Why L’Scents?

My dream for making perfume started a very, very long time ago.

When I was a youngster, my mum was an alchemist, quite ahead of her time, she would whip up many weird and wonderful concoctions in her kitchen. My mum’s interests were wide and varied. She studied herbalism, aromatherapy, homoeopathic remedies and Australian bush essences. Mum was a wizard of sorts, but it was never really talked about and in the 80’s it was taboo to practice witchcraft, wizardry or any ritual ceremonial practice. Yes, it went on, but it was seen in the Christian community as black magick and sinful to practice anything outside of the church and reading the bible.

One day, my mum had this crazy idea to take lavender essential oils internally, not me, but my sister did, and she complained about tasting lavender all week. There were some funny events. I discovered that I had a keen interest in learning the skills that my mum had. My mum was into meditation, at one stage, Buddhism, yoga and I think she even had a fascination for the Hare Krishnas. I remember mum teaching me to blend essential oils and scent and make face creams, soap and blends to address ailments, like wounds and salves for bad skin and pain. You name it; mum was right into it. Throughout my life, there were times when I got into making my moisturisers and played around with essential oils and fragrance, never quite being able to be in a position to create a product line.

Fast forward the clock 39ish years and here you have it, Malano Australia. Oh wow! If you had asked me 20 years ago if I thought I’d be creating products and using my passion for manufacturing, I would have said, “I’m not sure how I can pull it together.” Little did I know that fate had plans and when Masey and I planned this business 5 years ago, we knew that we wanted to include perfume down the track. So, it’s taken us all this time to bring it to life. So, if you have a dream, make a plan, find a way, take action and the more action you take, the more likely you are to reach your goals.

So, when we spoke about the perfume line, we decided to make it artisan, boutique but using the old-fashioned style of crafting scent. We chose to make Parfum first, as it’s our favourite being the strongest. Masey and I both loved the L’ Scents, as it has that beautiful French sound to it. After choosing L’ Scents, we had to talk about the names. I made some different perfumes some time ago, and my first one was dedicated to Masey. Most people who know Masey well call her “Mase”; hence, we decided on L’ Mase.

The story behind L’ Mase: It was crafted by me, thinking about Masey. She is a strong woman who loves some of the more traditionally masculine activities, although she looks feminine. She is warm, outgoing, persistent, reflective and passionate. I wanted a scent that reflected the perfect balance of femininity & masculinity at the same time. It is a paradoxical fragrance, exhilarating and provocative. Like all of us, Masey is a complex person, so I wanted to create a scent that evokes a vast array of sensations & responses that are visible to the observers.

Sometimes, when I see people try the scent, I watch their partners or friends, and I witness a shift in their body. The aroma takes them somewhere, daren’t I ask at times. It is easy to see that scent has an impact, and science does back it up. People have loved scent since the dawn of time. The Egyptians used scent at their ceremonies and had special oils made with flowers, herbs and resins. History tells us that Cleopatra used rose petals, honey and donkey’s milk in her bathing rituals.

L’ Mase is for those who love the citrus burst of Bergamot initially, with hay & cardamom, followed by the beautiful floral jasmine, citrus elemi, oudh wood & tobacco, with a strong base of leather, patchouli, musk & cedarwood. If you are looking for a head-turner, look no further. 

Moving on, Masey asked me to create a scent for her mum, who passed away in May 2020. This was an interesting challenge because there had to be a balance between the smells that her mum liked and the particular scent that reminds Masey of her mum. So, I had to think about Masey’s mum; What perfumes did she wear? What smells remind Masey of her Mum? What do I remember about her mum’s scent? What were her key personality traits? When I think about Masey’s mum, I think floral, oriental, persistent scent. She liked Red Door and Opium. So, I created a scent, but it was not right, I thought it was, but Masey wasn’t really convinced. So, I let that one go, and I created another one. The second one does remind me of her mum. Masey said she wanted to honour her mum by calling it L’ Lew because Lewis was her maiden name.

L’ Lew is floral opulence. When I think about Masey’s mum, words that come to mind are expressive, persistent, cheeky, loving, adventurous & I always remember a particular photo when she had her hair done by Masey; she looked glamorous. I think she was a Queen in one of her past lives. 

When I think about her scent and the ones she would wear, they were definitely floral, spicy, alluring, glamorous & pervasive. L’ Lew starts with a burst of blood orange, gardenia and spicy clove, followed by a floral heart of orchid, jasmine and then a spicy black pepper, supported by musk, vetiver, amber and chocolate.

