The first fragrance oil of sustainable fashion brand Haveli.

I started wearing organic fragrance oils during my first trip to India. I loved how they melted into my skin, lasted all day and morphed as I wore them throughout the day. When I brought my favourites home for my mother and sister, I realised that they smelled completely different on each of us, adapting to our unique body chemistry in a way I had never experienced perfumes before. I decided then that organic fragrance oils would be part of the Haveli family. A few months later, I was on my third trip to the subcontinent and sitting with a master blender, learning all about the technique of blending and how to pair notes. He walked me through the extraction process for organic oils whose history goes back to the eighth century. I learned of the extraction process using organic solvents and the technique of harnessing sunlight to remove impurities. I knew I wanted a fragrant woody warm base and landed on Mysore Sandal and White Oud. Layer by layer (12 notes in all) we built the blend. To balance the depth of the base, the blend needed fresh florals: Lily with its slight citrus finish and lotus with its minty opening gave us that “OK, now we got it” feeling.

I took the original sample back home to Jamaica and began wearing it every day. I can’t recall at exactly what point during quarantine I became aware of it, but applying our blend became what I looked forward to the most every morning as I got dressed. Void of routine for the rest of the day, the ritual of applying the oil became not only a comfort but part of my mantra-setting. I began saying to myself “I Am” and choosing a new emotion-specific affirmation each day. “I Am powerful.” “I Am at peace.” “I Am going to be OK.” For the rest of the day, whenever I caught the fragrance on my skin, I was reminded of that day’s affirmation. I was reminded of my divinity. I was brought closer to my deepest sense of knowing. I was nervous to blend without training wheels, all on my own in my backyard, but with some tweaks to the formula, I got that “OK, now we got it” feeling again. I Am… had a name and a set genetic code and I took to Instagram to make the announcement. My greatest hope with this fragrance is that it brings the same comfort to other goddesses as it has me and helps create a deeper connection to the divine within.