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  1. In the Studio with Apoteker Tepe


    For perfumer Holladay Saltz, the differentiating core between the meaningful and the material lies in the ability to inject intention, artistry and a little irreverence into the process. Looking past the conventions of the big fragrance players, she composes with rare and natural materials, for a contemplative experience that is unique to each. 

    Curious about her approach and one-woman operation, we asked Holladay to give us a glimpse into her new Rhode Island studio, where she conceptualizes and batches her line, Apoteker Tepe. Here's what we found. 

    On the path to being a maker.  

    I went to art and design school, then onto a stint at a wonderful but short-lived think tank doing research into the future of publishing, then to private-sector tech startups when the bottom fell out of the economy. That was a turning point. Fast-forward to 2013 and I was the creative director for a company whose sole purpose was making toss-away marketing sites that no one, not even the clients, cared about. It felt terrible and frightening, but I came to the conclusion that I needed to jump off the train. I’d been working with fragrance for some time, had always been fascinated by the sense of smell, and I longed to make something with my hands without the use of a screen.

    Apoteker was and is a continued exploration. Fragrance and smell are often overlooked as avenues to meaning, but they are incredibly visceral and ancient - nothing affects people in quite the same way, literally, as smell.

    Everyone has their own relationship with scent, but there are things Holladay hopes you take away from hers. 

    People find meaning in different places at different times, and one of the lovely and terrifying things about putting something subjective into the world is that once it leaves you, you can’t really control it anymore, nor should you try. However, I hope that when someone smells a fragrance I create they are reminded of something they might have forgotten until that moment; I hope it makes them pay attention to something they may not have otherwise noticed. 


    She looks for the rare. 

    The fragrance industry is extremely old and mostly controlled by a few corporations who manufacture not only ‘fine’ fragrance but everything from detergent to flavors for processed foods. Making real money in fragrance, like most other physical things in the current age, is dependent on volume and consistency. Having volume and consistency means that you cannot use raw materials that are very expensive, and that these materials must also be entirely consistent from batch to batch. The extension of this is that in your average department store fragrance you have almost no natural materials— everything is synthetic. Natural materials are beautiful and complex (there are nearly 500 aroma molecules that make up the smell of a rose), and importantly, variable. They have personalities, and they are not merely the sum of their parts. I think it’s a loss when we no longer know the smell of jasmine or orris, only their reconstituted elements. Being small and independent means I can focus on quality and on uncovering something people may not have experienced before. It also means there is a limit to how much Apoteker can grow, but I completely accept it.

    Interestingly enough, Holladay wears fragrance almost exclusively while she is formulating one. Though she still has her favorites, yet to be extracted and bottled! 

    There are things I always want to smell: dark wet earth, salt air, and the still, hot interior of old churches in the summer.



    Now available at Catbird are three of Apoteker Tepe’s debut scents. Explore here or stop by the shop for a dab. 

    xo,
    Sriya



  2. In the Studio with Isa's Restoratives

    In the Studio with Isa's Restoratives

    Though I think our jewelry is always worthy of a closer look, there is one other object in our storefront that elicits an equal curiosity. In a small glass dropper is an amber liquid with a neatly labeled promise, Love Potion. Roll the bottle over and you'll find printed instructions for its use: a potion that entices receiving other's perspective with a sweet and open heart. Take a few drops together on your own and a moment to set your love intention.


    The woman behind Love Potion is Brooklyn based herbalist, Isa Brito. Through her organic apothecary line, Isa’s Restoratives, she takes the belief that ritual can promote love and understanding and blends it with her knowledge of plant-based healing. 

    “Rituals are important to me, even little ones. They seal intention,” Isa explains. “I started using rose tea as a prelude to challenging conversations in relationships, family, and work…but not everyone wanted to brew roses before a talk, so I made this potion with roses, hawthorn flowers, brandy and local honey. It can be taken as drops directly into the mouth, or added to a bit of water.”

    We heard more from Isa on her beginnings and wildcrafted process. 


    Growing up near a farm in Brazil was Isa’s first connection to nature.
    I grew up back and forth between the small state of Sao Paulo and a ranch in Minas Gerais, Brazil. All of our food and commodities were produced at the ranch, and from a very early age, I roamed free there, like the free-range hens whose eggs I fetched on one of my many daily chores. Bee stings and being wary of poisonous snakes were a regular part of life. I got smudged with rue regularly to ward off both physical and spiritual threats,  including worms and nightmares. Looking back, I believe this childhood helped build a strong immune system as well as a sense of curiosity and mental freedom. This is my foundation.

