Florapolis in Redfern – A new Urban Florist

Video

Hello natural beauties how are you? I was walking home the other evening and stumbled across a gorgeous new florist called Florapolis. Attached to the old garage at the top of Regent St, Redfern, you could be mistaken that you were in Europe, somewhere in the countryside, admiring delightful flowers, plants and good vibes.

Buy my 100% natural and organic botanical perfumes, and paperback book here:

suzannerbanks.com.au

Digital downloads and paper backs of my book Revelation! Reveal your Destiny with Essentials Oils here:

Barnes & Noble Booktopia AU Amazon UK

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Carlos has created a space that not only is supercool, but that elevates flowers to their rightful place in an urban environment. From recycled old mattress frames that make a potting shed, to old ladders and boxes it really captured me as I walked by.

A stunning posie in an old glass, wrapped with leaves

All the posies were out the front, with a special shed/office at the back for the tall flowers which included roses a plenty. It was evening so my little movie is a bit dark but you’ll get the drift.

Recycling is the key word here as Florapolis has used found objects like old pots, discarded furniture and pretty much anything you can think of that has a great look and no doubt a great story.

And this is the little posy I bought for my friend Sheila who lives in a nursing home. If you live in Sydney it’s worth a visit.

Remember to treat yourself first, then everyone will benefit.

Pruning Lavender at Paradise Botanical Garden

Video

Hello natural beauties how are you? I’ve been a bit slack with my posts but I am caring for my elderly parents and that takes up a lot of time. I was happy to escape to Paradise Botanical Garden last week to get some fresh air and help the garden. My job was cutting the lavender and it was a joyous, and cold morning. Avoiding the bees was my biggest challenge.

Buy my 100% natural and organic botanical perfumes, and paperback book here:

suzannerbanks.com.au

Digital downloads and paper backs of my book Revelation! Reveal your Destiny with Essentials Oils here:

Barnes & Noble Booktopia AU Amazon UK

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The garden on the Central Coast just north of Sydney will be having an open weekend with local businesses selling their wares, from refreshments to aromatherapy. Come and visit on the first weekend of August 2020.

Remember to treat yourself first, then everyone will benefit.

Make 5 Quick and Easy Perfumes with Only 3 Essential Oils in Each Creation

Video

Hello natural beauties how are you? After my last blog with poetry about flowers, I feel we need a little bit more inspiration to unlock our hearts and minds during this weird time. Here are a few perfumes you can make in a minute with just 3 essential oils and a few drops of carrier oil.

Buy my 100% natural and organic botanical perfumes, and paperback book here:

suzannerbanks.com.au

Digital downloads and paper backs of my book Revelation! Reveal your Destiny with Essentials Oils here:

Barnes & Noble Booktopia AU Amazon UK

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The classic Duralex glass dish is handy to make oil blends and quick perfumes in

Pure Pulse Point Perfume

In a little dish mix these oils and anoint your pulse points or chakras – 3 drops of essential oils and dilute with a few drops of carrier oil – always patch test first! You could use almond oil, coconut oil, jojoba, grapeseed, sunflower, and many more.

Heart

1 x drop cedarwood Atlas

1 x drop lavender

1 x drop orange

Sparkling Butterfly

1 x drop lime

1 x drop geranium

1 x nutmeg

Elemental Energy

1 x drop Siberian fir

1 x drop lemon

1 x drop amber

a fir forest in Finland borrowed from cartinafinland.fi

Sunset

1 x drop Australian sandalwood

1 x drop ylang ylang

1 x petitgrain

Fireside Kisses

1 x drop bergamot

1 x drop peru balsam

3 x drops rose in 3% jojoba * see my article for more info on 3% blends in jojoba

I hope you enjoy these easy recipes xoxo

Remember to treat yourself first, then everyone will benefit.

Rosy Poetry for Isolation and Quiet Time

Video

Hello natural beauties how are you? I’ve been looking for some fragrant inspiration during isolation and quiet time. I came across some lovely poetry about flowers and picked some special poems about roses, just for you. There is something so special about old fashioned, heavenly scented roses in a garden, and that is exactly what I picture when I read these poems. I hope you enjoy them.

