Category Archives: St James’s Church

Frankincense Sacra in London

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New at Havenessence — Frankincense Boswellia Sacra oil, available online or in person at Piccadilly Market, London W1.

The ancient Egyptians believed frankincense to be the sweat of gods, fallen to earth. The legendary Phoenix bird was believed to build its nest from twigs of frankincense and to feed upon the resin. Incense containing frankincense was found in Tutankhamen’s tomb.

Havenessence Frankincense Sacra (Boswellia sacra) has a sweet, strong, almost floral aroma combined with balsamic and animalistic undertones. We hold just a small quantity of this special oil.

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Prickly Pear Seed Oil

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We have sourced a small amount of Prickly pear seed oil. Prickly pear is a rare, deeply moisturising oil which penetrates easily into the skin. Great for softening wrinkles, it gives the skin a velvety feel. Available in person in central London or online. If you visit us in St James’s the oil can be tried before purchase.

Prickly pear seed oil is from the seeds of the cactus Opuntia ficus indica. Originally from South America it has now spread to the Mediterranean and North Africa. It takes a huge amount of labour to extract the oil from the tiny seeds of the cactus fruit.

prickly pear seed oil

Plumeria alba & Plumeria rubra from Cuba

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Exquisite images kindly sent to us by a Piccadilly Market customer, Renate Eder, of Frangipani cuttings from Cuba which she has grown until they bloomed.

We stock Plumeria rubra absolute and use it extensively in soaps, creams and massage oils. But Plumeria alba is an unknown quantity. It’s available but wildly expensive….

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Plumeria alba

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Plumeria alba

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Plumeria rubra

Plumeria rubra

Plumeria rubra

Plumeria rubra

Plumeria rubra

Plumeria rubra

Plumeria rubra

Plumeria rubra

Plumeria rubra

The Search for Sandalwood

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…. is over. For a year I’ve been looking for a good sandalwood oil. I’ve had samples from India, Australia, the West Indies and New Caledonia. Most have been weak, watery, and generally unimpressive.

Which was frustrating because sandalwood is arguably the most important of the wood oils: a key ‘masculine’ scent, fundamental to aromatherapy and central within some cultures and religions.

So it was a joy and a relief to receive a TREMENDOUS sandalwood from Vanuatu, santalum austrocaledonicum, which we now stock.

Smokey, viscous, pungent, long-lasting, a dark honey colour. Produced in government regulated, sustainable, plantations and distilled in Vanuatu using biofuel (coconut oil).

The perils of buying Indian Sandalwood…

Veerappan

Koose Muniswamy Veerappan, known as Sandalwood Veerappan, murdered some 184 people, including villagers, forestry officials and police personnel. He was killed by a special police task force in 2004.

Argan Oil Hair Treatment

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Argan oil is great for dry, damaged, or over-processed hair. Some tips:-

# Ensure the oil you use really is pure argan. Check the label. Has it been taken down with other, cheaper, oils, e.g. sweet almond? Is it, in fact, a blend pretending to be pure argan?

# Use a pure cosmetic grade argan, not cooking argan. The nuts used to produce the latter will have been roasted before pressing, giving it a strong, nutty odour. Roasting kills some of the natural goodness. Cosmetic grade argan is unroasted and cold-pressed. It should have a light, pleasant, nutty scent, which disappears after about 30 seconds.

# If the oil has no colour (it should be a beautiful golden brown, like Lyle’s Golden Syrup) it’s been bleached. Avoid. The process kills some of the goodness.

# If the oil has no scent (it should have a light nutty odour) it’s been deodorised. Avoid. The process kills some of the goodness.

# Apply a generous amount of argan to the hair. Massage it into the scalp. Wrap head in a warm towel and leave for 30 minutes or overnight. Shampoo, condition and style in the normal way.

# If you’ve got short hair, apply argan at any time. It makes your hair look like you’re wearing gel.

# Keep a lookout for cooking grade argan. It’s delicious but tends to be wildly expensive — roughly ten times the price of a good virgin olive oil. For those with deep pockets, use instead of olive oil in salads, or add a few drops to an olive oil mix. Blend with lemon, salt, pepper and garlic. Try it once and you’ll find a standard olive oil dressing bland and conventional.

See our sister sites havenessence and Argan Oil London for more information. Buy a good, pure, organic, fairly traded, cosmetic grade argan oil from us here.

argan oil hair treatment

Dionysus on Piccadilly

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Walk from Piccadilly Circus towards Fortnum’s and The Ritz and there, on your left, poking through the railings of St James’s Church, is a vine. It arches over one of the best stalls on Piccadilly Market — De Angeli Design (Bespoke Leathcraft/Made to Measure Belts) — bathing it in a soft green light.

 

Queen Victoria’s Knickers

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Queen_Victoria

Chatting just now with a customer I learned a startling fact. Queen Victoria’s knickers…

queen-victoria-knickers

… were scented with patchouli! Well I’m blowed.

It seems that 18th and 19th century silk traders from China packed their cloth with dried patchouli leaves as moth repellent. This led wealthy Europeans to associate patchouli with opulent Eastern goods. Which, in turn, caused Queen Victoria, Empress of India, ruler of half the globe, to pack her knicker drawer with the famous Hippie Gold.

Chill out ma’am!

hippie-volkswagen

Frangipani, Hawkmoths, God & Sex

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Frangipani - plumeria rubra

Frangipani - plumeria rubra

One of the most exotic oils we sell is frangipani. We describe it as ‘rich, heady, exotic, deeply floral’ but that does not do it justice. Together with jasmine, gardenia, lotus, the roses, and a few other flower scents, frangipani is an aristocrat of the sweet, in-your-face, ‘feminine,’ essential oils/absolutes.

Some people baulk at the scent. It’s so sweet. Rose, for example, can be understated. But not frangipani. In its raw form, as an absolute, it grabs you by the throat and may make the eyes water. The variety we sell — plumeria rubra — is coloured blood red.

frangipani-cutting

The frangipani tree enjoys a symbiotic relationship with the Frangipani Hawkmoth (pseudosphinx tetrio). The caterpillars are tremendous: six inches long, a poisonous yellow and black, a spike on abdominal segment eight, feeding on the frangipani leaves before pupating and emerging as a moth with a five inch wing-span.

Frangipani Hawkmoth - pseudosphinx tetrio

Frangipani Hawkmoth - pseudosphinx tetrio

The moth returns to the frangipani flowers, attracted by the perfume, in search of nectar, and a dirty trick is pulled on it: there is no nectar, only pollen, which the moth distributes unwittingly to other trees, causing fertilisation to occur.

Frangipani Hawkmoth - pseudosphinx tetrio -1

There’s much more to be said about frangipani. It has a role in both religion and sex. It is the national tree of Laos (called dok jampa) and every Buddhist temple has one or more in their courtyard.

frangipani - Laos

In Polynesian culture, the frangipani is worn by women to indicate their relationship status – over the right ear if seeking a relationship, over the left if taken.

Frangipani Polynesia