Stay home with mountain-inspired scents by Wylde Ivy

As it turns darker and colder (here in the northern hemisphere), forcing you to be indoors even more during this lockdown life, IndieBloom is pleased to unearth, Wylde Ivy. A fragrance company formulating since 2004, from Pennsylvania USA. The products on offer include perfume, handmade soap, aroma melts and gift sets. Perfect for your personal hygiene and home-care needs.

Questions & answers

Handled by Ashlee Krammes. IndieBloom reached out by email with 14 questions we wanted to ask the 'one-woman show'. Ranging from inspiration, coding, product names, culture, favourite smells and the mountains. Below are the answers- read and enjoy!

1. In your own words describe Wylde Ivy

Wylde Ivy is a small indie fragrance company specializing in unique fragrances and small batch handmade products. My passion is creating fragrances that are woven with stores. I like to think that my fragrances help the wearer create and preserve their own stories and memories. I love the magic that happens when a scent evokes memories and feelings. 

1. What are your favourite scents/smells and why?

I am partial to earthy, slightly dark fragrances. I love the pairing of sweet scents like vanilla, coconut, and tonka with the richness of woods, earth, resin, and smoke. Perhaps it is because I am a Taurus or just because I grew up wandering the mountains, I have always felt a deep connection with the natural world and all things earthy. 

1. What are your favourite natural scents/smells and why?

I love scents that evoke feeling or a place in time. Lush, cool greens remind me of spring, fresh strawberries sing of summer, dry grass, field flowers, corn leaves, and hay for the end of summer, autumn is damp fallen leaves and fog, and I always have cinnamon and clove simmering in my house in the winter. 

1. Is the current Wylde Ivy website made by you in HTML (or any other coding)?

The current Wylde Ivy site is built on the Shopify platform. I have done some minor CSS code tweaks.  

1. How was your experience creating the website (and were you a beginner)? 

The very first website I built for Wylde Ivy back in 2004 I did myself using a HTML book I picked up at a used book sale. I had no prior HTML experience before cracking that book open, so it was quite a learning experience. Eventually I had a website built for me with the more robust features I needed as my business grew. I kept learning over the years teaching myself how to do simple code hacks and upgrades to that HTML site. Once I switched over to Shopify, I had some self taught experience with web design. 

1. How did you come up with the name for the brand?

That stems from my love of outdoors and nature. There was a little known path off of the Appalachian Trail that I used to hike to often that was nothing more than a narrow cut through an ivy covered forest. The ivy completely devoured the ground and trees. It looked like another world. The trail didn’t have an official name, at least not one we knew so we always called it the Wild Ivy Trail when we talked about it. I always liked the name and more so loved the memories of our time there. 

1. How do you come up with names for your products?

Sometimes names come to me easily. Sometimes I have the name before the scent and I create the scent around the name. That is when I have the most fun. Naming scents that I have already created is usually a little harder for me. I always try to capture the feeling of the scent in the name. 

1. Any fragrance/beauty brands that give you inspiration and why?

I actually try and not be influenced by other fragrance brands. I like to try and keep my vision as true to myself as possible. I get most of my inspiration from my own real life experiences as well as books and stories. I love books that are super descriptive with scent and food! 

1. Does living by the Appalachian Mountains give you any influence, provide any smells or scent ideas?

Absolutely. Appalachia culture very much revolves around stories, family lore, nature medicine, the outdoors, old recipes, and magic. Not only do I have the Appalachia influences, I also live right on the edge of Pennsylvania Dutch territory. These two cultures mix their old ways into modern times and you can’t help but feel the pull of all of that history and the power of the people who tamed and worked with nature. 

1. What is your favourite soap/scent you’ve created and why?

It is ironic that my passion is creating scents, but my favorite soaps are always the unscented ones like Coconut Milk Castile, Chamomile Castile, and Pure Butter. Even though I don’t add fragrance to the soaps, they have such a beautiful and subtle wholesome scent naturally. My favorite fragranced soap is A Little Sunshine because it just makes me happy. It’s citrus and herbal, effervescent yet grounded at the same time. I don’t know if I could choose a favorite perfume.  I love so many for so many different reasons. Firebornand Caramel Darling are my personal go-to fragrances in the autumn and winter. For spring and summer, I wear Moonstone & Opaland Jade Blue often.

1. What are your influences/inspirations and why?

I am influenced by stories, experiences, and endless wanderings. Most of the fragrances in my shop are born from a memory or dream or a wish to preserve and savor the feelings of a moment. If not born directly from a memory, I formulate my fragrances around snippets of stories...either those that I have heard along the way or conjured up myself.  

1. Any plans to expand on the product range?

I have more ideas and inspirations than I have time to physically make them. I always have ideas brewing on the back burner. I expect the next year to bring several new products to Wylde Ivy. 

1. Any plans to expand or open/sell in a store? (covid permitting)

Before my twins were born in 2008, I had sold at craft fairs, outdoor/seasonal markets, and held pop up events at various locations. While my daughters were young I scaled back Wylde Ivy and stopped placing my products in stores and attending in-person events. Now that they are getting older and even showing an interest in Wylde Ivy themselves, I had planned to get back into in-person shows and events this year. 2020 had other plans. So, yes, as things start to stabilize and get back to normal I do have plans to expand and get out to more in person events. I have already started adding to the list of stores carrying my products and booked several venues with the hope that 2021 will be a better year for everyone.  

1. What advice would you give to anyone planning to start a perfume/cosmetic/beauty business?

My advice to someone new to the indie perfume/beauty industry is to just try and be true to yourself. Create what makes you happy and you will attract people with whom your vision resonates.

Smell of success

Preparing to stock up on scents and fragrances for Halloween, Christmas or the New Year for yourself, or a treat for others? Invest your time and explore the offers by keeping up to date on all the usual places like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Also, Wylde Ivy products are available to purchase from Etsy.

Thanks again to Ashlee for taking the time out of her busy schedule to take part and answer our questions!