Buy my 100% natural and organic botanical perfumes, and paperback book here:

suzannerbanks.com.au

Digital downloads and paper backs of my book Revelation! Reveal your Destiny with Essentials Oils here:

Barnes & Noble Booktopia AU Amazon UK

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More beautiful roses from my recent trip to New Zealand

The Rose Family
by Robert Frost
The rose is a rose,
And was always a rose.
But the theory now goes
That the apple’s a rose,
And the pear is, and so’s
The plum, I suppose.
The dear only know
What will next prove a rose.
You, of course, are a rose–
But were always a rose.

Nobody knows this little Rose
by Emily Dickinson

It might a pilgrim be
Did I not take it from the ways
And lift it up to thee.
Only a Bee will miss it —
Only a Butterfly,
Hastening from far journey —
On its breast to lie —
Only a Bird will wonder —
Only a Breeze will sigh —
Ah Little Rose — how easy
For such as thee to die!

A different rose, in the same park, about 2 years ago

A Red, Red Rose
by Robert Burns
O my Luve’s like a red, red rose
That’s newly sprung in June;
O my Luve’s like the melodie
That’s sweetly played in tune.
As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I;
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
Till a’ the seas gang dry:
Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi’ the sun;
I will luve thee still, my dear,
While the sands o’ life shall run.
And fare thee weel, my only Luve,
And fare thee weel awhile!
And I will come again, my Luve,
Tho’ it ware ten thousand mile.

One Perfect Rose
by Dorothy Parker
A single flow’r he sent me, since we met.
All tenderly his messenger he chose;
Deep-hearted, pure, with scented dew still wet—
One perfect rose.
I knew the language of the floweret;
“My fragile leaves, ” it said, “his heart enclose.”
Love long has taken for his amulet
One perfect rose.
Why is it no one ever sent me yet
One perfect limousine, do you suppose?
Ah no, it’s always just my luck to get
One perfect rose.

Do you love roses too?

Persian Love cupcakes with rose water from That Vegan Lady

My Fragrant Saigon – Vietnam Blog 1

Posted on July 3, 2017 by suzannerbanks

Hello natural beauties for the next month I’ll be blogging from my phone while I travel Vietnam. Please forgive any typos or mistakes as it’s slightly more difficult doing this from a little device than it is from laptop. I’ll be searching for some fragrant moments for you and here is what I’ve found on my first few days …

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Buy my 100% natural and organic botanical perfumes, and paperback book here: suzannerbanks.com.au

Digital downloads of my book Revelation! Reveal your Destiny with Essentials Oils:

Barnes & Noble Booktopia AU Amazon UK

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The most aromatic moment so far has to be the Vietnamese coffee. The robusta bean is mostly used which is more bitter than the arabica. Coffee culture is a serious thing here and being a diabetic vegan I have to drink it black without sugar – on ice! Iced coffee and iced tea are what most of the locals drink and I’m down with that because it’s soooooo hot! I’m surprised how much I love it!

Ca phe den da (iced black coffee)

So many beautiful teas – literally dried flowers at the Ben Thanh Market

A little star jasmine flower on the streets of Saigon

A Vietnamese orange – the rind smells like a mix of mandarin and orange and the fruit has a mild mandarin flavour.

Incense at the Buddhist Jade Pagoda was absolutely divine

Fragrant Lilies at the jade pagoda

And finally a trip to Villa Royale Antiques and Tea Room for a fragrant jug of Iced Sillver Moon (peach) tea

I’ve loved my first few days in Vietnam in the beautiful city of Saigon.

Stay tuned for the next episode where I’ll be posting pics from the Mekong Delta and the beachy Nha Trang.

Fragrant Rosey Poetry

Video

Hello natural beauties! Flowers and fragrance never get old! Looking for inspiration, I’ve found some lovely poetry about roses. Continuing on from last week’s An Afternoon with Roses I hope you enjoy this romantic interlude …..

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Buy my 100% natural and organic botanical perfumes, and paperback book here: suzannerbanks.com.au

Digital downloads of my book Revelation! Reveal your Destiny with Essentials Oils:

Barnes & Noble Booktopia AU Amazon UK

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The Rose Family by Robert Frost

The rose is a rose,
And was always a rose.
But the theory now goes
That the apple’s a rose,
And the pear is, and so’s
The plum, I suppose.
The dear only know
What will next prove a rose.
You, of course, are a rose–
But were always a rose.