    Moving to Brooklyn years later, Isa turned her childhood influence into a study of healing plants. 
    After years traveling through many countries as a photojournalist, I eventually settled in NY to have my daughter. At that point, I reconnected to my naturalist roots and voraciously studied both the herbs in my area and those beyond. I had always made face masks at home, and used oils in my hair and skin instead of creams. It wasn’t until my daughter started showing an interest in beauty products that I started working with formulas that would fulfill the promises of what she desired from the drugstore, but with very simple and safe ingredients. Soon I was selling one particular cream, and the next thing I knew, I had a website and was shipping nationally and internationally. 


    Sourcing is done far beyond her own garden. 
    I only harvest plants that are very abundant, some that are invasive.  I get roses upstate and along the beach in Long Island. I make special trips at the right time for when the right part of the plant I need to use is ready. June is the time for St. John’s Wort, roses, linden, and violet. In July it's yarrow and young goldenrod. Late summer and early fall I collect certain berries such as elder and later in the fall roots such as burdock and valerian. On a walk, I may run into something else. Like yesterday I was collecting roses and had the collateral benefit of finding lots of cleavers growing with the rose bushes.

    Currently, violets are her thing.
    I harvested the flowers earlier in the spring and use them in salads and also freeze them in ice cubes to serve in cocktails. The leaves are very healing and protective of the skin. They are cooling, anti-inflammatory and if used regularly, can aid in dissolving lumps. Violet leaves have a great affinity to women’s breasts, so... I am concocting a gorgeous Violetta body oil. It looks like liquid emeralds! 

    You can find Isa’s best selling Love Potion and Lilac Rouge lip balm at Catbird. Isa also produces a variety of wildcrafted balms, creams, and elixirs, which are available through her online shop. // For more, follow @isasrestoratives

    xo,
    Sriya


  3. In the Studio with NOVA

    In the Studio with NOVA


    You could say our attraction to Chakra, by NOVA, was pretty instantaneous, upon first whiff to be exact. We knew we had to have it for Catbird and so became Chakra’s first NYC retailer. Fast forward to two years later and our love affair is still going strong. It’s not uncommon to catch the unmistakable trace of Chakra’s Bulgarian rose, leather, and tobacco notes in Catbird’s shop.

    The floral parfum is a part of Brooklyn perfumer and all around babe Julia Zangrilli’s label, NOVA. With an impressive library of oils and an instinctual nose, she has created collaborative fragrances with some of our favorite brands, though NOVA is known best for its approach to custom blends, done one-on-one with Julia in her studio.

    It was well overdue for us Kittens to sit down with Julia.



    How did your relationship with scent begin?

    I accrued a large collection early on - a mixture of fine parfums, eau de toilettes and body splashes. I loved scent but was also just a collector in general...a loner and a squirrel from 1st through 4th grade. I collected and coveted coins, stickers, stamps, Barbies, Barbie comics, pens, glass figurines, pencils, rocks, VHS tapes. Anything I got into, I liked to stack up and marvel at. Kind of explains my current situation with fragrance actually, I haven't counted in a while but my current library of oils is probably around 500. 

    I like the idea of scent to skin chemistry and that scent translates differently on everyone. Can you tell us a little about why this is? 

    I'm not a chemist or dermatologist, but I definitely observe that skin carries unique characteristics. Not every perfumer agrees on this, but for me it's logical (though impossible to pin down). There are so many variables that make skin react in its own way, on top of carrying its own scent. Genetics, pores, hydration,hormones, body temperature in correlation with diet, lifestyle...you get the idea!

    Do you keep the same process for everyone who visits your studio for a custom scent? Or does the person dictate the process?

    It's a person to person thing...some people are more involved and curious than others, some have more time than others, some are better at specifying what they want, some come very prepared while others go with the flow. Everyone brings their own parameters, I do by best to match and compliment them, to guide and steer with their permissions and tastes in mind.

    Describe the first scent you ever created for yourself. 

    It launched with a layered citrus top - quite a lot of citrus, more than I would do these days - with a hint of earthy spice, soft jasmine, melon, bamboo and lychee at the center - on top of an aquatic base. Zingy!

    I have an inexplicable need to finish a bottle before moving to the next. What's your approach to personal scent? When do you switch it up?

    I have never been a one-scent kind of girl, to me scent is about mood. I also don't feel that I must finish a bottle of perfume in the same way I must finish a bottle of mouth wash or a tube of foundation. Perfume is more on the level of clothing for me, so I like variety. As for switching it up, I usually go in conjunction with weather and season - when color palettes and fabric texture or weight change, I'm craving different foods, playing different music, doing different things on the weekend...when it's a chapter change I suppose.

