About Us
Well, technically, about me -- right now this is still a one-woman show. From the formulation of the products to the blending of fragrance and essential oils, the Instagram posts to fulfilling the orders, it is all just me.
So, who are you? How did OuroHermetica come about?
As an artist, I've always been interested in hand-making things. I first learned how to make bar soaps out of sheer curiosity to learn and candles from a desire to give more personal gifts. For years, friends and family alike loved getting my handmade holiday treats and pushed me to have them available throughout the year. Their requests fell on deaf ears - I wasn't ready to make my passion a reality yet.
What changed?
Well, as tends to happen in life, my focuses changed, I pursued other career paths, I kept my passions quietly for myself and my closest loved ones. Then, more life happened and I experienced a number of incredibly challenging years. As I worked through them, searching for myself and working on healing, I was drawn back to my roots - herbalism, witchcraft, handmaking, and aromatherapy.
What brought you back to those areas of interest?
Very honestly, my anxiety from the bad years had peaked, and I was having chest pains and panic attacks and dizzy spells. My incredibly caring partner, who I fully believe was put in my life to help me learn the importance of self care in the form of relaxation, pushed me to find something that would help soothe me and bring that energy down to a manageable level. I knew that scent was a powerful trigger for me, so I worked on creating a blend that would help me calm down - it was out of this space that Shu was born. Using this blend as a candle and spray at night in my bedroom, as a cream and perfume during the day, and in the bath whenever I could soothed my anxiety so much that I decided that I wanted to revisit the idea of making this a larger endeavor.
How do the fragrance blends come to be?
Oh, this is my favorite part, the creation of my goodies. It starts with inspiration, of course! To be honest, so far my fragrances have just sort of pulled themselves together. That is to say, I knew the deities/energies I wanted to be working with, and I also had pretty good ideas of the scents I wanted to be creating, and as I did my research into what magical, medicinal, and aromatherapeutic properties each note possessed, they all began to align with each other pretty cleanly.
Once I've got a firm idea of what the "main note" of a blend will be, I go about selecting supporting notes that not only add to the structure of the fragrance but also to the structure of the spell -- for instance, Shu starts with and features lavender for calm (both aromatherapeutic and magical properties of the flower) and builds on that with chamomile (great for calm and sleep), white sage (cleanse and soothe), oak moss (calm and heal), and amber (calm and cleanse).
From here, I select fragrance oils with the notes that I want that have been formulated by other, much larger companies who can batch skincare- and candle-safe fragrance oils and who are able to update their fragrance oils annually to keep up with international regulations and industry ideal standards*.
Why fragrance oils and not just essential oils?
I use fragrance oils for 2 main reasons: safety and conservation. Safety, as mentioned above, comes in the form of oils that I know are tested to not be combustible in candles or wax melts, that I know have been tested in a cruelty-free manner to be safe for skin contact, and that I know will be safe and easy for me to use to make cold-process soap (a finicky beast, at times). Conservation because a lot of the fragrances that I would like to utilize are in danger of being over-sourced, or are difficult to find that have been ethically sourced. This being said, the fragrance oils that I use are made with both synthetic fragrances AND essential oils.
How unique to OuroHermetica are the fragrances, then?
Very unique. Each OuroHermetica blend features a number of these fragrance oils, plus blend of essential oils to add to the fragrance, boost the aromatherapy benefits, and amplify the magical intent.
You keep mentioning magic....
Yup, I sure do! I am a practicing witch, and as such, each of these blends has been created with the intention to manifest a specific energy, or bring help to the wearer. You can learn more about each fragrance blend and their intent on our fragrance selection page.
Does that mean I'm doing magic if I use these products?
I mean, yes and no. In my view, everything we do can be magic. This entire line is about the magic of giving self-care it's own ritual time, that idea cleansing oneself and cleansing ones space, both physically and energetically can be life-shifting. If lighting a candle and smelling that fragrance fill your space makes you feel a certain way, isn't that magical in and of itself? If the cream heals your dried, cracked skin while it elevates your mood, couldn't that be a bit of magic? But if all you want to do is have a nice bath that smells like tea roses and oranges, and leaves your skin soft as silk, and not manifest any love or heart healing into your life at the same time, by all means leave the magic out of it! This line is for absolutely everyone, no matter what your personal beliefs on energy might be.
I want to know more!!
And I can’t wait to tell you more! Come back soon to see more information here as I post it! Please send me any questions you might want answered!
For now, though, I think that about sums it up.
Thank you for checking out my little handmade dream-come-true! Please sign up for the newsletters and join me as I keep building OuroHermetica.