Persian Love cupcakes with rose water and rose petals from That Vegan Lady

The Grave and The Rose by Victor Hugo

The Grave said to the Rose,
“What of the dews of dawn,
Love’s flower, what end is theirs?”
“And what of spirits flown,
The souls whereon doth close
The tomb’s mouth unawares?”
The Rose said to the Grave.

The Rose said, “In the shade
From the dawn’s tears is made
A perfume faint and strange,
Amber and honey sweet.”
“And all the spirits fleet
Do suffer a sky-change,
More strangely than the dew,
To God’s own angels new,”
The Grave said to the Rose.

Rose is the Queen of oils

A Red, Red Rose by Robert Burns

O my Luve’s like a red, red rose
That’s newly sprung in June;
O my Luve’s like the melodie
That’s sweetly played in tune.

As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I;
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
Till a’ the seas gang dry:

Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi’ the sun;
I will luve thee still, my dear,
While the sands o’ life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only Luve,
And fare thee weel awhile!
And I will come again, my Luve,
Tho’ it ware ten thousand mile.

bliss with roses – a botanical perfume by me available at suzannerbanks

Nobody knows this little Rose by Emily Dickinson

Nobody knows this little Rose —
It might a pilgrim be
Did I not take it from the ways
And lift it up to thee.
Only a Bee will miss it —
Only a Butterfly,
Hastening from far journey —
On its breast to lie —
Only a Bird will wonder —
Only a Breeze will sigh —
Ah Little Rose — how easy
For such as thee to die!

A bunch of mixed roses in a cafe. The large pink rose had a mild scent but the little white ones didn’t

Stanzas to the Rose by Mary Darby Robinson

SWEET PICTURE of Life’s chequer’d hour!
Ah, wherefore droop thy blushing head?
Tell me, oh tell me, hap’less flow’r,
Is it because thy charms are fled?
Come, gentle ROSE, and learn from me
A lesson of Philosophy.

Thy scented buds, LIFE’S joys disclose;
They strew our paths with magic sweets;
Where many a thorn like thine, fair ROSE,
Full oft the weary wand’rer meets;
And when he sees thy charms depart,
He feels thy thorn within his heart.

When Morn’s bright torch illum’d the sky,
Vainly thy flaunting buds display’d
Enamell’d leaves of crimson die,
Ill-fated blossoms doom’d to fade;
So ’tis with BEAUTY, hapless flow’r,
Its lustre blooms but for an hour.

Come blushing ROSE, and on my breast
Recline thy gentle head, and die;
Thy scatter’d leaves shall there be press’d,
Bath’d with a tear from PITY’S eye;
There shall thy balmy sweets impart
An essence grateful to my heart.

Thus SYMPATHY, with lenient pow’r,
Shall bid thy fading charms bestow
Soft odours for life’s happy hour,
Kind, healing balsam for its woe!
If such thy virtues, ROSE DIVINE!
OH ! MAY THY ENVIED FATE BE MINE

Beautiful rose in Wellington Botanic Gardens

Who doesn’t love roses?

An Afternoon with Roses – A Photo Essay

Posted on June 7, 2017 by suzannerbanks

Recently my friend Darryl and I visited an exhibition in the Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney featuring original botanical drawings, water colours and oil paintings. We then headed to the rose garden and this is what we found:

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Buy my 100% natural and organic botanical perfumes, and paperback book here:

suzannerbanks.com.au

Digital downloads of my book Revelation! Reveal your Destiny with Essentials Oils

Barnes & Noble Booktopia AU Amazon UK

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The sustainable rose garden in Sydney

The big red rose is the Gallipoli rose, Mr Lincoln on the far left

Aw Little Bo Peep

The Social Climber is pretty in pink

The Palace Rose Garden

My Hero

The yellow Molineux

Beautiful Honeyflow

Bonnie babes are mauve

and that was just a few! All these roses had a scent and I felt so wonderful by the time we left – I had inhaled beauty, softness, sweetness and colour.

And here is my rose perfume, with organics steam distilled rose oil, rose absolute, Ylang Ylang and some little surprises @ suzannerbanks.com.au

bliss with roses

Which roses do you love?

