Ruth’s email came out of the blue: her mom had passed away at Christmas, she wrote, and she found three of her 1950s powder compacts. A friend had shown her a feature about my natural scents in LansScape Magazine, and she decided to contact me.
We met up in a tea room in Exeter, where she showed me the beautiful vintage compacts she brought with her. I laid out my array of botanical fragrances and let Ruth decide which one she liked best. It turned out that Ruth’s mom, Rosetta, was an avid tea-drinker, and Rooibos – or Red Bush Tea – was her favorite. Inhaling the fragrance, she said that it brought back memories of brewing it for her mom to enjoy. However, and I think it came as a little surprise for both of us, Ruth liked the Earl Grey Tea fragrance even better, and chose it to be the scent to have her vintage compact filled with.
A week later, when she received it back, shiny and filled with solid fragrance, she thanked me and mentioned that Rosetta would have been very pleased to see her things up-cycled in such an original way. I was simply moved by being allowed to give a piece of family history a second life, and felt grateful.

Hi, I’m Tanya
I create all natural perfume, vegan soap and simple, nourishing skincare. Ravenscourt Apothecary was created in 2013 in London shortly after I relocated to Europe from the United States. New in the UK, I was at a crossroads and craving a creative outlet. My heart was set on serving the world one bar of vegan soap and bottle of perfume at a time.
Today, I live in Devon, England with my husband Harry and our cat. When I’m not thinking of new natural fragrances, I can be found practicing yoga, baking sourdough bread or photographing my furry son (who is called Bergamot after my best-loved perfume note!)
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