WHOLLY ROOTED
  • Start Here
  • About
    • About Our Family >
      • About Denise Cusack
    • Our Values >
      • Plant Conservation/Botanical Sanctuary
      • WR Environmental Commitment
  • What We Do
    • Permaculture Education
    • Regenerative Herbalism & Aromatherapy
    • Wholly Rooted Herb Farm >
      • Wholly Rooted 2023 Plans
  • Online Courses
    • The Regenerative Herbalist
    • Regenerative Plant Medicine Business
    • Aromatic Herbalism
  • Work With Denise
    • Permaculture Design >
      • What is Permaculture?
    • Mentorship
    • Speaking, Presentations >
      • Upcoming Presentations
      • Past Webinars, Podcasts & Classes
    • Denise Writing
  • Bits & Pieces
    • On the Blog >
      • Blog Archive
      • Recipe Archive >
        • Food + Pantry
        • Herbs + EO's
    • Freebies
    • Health Justice + Mutual Aid >
      • HWB Donation Distribution Network
      • Seed Grants & Donation Distribution Network
      • Grow a Row for HWB
    • Clinical Herbalism
    • Clinical Aromatherapy
    • Natural Perfumery
    • Where We Are Located
    • What I'm Reading
    • Denise Art + Design >
      • Denise Art
      • Photography
  • Media
  • Contact+
  • Start Here
  • About
    • About Our Family >
      • About Denise Cusack
    • Our Values >
      • Plant Conservation/Botanical Sanctuary
      • WR Environmental Commitment
  • What We Do
    • Permaculture Education
    • Regenerative Herbalism & Aromatherapy
    • Wholly Rooted Herb Farm >
      • Wholly Rooted 2023 Plans
  • Online Courses
    • The Regenerative Herbalist
    • Regenerative Plant Medicine Business
    • Aromatic Herbalism
  • Work With Denise
    • Permaculture Design >
      • What is Permaculture?
    • Mentorship
    • Speaking, Presentations >
      • Upcoming Presentations
      • Past Webinars, Podcasts & Classes
    • Denise Writing
  • Bits & Pieces
    • On the Blog >
      • Blog Archive
      • Recipe Archive >
        • Food + Pantry
        • Herbs + EO's
    • Freebies
    • Health Justice + Mutual Aid >
      • HWB Donation Distribution Network
      • Seed Grants & Donation Distribution Network
      • Grow a Row for HWB
    • Clinical Herbalism
    • Clinical Aromatherapy
    • Natural Perfumery
    • Where We Are Located
    • What I'm Reading
    • Denise Art + Design >
      • Denise Art
      • Photography
  • Media
  • Contact+

natural perfumery

I am a person that cannot tolerate any artificial fragrance. I cannot handle dryer sheets, laundry soap, dish soap, perfume, deodorant, makeup, shampoo, conditioner, hair products, body products, etc. with any petrochemical based fragrance or with any formaldehyde. That is one reason why I grow my own herbs and why we make our own ... everything. While there are many natural product companies out there these days, they are expensive, so I like to purchase the unscented bulk variety of any item and then blend my own essential oils into it if there is any fragrance, so I can tolerate it. We cannot even have someone in our home who uses perfume or dryer sheets without having an allergic reaction, so we are very particular about every single thing. 

This life of fragrance sensitivity as led me to aromatherapy and the use of all natural distillations of plants via essential oils and hydrosols. I have a very sensitive sense of smell - as in I can smell your mildewy old book or dryer sheets from a hundred feet - and so in order for me to enjoy aroma, it must be pure and natural. 

Many people with fragrance sensitivities believe it is ALL fragrance, but I have found it is fake chemical scents, and I am fine if it is a pure, unadulterated eo. So, making perfumes and scents as aromatherapy as well as personal fragrance is an area of interest. I love to grow my own aromatics and infuse them into alcohol, oils, butters, or lotions, distill them into hydrosols, and blend those things with essential oils to create amazingly rich, deep, and aromatic aromas. Aroma is therapeutic to me on all levels from fresh flowers to a blended personal fragrance. 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Perfumery is an art and a science, a delicate dance of balance and hues of color and intensity, but in smell. Aromatic elements all layer within their frequencies to create a new and unique profile that interacts with our own bodies, environments, olfactory system, and subtle aromatic elements. It is wonderful to make something with a profound impact on say, mood, while also learning more about the different plants and elements in our explorations.

Over the past few years I have grown tired at how scents and fragrances are gendered. There is no masculine or feminine smell other than what we make up out of the clear blue sky. How is juniper for only some folks and not others. Why do we need gendered scents? What about the amazing diversity of gender expressions and diversity of humans who have different preferences and scent experiences. I love creating aromas that are NOT for him or her, but for us as a whole without any arbitrary binary. This is an exciting area in aromatherapy and fragrance, I think, cleaving out all natural fragrance without chemicals and without gender binaries. What we like or dislike in aromas is from our lived experiences and personal biased preferences. How can we change the descriptors of masculine or feminine in personal products that express humanity, not limited him or her? 

Keep an eye on this space for more explorations in aromatherapy, plant aromatics, aromatic herbalism, and natural perfumery. 

​

Work With Denise

​​Permaculture Consultations
​
Have Denise Speak at Your Event
What I Speak About
Webinars, Podcasts, Classes
Denise Writing
Denise Art 
Photography

work with denise

Permaculture Design
Herbscaping & Foodscaping
Speaking/Presentations
Upcoming Presentations
Past Webinars, Classes, Presentations
​Denise Writing

Journal/blog

About us

About Our Family
About Wholly Rooted Farm
About Denise
Our Values
Plant Conservation/Sanctuary
WR Environmental Commitment

Library

On the Blog
What is Permaculture
Free Downloads
Wholly Rooted Farm Photos
Where We Are Located
What I am Reading
Perfumery
Unschooling
Denise Art
Denise Photography

Health Justice
HWB Donation Network
HWB Seed Grant System
​Grow a Row for HWB
Herbalism  & Aromatherapy ​

What We Do

Permaculture Education
Regenerative Herbalism & Aromatherapy

LEARN ONLINE

Regenerative Herbalist
Regenerative Plant Medicine Business
Aromatic Herbalism

Media

Media, Bio, Info


Art  |  Writing   |  Design Work  |  Photography  | Food |  Perfumery  |  Herbalism  & Aromatherapy  | ​
© COPYRIGHT 2014 - 2023
​Wholly Rooted LLC,
​Denise Cusack & Family
Deerfield, Wisconsin


​Contact
Picture
All material provided on this website is provided for informational or educational purposes only, and is not intended as a substitute for the advice provided by your healthcare professional or physician.