Holiday Scent Sales

While we at Littleflowers are off duty, convalescing by candlelight in the back bedroom with the moon calendar and the collection of favorite perfumes and the pill bottles and the blur of visitors and edge-of-survival-meets-ecstasy/dread and the elegant blue glass vase whose neck is so graceful and steep and who swells so boldly toward its bottom and the sponge baths and the symptom journal and the no appetite except for the relief of late night poetry and the mischievous glint off of the silver IV pole like the glint in the eye of an expectant dance partner to whom we must whisper not quite yet, why, you may be doing some smart holiday shopping right here.

Life alters, it does not stop. Grounding seasonal ritual, and our easy pleasure held in the hand or simply experienced with loved ones, and the filaments that bind these two elements need not break - even in the heart of the dark night.

Oh, and let's not forget the blessed Vicodin. Just for the time being . . . we all know what a natural girl I am at heart.

xoxoxox.n

Squeamish? Look Away!

Here's to doctors who still make home visits!

And a BIG thank you to all the folk who have been so incredibly kind and supportive during these trying past couple of weeks. xox.n

Holiday Gift Bundles Are Up!

photograph courtesy of Rachel N, an amazing cook who also happens to be an angel

There are now three holiday gift bundles posted in the shop. I didn't do the math for you - you can calculate the savings for yourselves! ;-) I'm eying the listing for the vanilla duo rather greedily, which is frankly odd, you may be thinking, as I could theoretically just pluck a few of them for myself from the studio . . . I think my favorite of the three, if I had to pick, is the bundle pictured here. Its shop listing:

'This economical, luxury-sized kit of littleflowers products contains everything you'll need to cleanse, soften, brighten, and moisturize your smiling face! All enclosed goodies are formulated from lovely, pure ingredients:

-One Goat Milk & Seaweed Brightening Cleanser/Masque

-One Chamomile Cleansing Oil

-One Fresh Floral Toner

-One Rich Silk Eye Treatment

-One Toning Skin Serum (*Please specify in a note to me at checkout if you'd like to substitute a Regenerating Skin Serum for the Toning Serum.)

All items are in glass containers. You can reference individual item listings for a description and complete ingredient list of each item.

Packaged in a moss-green organza bag, this spa-to-go makes a functional yet luxurious gift for yourself or someone you love."

You saw it here!

xox.nicole

Carl Larsson ~ "Convalescence"

Ripped from the headlines! (of our shop's front page):

"Right now, Littleflowers is an active fundraiser for our proprietress, Nicole, so that she may receive the healing treatments she needs (many of which are not covered by insurance). Jason, her partner-in-crime with an uncanny eye for feminine aesthetics, will be assisting her in packing up each one of your orders with loving care. Please refer to item descriptions for details, as Nicole will be unable to provide her usual in-depth "skin care consultations" via etsy convos. And don't miss out on our special holiday gift bundles! With gratitude for your support, XOX"

more to come . . .

*I do not mix business with pleasure

But I do occasionally, it appears, swirl it with a bit of sadness. That stubborn island of true despair smack in the center of a luminous puddle of joy. The public mixing is a personal decision; one that I am comfortable with. I like it when we're allowed to be human, even here in the pick-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps, we-don't-air-our-dirty-laundry-in-public, rugged individualism-or-bust USA.

On the brighter side - as there can be no light without shadow, some creatives, some Jungians might postulate - what kind of poet/perfumer would Littleflowers be were she out of touch with the heart of true melancholy?! I ask you.

xox.n

*Total lie - i mix business and pleasure all the time!

Perhaps Balloons Won't Fall . . .

but, make no mistake, the person who lands the 1000th purchase in the shop will receive a special package. A few fun extras, if you will, enclosed with their regular purchase(s). I'm feeling so grateful for the support and xo so many of you have sent to me and my little shop during this past year, and you know I'm always up for a celebration.

I'm also feeling celebratory as it's election night, and things are looking promising. If you're a US citizen on the west coast and have yet to vote, I hope that you will - there are several important propositions that have nothing to do with the presidential vote, but that could still use more voices! So even if the big stuff begins to look "sewn up," there are still key local measures at stake.

This whole business is monumentally important and exciting, and it is making me verrrrry nerrrrrrvous! Good-nervous, but still. Hold my hand!

On the edge of my futon, checking in,

xox.nicole

Curiouser and Curiouser

A surprise oddity came in today's mail - see that double-bottle in the bottom right corner of the picture? A dear friend all the way across the country in Oakland found it while thrifting and knew I had to have it. Jason hypothesizes that it was intended for oil and vinegar . . . I'm not ruling that out; I'm not at all sure of its original intended purpose. It is missing one of its pretty green ground-glass stoppers, and I am hunting around for a proper-sized cork while my online sweep for stopper #2 commences. I've got this gestating image of 2 blends, side by side: one, an amber-y veggie musk; the other, a tuberose-and-orris-heavy fantasy floral . . .