If you refer to the ‘Fragrance Notes’ in each of the Parfums, you will see that they contain a well-balanced mix of Top, Middle (Heart) & Base notes, giving the wearer a sensory overload.

After L’ Lew, we had to think about some other names for Parfum and how they would align with L’ Mase & L’ Lew. It just so happens that my Nan loves perfume, and she asked if I could make her one. Bless Nan. She is 99 now and still living independently. Nan has shared all of her collected perfume bottles with Masey and me. Apparently, back in Nan’s early days, perfume was a real luxury, and the bottles were somewhat a collector’s item. Suffice to say; Nan has some beautiful little bottles from many years ago.

Then came L’ Blanche. My Nan has a rather unusual name. Most people remember Blanche from the TV show “The Golden Girls.” You could probably say that my Nan is a Golden Girl; she has maintained a great outlook on life and has had her fair share of grief and challenges; however, she has always said that life is about working through the tough times and never holding grudges. 

L’ Blanche is best described as aged, sophisticated and charismatic. It starts with bitter orange, grapefruit & raspberry, followed by the hearts of neroli, jasmine, nutmeg & violet, supported by a persistent base of blonde woods, patchouli, honey & musk. If you want to feel like a sophisticated millionaire, this one will deliver. My Nan has always been the Matriarch of the family, and she wears this parfum well.

So, we have three out of five. Masey and I decided that it would be nice to make a scent for my mum, who passed away in 2000. This one was pretty easy for me because when I think about mum, she was always wearing rose, geranium, loved incense, frankincense, ylang-ylang, and the house always had a spiritual smell about it. A bit like walking into a spiritual shop, with the incense going and the meditation music playing. Mind you; she did like the odd rock song as well. She was also complex and had a diverse range of hobbies and favourite activities.

We called this one L’ Maur. My mum’s name was Maureen. This is an interesting scent, I love it, but it is unique, perhaps, specific. It is not one that a broad spectrum of people would love. It starts with a burst of grapefruit, blood orange, geranium & saffron, which gives the scent an odd twist. Followed up by rose, lilac & cinnamon, you can sense the unique twist, supported by a heavy base of tonka bean, incense, patchouli & amber. You can almost imagine being transported into a spiritual shop right now. It reminds me of a scent used in ritual practice, but first & foremost, it reminds me of my mum.

The fifth scent came about by thinking along the mystical line of our business. Our slogan, “Where science meets mysticism”, is a convergence of the two paradigms of thinking. We have a range of mystical products which are being created now, as we speak. We have already released the Perfume with Purpose line, and there are other products to follow.

Out of purely seeing people’s reactions to the Beard Oil for men, called “Black Jaguar”, Masey asked me if I could make a Parfum that evoked similar reactions. Now, if you give me a challenge like that, of course, I am up for it. So, we threw a lot of ideas around and finally decided on L’ Ascend. It’s perfect. This scent transcends people, and you can see it when they try it. So, it is two-fold, ascending in mystical terms & in the physical olfactory sensations, which I might add, brings about other more interesting sensations, if you know what I mean? (wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more).

L’ Ascend is intoxicating & aspiring. It starts with sharp citrus bergamot, lime, mandarin & cinnamon leaf, followed by heart notes of honeydew muguet lavender & tobacco leaf. Supported by a majestic blend of leather, water lily, violet leaf & oakmoss. This scent is mystical & guaranteed to switch on every sense.

The stories will not end there. We have 5 new L’ Scents being released over the next 12 months, but why stop there? Good question. We most likely won’t. The amazing thing about scent is that no matter what is created, there is something for everyone. We even have 7 amazing blends in roll-on perfumes called “Perfume with Purpose.” Be sure to read about those in the Mystical category. They each contain a unique mantra written by me from my meditation practice. I crafted the scent, which works in unison with the mantra, to bring about a sense of positivity into people’s lives during this crazy and often chaotic time on the planet.

If you ever have any questions, feel free to reach out to us and be sure to check out our social media. We are always releasing and launching new products there. I say we, but Masey is our social media queen, always looking for new and interesting ways to bring you our products & of course, at times, some behind the scenes info about us for you to see.

An even better idea, subscribe to our page for further updates and sign up to become a loyal member, receive great benefits and promotional discounts by email.

Thank you for taking the time to read the stories about L’ Scents.

For those who live locally, we have our Parfum at a beautiful wood gallery at Salamanca, called “Tiger Ina Papera.” It’s an amazing gallery where you can ignite all of your senses with the stunning woodwork on display and other unique Tasmanian products.

Many blessings to you all.

Maryka