Notes: strawberries, ollaliberries, blackberries, tayberries, local apples, sand, rock, embers from campfires, wild fennel, wormwood, cypress, narcissus, sage, redwood needles, chantrelles, porchini, and seaweed.
–Einsof, Naturals Editor and West Coast Contributor.
Disclosure: My sample was provided by LPO for review.
Thanks to Libby Patterson LPO Organics, we have 5mL of the foraged Puma for a US reader (value $150). To be eligible, please leave a comment about Libby’s Puma project. Draw closes January 18, 2015
We announce the winners only on site and on our Facebook page, so Like Cafleurebon and use our RSS option…or your dream prize will be just spilled perfume