“Choose love! Choose love! Enter the rose garden.
Let your soul make peace with the thorns.”
– Rumi
The Roses of Heliogabalus, an oil painting by the Anglo-Dutch artist Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, from 1888, depicts the young Roman emperor Elagabalus (203–222 AD) hosting a banquet, in which his guests are smothered with pink rose petals that have been released from the false ceiling. The painting was commissioned by Sir John Aird, 1st Baronet for £4,000 in 1888. As roses were out of season in the UK, Alma-Tadema is reputed to have had rose petals sent from the south of France each week during the four months in which it was painted.
This December, in the Skincare Box, we showcase Lepaar, a true artisanal brand that will forever have our heart. The three products, one specially created just for this box, include:
- Lepaar Rose Gold Glow Balm, 30 ml ($101)
- Lepaar Glow White Rose Sandalwood Mineral Water, 50 ml ($41)
- Lepaar Rose Aurea Perfume Oil, 5 ml ($60)
Subscribers can get the box for one-fourth of its retail value ($202). Composed by founder and botanical alchemist, Johanna Everingham, the brand promises to “awaken your skin’s super powers, harmonize your nervous system, and lift your frequency with naturally synergistic skincare and perfumes.”
Luscious, invigorating and decadent: the balm, spritz and perfumed oil from Lepaar in our December Beauty Box.
In her blog, Johanna writes about her fixation with roses—“They raise my heartbeat like no other plant, and I can’t seem to go to the nursery without buying at least one more for the garden, then spend days building fences to protect them from wallabies. What can I say — I have a Rose problem.”
According to a study on frequencies of living organisms in nature, “the Rose plant holds a vibration at 320MHz – higher than any other botanical or gemstone on Earth.”
“A rose is a rose is a rose” unless it’s a Bulgarian rose (extracts of which are in several of Lepaar’s exquisite formulations). Bulgarian rose oil is the most valuable rose oil on the market. Buyers are willing to pay $15,000 for a single kilogram. But to make the highest-quality Bulgarian rose oil, producers must spend the year cultivating fields that will only bloom for a few weeks. The petals are distilled the same hour they’re harvested, costing producers $8,000 a kilo for labor alone.
To Hafiz by Thomas Bailey Aldrich
René Magritte’s Le Tombeau des Lutteurs (The Tomb of the Wrestlers), 1960.
Interview with a Rose by Thomas James Cagney
I would love to hear from you—bouquets, barbs, brickbats—write to me at simar@theboxwalla.in should you wish to tell me what you love/loathe, want to read more/less of. I’d be glad to have your opinion of this newsletter, its design, and any suggestions you may have.