Botanical Perfumery vs Botanical Gin? Archie Rose Distillery Rocks My World

Posted on April 27, 2017 by suzannerbanks

Who knew that perfumery and distilling gin could be similar? Ben from the Archie Rose Distillery, right in the middle of Sydney, takes us on a fragrant (alcoholic) journey.

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Buy my 100% natural and organic botanical perfumes, and paperback book here: suzannerbanks.com.au

Digital downloads of my book Revelation! Reveal your Destiny with Essentials Oils:

Barnes & Noble Booktopia AU Amazon UK

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Archie Rose in Roseberry

We met at the fabulous bar in Roseberry for a pre tour drink. The drinks menu is so big it’s like a little book. The bar serves the gin, vodka, white rye (and soon whiskey) that they distill on site, with some charcuterie plates provided by Black Star pastry next door.

Archie Rise bar – pic taken from website Best International Bar – International Restaurant & Bar Design Awards (London)

Our tour guide Ben managed to cram the entire history of alcohol into our tour while cracking jokes and serving us tastes of the really strong stuff straight from the copper still.

Ben in black on the left, entertaining us with his witty quips and extensive knowledge and passion

Ben likened the blending of gin and the individual distillates to perfumery. I had already seen the signs when I first walked in to the distillery. What really peaked my interest, was the wall of glass measuring equipment housing single botanical distillates. Ooooooooooo …… glass beakers and botanicals!!!

single botanical distillates

How excited was I to see juniper, blood lime, orange and Dorrigo pepper all lined up?

Very, very excited!

The full rack of single botanical distillates for the gin

All these single botanicals are blended to make the gins –

Signature Dry Gin -“fourteen traditional and native botanicals, each uniquely infused and individually distilled in our copper pot still. Perfectly balanced and wonderfully complex, our Signature Dry Gin is accented by native Australian botanicals, including Blood Lime, Dorrigo Pepperleaf, Lemon Myrtle and River Mint. All underpinned with pronounced juniper berry.

This gin is smooth and soft with the beauty of juniper powering through.

cassia, liquorice and ginger – a perfumer’s delight!

Cassia liquorice and ginger take their place in the lineup!

Distiller’s Strength Gin – An overproof gin, packed with fifteen individually distilled botanicals, including fresh pears from Orange in NSW, rose petals, elderflower, pronounced juniper and distilled honey direct from our rooftop beehives. Distinguished, complex and intense, with a higher ABV, Archie Rose Distiller’s Strength is for those who love bigger, bolder flavours.

This beautiful fragrant gin blew my mind. Floral and sweet and bold all at the same time. Could I actually wear this as a perfume?

lemon myrtle, apple and river mint

Lemon myrtle, apple and river mint ….

Limited Edition – Archie Rose x Horisumi

Autumn “In collaboration with acclaimed tattoo artist, Horisumi, Horisumi Autumn is the first in a series of four rare gins, which celebrate the uniqueness of each Japanese season. Inspired by a mutual respect for nature and the hand forged, Horisumi Autumn accentuates the spice-driven notes of red miso, sesame seed and sansho pepper, making for a complex, savoury gin. With an emphasis on deeper, earthy characteristics underpinned by spice, Horisumi Autumn offers gentle warmth as the evenings begin to cool.”

This gin is spicy and warm and I’m in awe of the blender – divine!

tasting trays with little amber bottles of water to add to the straight gin

And as a perfumer and aromatherapist I was so happy to see a little amber bottle with a dropper!

Hey guess what? You can be a perfumer and gin blender yourself with Archie Rose. Simply go to the website and either choose to have a Gin Blending Experience (a class on site) or just create your own gin on the website right here!

This distillery house is pure class. They respect the plants they are working with and their passion is infused in every cask, every bottle, and every drink.

Check out Archie Rose https://archierose.com.au/

This is not a sponsored post – I just loved everything about it!

Roses Are Always the Queens

Video

Hello lovers of beauty and scent! I have recently experienced some beautiful roses – the old fashioned kind you might find in a suburban garden. The shape and colours are as diverse as the magnificent fragrance emanating from the petals. Here are a few of my finds …

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Please check out my new book REVELATION! – Reveal Your Destiny with Essential Oils

Barnes & Noble Booktopia AU Amazon UK

and many other stores worldwide as an ebook and paperback

**************************************************************************************************************

Last week I was in Goulburn, a country town about 2 hours south-west of Sydney. It has beautiful architecture and a gorgeous park right in the centre. There is a lovely rose garden in the park, and I set about smelling all the roses that were blooming. It was a warm autumn day and these apricot roses were divinely fragrant ….

