About Elspeth’s Airs

Elspeth’s Airs perfumes are
certified all-natural by the
Natural Perfumer’s Guild

Harness the Power of Scent

By weaving together the scents, healing properties & energies of plants, Elspeth’s Airs creates natural perfumes & aromatherapy products that help us remember who we are.

Our Values

We believe that everything is interconnected; that magic is inherent in all of us; that beauty and pleasure are our birthright; that nature is an invaluable teacher, and that scent can be a tool for empowerment, embodiment & transformation. We believe that we already have & are everything we need, and that we have creative capacity beyond our wildest imaginations. Our work is to remember.

This understanding of interconnectedness also drives our commitment to community work. As a part of practicing our values, we donate 10% of all sales to community work. Since March 2020, we’ve donated over $1,200 to organizations and groups engaging in work ranging from community organizing, policy and education work, herbal mutual aid, disaster response, as well as direct assistance to individuals. Click here for a list of folks we’ve recently donated to.

Our Process:

Elspeth’s Airs creates high quality, handcrafted botanical perfumes and aromatherapy products. We honor both human labor and the Earth, so we are intentional about ingredient sourcing and prioritize organic, fair trade, and sustainably sourced raw materials. We include some local ingredients that we have extracted in-house and are working to expand these offerings. We are the only Louisiana-based company that has been certified as natural by the Natural Perfumers Guild.

When crafting, we consider the aromas, as well as the energetic & therapeutic aspects of the plants we work with. We have a practice of expressing gratitude for each plant that we work with, as well as for the elements, the ecosystem, and the human effort that has gone into tending the lifeforce of the plants. We tend to work with natural cycles & influences- seasons, moon & planetary cycles-  as well as with archetypal energies and alchemical processes.

Each of our unique blends is steeped in intention. Sometimes the plants converge around the intention; other times, the intention becomes clear after the aromas have come together. We’re fascinated by the way that scent works on both our cognitive minds and our subconscious, emotional facilities and memories, making it such a powerful tool for creating and living into our intentions. The process of making perfume is magical, medicinal and transformative for us, and it is our greatest hope that wearing them is, as well.

All products are made in the heart of New Orleans/ Bvlbancha (the Chahta name for this land.)

Who is Elspeth? Why “Airs”?

Creator, Justine Diamond, is an “heir” of Elspeth.

Elspeth McEwan was the last woman executed as a witch in Scotland in 1698. An educated and innovative woman of the village, who healed with herbs and had a way with animals, Elspeth was scapegoated for all that went wrong. While in jail, her story was documented by investigators of the witch trials and after her death, was used to end the practice forever in Scotland.

Justine’s maternal grandmother, Sibyl McEwan Kellman, experienced a strong connection with Elspeth throughout her life, and passed that spark onto Justine. Justine offers her line of natural perfumes and aromatherapy tools in veneration of Elspeth and her lineage, and in awe of the ways that seeds planted long ago are dispersed and carried on.

“Airs” represents a play on the word “heir” to show the relationship with Elspeth & what she’s passed on, as well as an invocation of the element of Air. The essences that create perfume are born of Earth, alchemized by Fire into Water, and then transmitted by Air. The air carries seeds- ideas, feelings, intentions. Air is powerful, indeed.

Meet the Maker

Perfumer Justine Diamond grew up in Upstate New York and has lived & loved in New Orleans since she was 17. She is inspired by the way that the medium of perfumery can weave together beauty, poetry, science, and spirituality, and how aroma can affect us physiologically. Justine is an Air sign (Libra) and has always felt connected to this element. She appreciates both the solid and the ethereal, and the magic that occurs in their interplay. Perfumery has emerged as an ideal art form for Justine.

Justine carefully composes fragrances that create, hold and evoke intentions and remembrance. She has independently studied perfumery and continues to learn through experimentation, research, and intuition. Justine is also a certified aromatherapist through the Aromahead Institute and a community herbalist at Maypop Herb Shop.

 

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