Artisanal Botanical Perfume - Arabesque Aromas

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Kirsten Schilling, Founder of Arabesque Aromas, located in Los Angeles, CA, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Arabesque Aromas is an indie perfume house based in Los Angeles, California, run by one woman and two felines. I create artisanal botanical perfumes and other handmade seasonal offerings with pure, plant-based ingredients. As I write on my website — "I regard the natural world, and my work with plants, with the highest sense of scholarship, reverence, magic, alchemy, and heart."

I have also published a cookbook called "The Fragrant Kitchen: Culinary Recipes from a Botanical Perfumer." And in 2022, I created a casual/informal vlog on my YouTube channel with the theme of "Flavor, Fragrance and The Artisanal."

My customers range from people who are interested in all of the above topics. Cat ladies. Plant Ladies. Art, History, and Literature lovers. Foodies. People who like natural beauty products. Spiritual people who appreciate my handmade artisanal incense and some of my other aromatics. I'd say largely, but not exclusively, my clients are men and women aged 20 - 80+ years old.

Tell us about yourself

I'm an art historian, and while I was an art history graduate student, I sort of fell into the olfactory arts all because of this one Elizabethan-era aromatic recipe. I decided to recreate it simply because I was curious. I wanted to smell history — and when I did, I just fell utterly in love. And I never really stopped buying historical aromatic ingredients, learning about historical methods, and studying aromatic plants and their uses. It felt a little bit like being kidnapped by my passions, but deeper down, I was also aware that it happened during a period in my life when I really needed to be taken out of my intellectual self. Working with the plants in this way brings me back into my body, my senses and, in particular, fills my heart. I think it is what I'm truly meant to do.

Since making that first Elizabethan recipe 22+ years ago, I've managed an essential oil company in the Hollywood Hills for 7 years ( in order to better learn about essential oils and other raw aromatic materials), and I became a botanical volunteer at the herb and aromatic gardens of the Huntington Museum and Gardens for three years, I've appeared on television twice and have given some lectures about plants and plant folklore, candle making, and perfumery, I've bought a little copper tabletop still, I've published a cookbook about cooking with aromatics and — I created Arabesque Aromas.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

I just love it when my work helps people to get reacquainted with their senses and their creativity, whether from wearing a beautiful perfume I've created, burning some handmade botanical incense I made from a 2000+ year old recipe, or from cooking a delicious culinary recipe from my cookbook.

I also have created many literary perfumes, and nothing makes me happier than when I receive an email from a client that says: "I'm wearing your literary perfume, and I'm also reading the book that inspired it!" I absolutely love that!

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

I'm more of the shy, introverted/ bookish personality type, and like many creatives and makers, I find marketing and social media difficult. It doesn't come naturally to me. It was a real struggle for me to get started with my "Flavor, Fragrance and Artisanal vlog" on YouTube in 2022, and at one point, I felt so shy I just took the whole thing down. But it is also something I'm very passionate about, so I persisted. If, as I say on there, I can plant one kernel of creative, sensory, or cultural inspiration with my posts, then — I've done my work!

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

I wish that I had started collecting my own private mailing list about ten-twelve years before I actually did. I think it's so important to have the autonomy of a mailing list of one's very own.

This way, regardless of whatever social media surprises or changes that occur on Etsy, Instagram, or elsewhere, etc., if you have your own mailing list, you have more control and autonomy over your business, income, and communications with your clientele.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.arabesquearomas.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arabesque.aromas/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcuqdXoaoPO2F325HALt0ww

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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