A different rose, in the same park, about 2 years ago

A beautiful bunch of small roses at my friends house a couple of weeks ago were so beautifully perfumed- often the little roses don’t have a scent.

Little roses, big scent

When we acknowledge the beauty of a rose, we acknowledge the beauty within us.

The rose is the Queen.

Embrace roses and rose essential oil to enhance your experiences.

You are the Queen of your life – play this audio to remind yourself!

A bunch of mixed roses in a cafe. The large pink rose had a mild scent but the little white ones didn’t

And finally, the rose leaves us another gift when she returns to back to where she came from – the rosehip. This fruit grows after the flower has died, and gives us wonderful rosehip oil – the perfect skin moisturiser.

Rosehip in a back lane in Sydney

Thank you roses.

Oils for Meditation

Posted on November 29, 2012 by suzannerbanks

aaahhh meditation!

Meditation is a wonderful thing, and doesn’t really need any added help. It’s about being, not doing. It’s about connecting and detaching. So do we need essential oils to help our meditation practice? Probably not, but sometimes it adds anchoring to the ritual and helps some relax into the process. When you vapourise oils in a classic “oil burner” with a candle, the flame acts as an agent of transformation.

I love this oil burner from pagethirtythree.com

My choices for meditation oils are:

Lavender – I use lavender for everything! It is as warming as it is cooling, It is calming and nurturing, It is centering and grounding, and brings together your energy. It is a well-known oil for relaxation due to its high ‘linalool” content. A few deep breaths of lavender at the start of your meditation will help you zone in to yourself quite quickly. My motto is “If in doubt, use lavender”.

Frankincense – oh ye olde magic of frankincense! It starts out as a resin from the tree and is then steam distilled to make the oil. It is the oil of breathing deeply and has its roots in spiritual and religious practices. By breathing deeply and expanding your lungs, more oxygen can flow into your body. The combination of increased oxygen and the natural feeling of relaxation when you take a deep breath, adds up to a very peaceful vibration. It is in this state we can connect with our higher selves, and essentially “God”. It is almost used in churches as a scent to induce a type of hypnotic trance.
For a quite peaceful meditation use frankincense oil.

Rose – the ‘queen’ of oils, it is an oil of self nurturing and self-love. Rose can be used for everything from heat exhaustion to cuts and wounds. The scent is divine and when you are in the presence of pure rose oil you wont be able to escape is enveloping nature. I think of rose crystal quartz when I use this oil too, the love crystal. Shakti Gawain talks about “pink bubbles of love” in her revolutionary book from 1978 “Creative Visualization”. Pink, oil of rose, and rose quartz go hand in hand – I often surround myself with the energy of rose quartz, and rose oil, when I feel I need a bit of help and kindness. Use rose oil in your meditation to give yourself a feeling of security, softness and love so you can open to the messages of the universe.

unpolished rose quartz borrowed from angelreikihealing.com

So many oils can be used for the practice of meditation just be guided by your intuition and your personal fragrance preferences. You don’t even need to vapourise the oils you could just put a drop on your upper lip (patch test for sensitivity first).

Some more relaxing oils for meditation are:

orange, bergamot, petitgrain, lemon balm, neroli,

Some expansive oils:

pine, cypress, fir, tea tree, basil

The most important thing is to set some time aside to meditate – and that can be so hard in our busy daily lives! The oil is the icing on the cake.

Meditate, and the whole world will benefit.

suzannerbanks

scent . intention . consciousness . essential oils

Tag Archives: rose

Florapolis in Redfern – A new Urban Florist

Video

Pruning Lavender at Paradise Botanical Garden

Video

Make 5 Quick and Easy Perfumes with Only 3 Essential Oils in Each Creation

Video

Rosy Poetry for Isolation and Quiet Time

Video

My Fragrant Saigon – Vietnam Blog 1

Fragrant Rosey Poetry

Video

An Afternoon with Roses – A Photo Essay

Botanical Perfumery vs Botanical Gin? Archie Rose Distillery Rocks My World

Roses Are Always the Queens

Video

Oils for Meditation

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