DEEP IN THE QUAGMIRE
When I first stepped foot in the cedar swamps on Long Island, a tiny swath of wetlands with a small stand of Atlantic White cedars growing on it, I fell into the realm of beauty that one might not recognize unless you leaned in, got on your hands and knees in the dirt, and looked closely at. It was dark, a place the indigenous people used to fear, and it was quiet. Immediately I felt like I had never been there before. It was a familiar wilderness area yet there was so many plants and trees unknown to me. Since then, I have traveled throughout the Atlantic northeast, and south into North Carolina, searching for the cedars.
I have harvested in Rhode Island, where the cedars are not protected like they are in New York, and I have worked with forestry companies in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey where the trees are plentiful. The oils from these trees is unlike any other cedars I have worked with. These places are magical in a way I can't explain. You will have to go there if you want to see what I mean.
Our Quagmire Solid Fragrance is directly inspired by these dark, mossy places. In folklore, a quagmire has never been portrayed as a nice place to visit, in fact it was typically the hiding place for Ol' Scratch, but we beg to differ, and superstition never stopped us from a good hike into the unknown. Imagine the smell of earthy, tannin stained waters or the stagnant pools surrounded by evergreen moss and lichen. This is more than likely what you might think when you hear about swamps. Mud! Bugs! Danger! Now imagine the buttery, soft notes of floral perfume so heavy it sticks to your skin. The ever so light, sweet lemon taffy from water lilies in full bloom. Rhododendron flowers so pink and abundant against this green landscape you almost feel like you could get get lost in it all. Now crush the green cedar leaves and smell the ginger bite, the electric tangerine, that bright green note. This is the essence of our Quagmire fragrance. This wild place caught in a tin, captured in beeswax and coconut oil.
The process is not an easy one. To get to these swamps is hard sometimes. Despite a hike into the forest there is usually mud. You have to be prepared for that, and don't get stuck in it! You don't want to be the one haunting those woods one day. There is also timing. Seasonally we plan for the bloom. Cedars can be harvested anytime throughout the year, and after a storm is when we go on the search for them if they have fallen because that is the best way to reach the green branches and afterall, once they are down they will likely die off. Early to mid spring the rhodies bloom. We hunt for a particular variety known as Swamp Azalea (Rhododendron viscosum) which has the most wonderful, buttery scent. Late spring is when the water lilies go off and mid to late summer is when the sweet pepperbush happen. It's a slow game waiting from the natural world to do what it does. From there it's processing the delicate flowers, infusing them in oils to hopefully obtain those soft floral notes. Distilling the branches and leaves of cedar and rhododendron is also a delicate task so not to over distill the oils. We are trying to keep the cleanest essence we can.
This is unlike any other perfume we make...in travel, harvest, process and final product. We often mention "labor of love" when describing our journey in this business, but Quagmire is truly that. Devotion to nature. The intelligence of flowers that we so much want to aspire to understand. Capturing the essence of a place not usually welcomed to many avid outdoor lovers. And then there's the trouble with the possibility of coming face to face with the monsters that haunt those dark quagmires. But...this one is worth the risk.
Notable Cedar swamps you can visit: