The Natural, Local, Too-Good-to-Be-True Perfume I'm Loving

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Okay, so I’ve never been a huge fan of natural perfume.

He said she had a perfume line calledCaptain Blankenshipthat I might dig.

So, I checked it out and fell in love with the whimsical scents.

All of her fragrances are made from essential oils and biodynamic grape alcohol base.

Plus, this stuff smells sophisticated and expensive and totally indulgent,butit’s only $30 a pop.

Recently, I got in touch with Jana to get to know about her and the line.

Picture of Jana Blankenship courtesy of Andria Lo

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Q: What made you get into creating fragrances?

I was always interested in scents and she had so many that she always let me play with them.

Playing chemist was a total dream for me.

At age 6, I concocted my first perfume called Scents of Hawaii.

I ended up developing an allergy to synthetic scents.

I get terrible headaches and feel nauseous.

I abandoned wearing perfume until six year ago when I got immersed in natural perfumery.

For me making perfume is an art practice and my palette is an incredibly rich array of aromatic materials.

Q: Where do you draw inspiration from?

A: I draw my inspiration from memories, places, and time spent in nature.

Once I started working with natural materials, it unlocked so many scent-related memories that I continue to explore.

With those impressions, I go back to the lab and start to play.

I make a run at stay close to the sense of wonder scents evoke for me.

I feel so lucky to have found this practice and it is so exciting to delve deeper each day.

thanks to Rachel Barrett for the gorgeous perfume picture

Q: What’s your current favorite in the line?

A: I love Manka (pictured above).

It is so fresh and watery and such an adventuresome summer scent to me.

It was inspired by time spent at an incredible lodge in Inverness, California called Manka’s.

It is one of my favorite places and my husband recently took me there for my birthday in May.

Q: Do you have any bizarre beauty secrets?

A: Mermaid scrubs!

I was on Montauk with a friend recently and she introduced me to this great ritual.

The simple natural exfoliating of the sand mixed with salt water makes for a beautiful scrub.

I even like to do this on my face.

Q: What’s up next?

Head to herwebsiteto order your own or see if she sells at a store near you.