    What's next for Nova? Any exciting projects coming up?

    I'm launching a few collaborative products with New.Stand, a new underground shopping concept coming to NY subway stations soon! Also excited to be introducing NOVA Scent Bars and Scent Parties. 




    For more from Julia, follow @novaperfume

    You can find NOVA Chakra 10ml glass roll-ons at our Williamsburg storefront and online.

    xo,
    Sriya
  4. In the Studio with N+A

    In the Studio with N+A
    The new Twinkle Diamond Ring from N+A is a line of white diamonds that sprout up from the band, like petite cherry blossoms wrapped around your finger. The sisters behind N + A New York, Noriko and Akiko Sugawara, are originally from Yokohama, Japan, and frequently cite the landscape of the country in their designs. "It's more of an influence from my childhood and younger years that stays with me," says designer Noriko. “I work from my instinct and a reflection of what is around me or what I feel.” 



    Twinkling Diamond Ring, 14k white/rose/yellow

    Akiko, who heads up the business end of N+A, was with a wine importer in Japan when her sister first began designing under her own line. After helping Noriko at a trade show in the States, they both realized that N+A worked best with both of them together. “It was an amazing and exciting change in my life,” Akiko says of relocating to New York. “Working in a small studio allows me to see my work completed in a more satisfying way. I really enjoy diving into the creative process."

    Noriko's take on hoops and studs

    What struck the ladies of Catbird first was the naturalism and movement of the line. “We would describe our collection as wearable basics that are totally unique, with organic forms and textures,” says Noriko. “We use lots of tiny diamonds as accents that sparkle, as if they are whispering.” If that is true, we are happy to listen.  


    You can view our selection of jewels from N+A at our Williamsburg storefront and wedding annex, as well as online
    The sisters by illustrator Ningyo Yamada
    xo,

    Faith & Sriya 

  5. In the Studio with Mullein & Sparrow

    In the Studio with Mullein & Sparrow

    Long before Anit Hora created the apothecary line Mullein & Sparrow, she practiced her craft in any and every spare moment found. Though she never lost her deeply rooted passion for ayurveda and aromatherapy, Anit detoured into corporate fashion in her 20s. Only after an eye opening trip to South America did Anit fully immerse herself in the teachings of herbal medicine, leaving her 9 to 5 to work at a yoga studio. "All the natural instincts about self care and holistic remedies just came back to me,” she says of her turning point. Today, Anit continues to develop and batch the full Mullein & Sparrow line herself while also practicing as a Brooklyn based holistic esthetician.

    Since the Catbirdettes have been bemoaning our lackluster winter skin, we asked Anit for a DIY recipe to help us exfoliate and hydrate some of the dullness away. “Oats are amazing for helping with any skin irritation, honey is incredibly moisturizing and also antibacterial and sugar helps retain moisture and exfoliates,” Anit said of this simple remedy she generously shared with us. 

    GATHER 
    • 1 tbspn oat flour
    • 1 tbspn floral powder( you can use rose, lavender, chamomile in any combination- I use them all!)
    • 1 tbspn honey
    • 1 tspn sugar for exfoliating action

    MAKE
    • Mix ingredients into a paste and then add a little water as needed.
    • Spread mixture around face using circular motions to lift up dead skin cells and dirt. 
    • Wash to reveal cleaner skin with a glow! 
    • Can also leave this on as a mask for 10 minutes.

    Enjoy Kittens! You can also shop our Mullein & Sparrow offerings here


    xo,

    Sriya

  6. In the Studio with Ariel Dearie

    In the Studio with Ariel Dearie

    Ariel Dearie easily has one of our favorite career hyphenations. She’s created towering headpieces for Dior and bucolic fantasy backdrops for VOGUE, but her twisting, overgrown floral designs also have a very real life presence among Brooklyn locals who see her magic up close and (wildly) contained in tiny jars and bouquets. Walking by the street-front windows of her South Williamsburg studio space on any given day, you’ll find amnesia rose, anemone, and ranunculus among piled antique brass and silver vessels reminiscent of a topsy-turvy Persian tea.





    So what’s the hyphen to master florist? Ariel’s second calling is, in a way, a natural extension of Ariel Dearie Flowers. As a compliment to her botanical work, Ariel began developed apothecary in 2013. Royal Botanicals started with three signature bath soaks that capture the aromatherapeutic properties in natural elements. She continues to small batch the crystals herself, bottling them in deep amber glass with spherical stoppers. 


