Francesca creates solid perfumes and soaps! Her shop is so beautiful you can almost smell them! Read more about her shop here:
Shop Name: Pacific Perfumes
What you like to go by: Francesca
When did you start your shop? Just over a year ago
Is this your only job?
No, I also run a women only Guesthouse called The Mermaid in Wellington , NZ which I started 15 years ago in a Victorian house that I renovated and furnished with vintage and antique quirky possessions which I acquired over years of traveling. I am an unashamed collector of the weird and wonderful.
When did you realize you had this talent?
I always enjoyed trading, even from a child where my best friend and I collected copper and metal bits and pieces and sold to Metal Dealers to buy records! When I left home at the young age of 18 to see the world my first stop was in Kathmandu where I bought shirts and beads to sell at my next destination. The traders of the Silk road and the Perfume & Spice Traders in the middle east feel like my ancient ancestors! I then
continued the trading when I traveled to Greece at 20 and traded small perfumes to the locals that I'd acquired in London. I thought- why don't I just try to make these myself? The concept was developed, I sourced the materials and began. I realized I loved the idea of perfume and the many facets of it in relation to why people wear it and want it and I became successful in the way I made it.
Where do you find your inspiration?
My inspiration seems to drop out of the sky. Ideas that manifest from unexpected moments, often a conversation that is unrelated to the idea, an image I see, a gathering I attend, a moment when I am drumming or surrounded by exciting landscapes. I have to keep stimulated with new ways of being. Inspiration happens when I am freshly involved with a new project, then I get inspired to move deeper into the concepts I am pursuing and my mind just
expands and overflows. When Im inspired like this I have to pull back a little so I can remember where the hell (excuse my swearing) I'm going with these ideas.
Who has been the most supportive of your work?
My darling daughter Phaedra is incredibly supportive of my ideas and business and my partner Kate is also very supportive. My mother is probably my biggest fan! I often don't expect My friends to know what i'm doing but then suddenly one or two will say how much they admire this or that and I'm like- wow, that's wonderful!
What is one thing you would like to accomplish that you haven't yet?
In business? I'd like to get involved in producing essential oils and Absolutes, either by having land where the Botanicals are grown, like own a Vanilla/ Spice farm in Fiji or help to organize such productions in various
Islands here in the Pacific. I travel a lot to Samoa, Fiji and Hawaii. The Pacific is such a rich, diverse and wonderful area of this earth with incredible potential.
In life? Africa is a continent that awaits me.
What are your words to live by or favorite quote?
I think we can't go wrong with:
All we are saying is give peace a chance.
John Lennon
Excerpt from Profile:
I am a Perfumer and entrepreneur living in Aotearoa (New Zealand) which in Maori means Land of the Long White Cloud. I'm also Co-Founder of Pacific Perfumes. We make a variety of solid Perfumes and beautiful Soaps that come from a desire to create the feeling and essence of our special land. We recently won 2 Green Packaging Design Awards for our Artisan Botanical Perfume Range.
I first started creating Perfumes when I lived in Greece and became totally hooked then and there. Living there for 20 years I was inspired by the contrast of Antiquities and Modern times, how many centuries of history could live side by side. I rode a motorbike in those days and would jump on a boat to a Greek Island, ride off at the other end and introduce my perfumes to beautiful craft shops there. It was a great life and I felt truly blessed!
I love mixing and experimenting with new materials and putting visual ideas into perfume and everything that surrounds the process of creative business.
I am interested in taking my Perfumes to a more conceptual state. I am excited about creating fragrances that expand peoples imagination and give them an appreciation of Natural Botanical oils, resins and the like. Its an extraordinary journey for me and it gives me great pleasure to share it. The Botanical natural ingredients are amazing, both to play with and wear. They're totally interactive and become full of memories for the wearer.
I believe we have to take care of the planet so we endeavor to produce something beautiful, with love, that does not take a great toll on the environment.
I am hugely passionate about perfume, photography, drumming, traveling, nature, animal rights, environmental issues, dancing, creating food and documentaries on life's important issues.
I get inspired by Friends, Music, Poetry, Art , my animals and Extraordinary thoughts by Extraordinary people.