    We scooped up her bath line soon after its debut, along with Marlow and Sons and The NoMad Hotel. But when this didn’t quite satisfy our girl crush, it came time to make something special with Ariel, tapping into our collective love of all things rose. Released today in our storefront and online, Thousand Rose Bath Soak is an Ariel Dearie x Catbird exclusive. “We worked with Leigh and discussed what scent characteristics the Catbird girls love most,” explains Ariel of the starting point. “We knew we wanted to do something with roses and worked to create a blend that was powdery and feminine yet also had a warm and woodsy quality to it.”

    For more of Ariel's world, scroll down Kittens! 

    Lush overflow with Japanese Ranunculus
    "When we were looking for a new studio space, natural light was the highest on the list." 
    Ariel's collection of antique brass, a signature accompaniment to many of her designs.
    Two Henris: Ariel cites the influence of Matisse and Fantin-Latour in her work

    Scoop two to three tablespoons of Thousand Rose into a warm bath for a moooost soothing soak. Velvet Underground record and a glass of wine optional, but highly recommended.

    xo,
    Sriya






  • In the Studio with Darner

    In the Studio with Darner
    Socks have taken a fashionable turn. The tubesock variety we've always known are spinning off into patterned and bright, flirty and accented. And they're surfacing - as any bold makeover should. You've seen them peeking out from rising menswear hemlines and more than a few Catbirdettes have tried the modern sockhop - lace trimmed socks with patent Mary Janes and slingbacks. But alas, we found our perfect pairs. They're sheer and silky, with a beautiful seam detailing to elongate the foot. And did we mention they're in every color of our dream palette? 

    The duo behind Darner, Roxi and Harold, showed us their LA workspace - complete with mood boards covered in Acne pinks and McQueen black and whites. 


    A scroll through Darner's Instagram shows a deep knowledge and love of directional and minimal brands - Celine, Acne, The Row. "We create the socks with the idea of being an addition to the runway looks we love, and hope they convey a similar aesthetic," said Roxi of their design approach. "We like to start each season with a broad range of prints, textures, and colors. Throughout the design process, we narrow it down based on wearability, trends and our personal favorites." 

    Both Roxi and Harold touch nearly every aspect of their business, from working with fabric mills and designing to packing and shipping new orders. But when it comes to the big picture, they're on their game, having already teamed with LA based womenswear brand Wren, and other artistic collaborations in the works. 

    It goes without saying that we're so happy to welcome Darner to Catbird's growing home & lounge offerings. You can shop our selection here.

    xo,

    Sriya






  • In the Studio with Butter

    In the Studio with Butter

    There's something new at Catbird, a bottled liquid the color of golden straw. I was curious when I first spotted it on Leigh’s desk, as I am with most things that land there. Here's what I learned. 

    Butter is the brainchild of Lorenza, Jared and Tony — three friends and devout yogis who set out to create something through a shared passion for holistic healing and modern design. They launched last spring with their first product, Butter Elixir. The idea behind the essential oil goes back to the trio's yogic philosophy. The application is meant to be a pure and simple ritual without distraction, keeping the focus on beauty and integrity. It's an idea I welcome given the endless balms, oils, moisturizers, and creams that make an overly complicated promise. 

    I spoke to Tony, who broke down the elixir's key blend of four oils for me.

    We knew we wanted something with rose because rose has the highest vibration out of all the essential oils. It acts as an astringent, tightening and firming the skin, and has been used as an anti depressant for many years. We then added in rosehip oil for its vitamin A & C and argan oil because it’s packed with vitamin E. Apricot kernel oil acts as a nice base because it’s a dry oil that still retains moisture, making it ideal for the face.

    The best way to apply Butter Elixir? Tony recommended I try six drops applied to a clean face. My skin instantly absorbed the oil and all of its vitamins, with only a sheer glow and the faintest scent of rose left on the surface. The elixir can also be used on hair and nails, or added to a warm bath for stress relief. 

    We're now carrying Butter Elixir in our shop and online. For more from Butter, check out their Tumblr

    xo,
    Sriya

    Lorenza, Jared, and Tony 

  • In the Studio with Goest

    In the Studio with Goest


    If a picture is worth a thousand words, Jacqueline Steele's narrative scents are comparable to the most vivid vignettes. She is a purveyor of stories, moments in place and time that are preserved through her fragrance house, Goest. For instance, Dauphine is a scent inspired by Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette not in that it’s reminiscent of the ill-fated queen herself but because of the layered notes that encapsulate a scene from Coppola's film: rose-water pastries with cream, powder and soap on skin, an abundance of fully bloomed roses. 


    We’re thrilled to now offer four scents from the Goest library, both in the tiny beauty corner of our Bedford shop and online. Available in classic square cut mini flacons, they can be tossed into a clutch as a travel go-to, or tied to a handwritten note as a teensy and perfect present. 

    Catbird caught up with Jacqueline recently to hear more on running a one-woman fragrance house, how she found her start, and the most memorable custom fragrance she’s created.






    What inspires your narratives? Does it start with a mental story board or a singular note? 
    There's two ways I'll come to the concept for a new fragrance. One is a top-down approach, where the concept comes to mind and I create something to fulfill it. This is my usual approach. That's how Silent Films came about. It's meant to capture the smell of a silent film star and their dressing room - not just the perfume they wore, but all of the things surrounding them that contributed to their smell. An additional challenge which was for fun, almost, was to have the smell itself smell like it was in black and white while still retaining an emotional depth and sense of privacy, as opposed to a more luscious technicolor representation of "vintage Hollywood!". 


    The other approach is where I'll come across a material that smells amazing but either isn't, to me, that wearable as a perfume (certain Indian attars come to mind) - or  it's a material that often has a very well-worn traditional presentation (like frankincense or rose). Then the challenge is to take that material and illuminate some of its aspects, making it "sing" a different tune. Realism has some of that going on - I found a rare material called hay absolute that has an amazing smell and amazing associations that come to mind when you smell it, but was also a "difficult" smell to present to people as-is. So part of the quest of Realism was to bring that material into use.


    Are you formally trained as a perfumer or was it a more spontaneous path that landed you here? 
    I studied perfume from a more academic perspective through an independent research grant when I was still in college. Through that, I had the opportunity to meet perfumers, visit schools, smell archives, learn the basics of formulation, and read many, many texts and archives from the last few hundred years that don't seem to exist in any other place than a few private academic libraries. There's no replacement for hundreds of hours spent alone learning the materials, however, which I did out of enthusiasm after my more academic pursuits ended. I think this roundabout path to fragrance formulation has actually benefitted me a lot. I learned to think about fragrance from a very private perspective - I'm not influenced by popular commercial perfume structure, which is why the Goest Perfumes fragrances don't smell "perfume-y". 



    Tell us about the team -- how big are you now and where are the scents developed and produced?
    The "team" is essentially just me. I'm taking on some assistance soon though because even though I like the manual, repetitive quality of some of the work (feels kind of yogic and calming), I'd also like to have more time to devote to new scents and special projects. Everything is made by hand, so there's a lot of labor involved in every scent. Hopefully that's reflected in the quality to everyone who experiences it. Everything Goest Perfumes has been made in one pretty small studio - the Goest Perfumes Laboratory - which is just north of Koreatown in Hollywood. Absolutely nothing in the fragrance production or conceptualization is hired out to one of the big chemical companies, which is really rare when it comes to commercial fragrance - hundreds of fragrance "brands" exist but out of all commercially available scents, only a few are not actually formulated and made by a few big companies. Most people don't know that. 


    Goest creates custom fragrances for both labels and individuals. Tell us about a memorable commission. 
    A recent project with 69 clothing was really fun. Amber Halford, the designer, came to me saying she liked the smell of chlorinated pools and burgers and fries. I was so down with that approach to conceptualization - I find a lot of ambient scents in the modern world to be great inspiration, although they aren't traditionally thought of as fodder for fragrance inspiration because they're not romantic. But why not? I think even gas stations have their own type of romance. I mean, somebody decided that was where Cindy Crawford was going to crack open an ice-cold, condensation-covered Pepsi.


    Though you're based in Los Angeles, do you have a favorite Brooklyn spot? 

    I like the Brooklyn Navy Yard. I visited a mostly empty (just two employees were there, working) distillery there around midnight and the smell of all the corn and grains and the heat was something fantastical - sort of like being locked in some kind of golden lamp surrounded by the weird dark harbor night. 


    Thanks Jacqueline! You can shop Goest online now, and follow @goestperfumes for more from behind the scenes.

    xo,

    Sriya

  • Stories from the Shop

    Stories from the Shop

    Here at the shop, we all squealed when the Catbird Ballerina Collection hit the shelves. A few of us might have even tried some pieces on and twirled around the store a few times. But when a couple of real life Russian ballerinas came into the shop to scoop up their own Ballerina Earrings, it was my heart that did the twirling. Dreams do come true. 

    -Rachel
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