In pagan calendars, the first flush of green was more than seasonal — it marked a spiritual threshold. Imbolc and Ostara, ancient festivals of renewal, signaled the stirring of earth, a return of light, a time for planting both seeds and intentions. In that liminal space between frost and bloom, when the soil still holds the memory of winter but the air begins to lift, we find the inspiration for our Seymour fragrance.Seymour is not a perfume in the traditional sense. It was conceived the way a ritual might be: slow, reverent, deeply tied to the land. At Commune, we approach fragrance as a form of sensory storytelling, one that draws as much from herbalism and ancient rites as from classic French composition. Each note in Seymour has its own origin myth, its own role in the ecosystem, both natural and cultural.This is the story of Seymour’s ingredients — not just as smells, but as characters in a much older story of healing, symbolism, and connection.The Transportive Nature of ScentScent bypasses language. It doesn’t ask to be understood — only felt. Of all the senses, it’s the most ancient, the most direct, wired into the limbic system where memory, emotion, and instinct reside. A single inhalation can return us to childhood gardens, sun-warmed skin, the cedar chest of a relative long gone. It’s not nostalgia, exactly — it’s something older. A kind of soul-memory.This is why fragrance has always played a role in rites of passage and sacred spaces: it marks the invisible, the in-between. In Seymour, this transportive quality is intentional. Each ingredient carries its own memory-map — from temple resins to hedgerow herbs — creating a scent that doesn’t just sit on the skin, but opens doors. Doors to places we’ve been, and places we’ve never been, but somehow recognise. Grapefruit (Citrus paradisi) Lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus) The Awakening: Citrus, Light, and ClarityTop Notes Grapefruit (Citrus paradisi)More than just a fresh opener, grapefruit was once considered a fruit of the gods — a hybrid born in the Caribbean in the 18th century, thought to be a spontaneous cross between sweet orange and pomelo. Its essential oil, rich in limonene, carries detoxifying properties and is used in traditional Chinese medicine to "move Qi" — disperse stagnation, brighten the mind. It gives Seymour that flash of clarity: like morning light breaking over damp ground.Lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus)With its razor-bright aroma, lemongrass has long played a dual role as both medicine and magic. In Ayurveda, it's a tonic for digestion, circulation, and mental fog. In Southeast Asian traditions, it’s burned to cleanse spaces of bad energy. Chemically, it’s high in citral and geraniol — potent antimicrobials that also contribute to its sharp green scent. In Seymour, it acts like flint on stone, striking the first spark. Geranium (Pelargonium graveolens) Clary Sage (Salvia sclarea) Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) The Garden’s Breath: Floral, Herbal, HarmonisingHeart NotesGeranium (Pelargonium graveolens)Victorians called it “rose’s cousin,” but geranium is something else entirely: a shapeshifter. With hundreds of varieties and chemotypes, its scent ranges from green apple to Turkish delight. The one used in Seymour leans toward the latter: floral, but with a metallic edge. Geranium has been used in folk medicine to balance the endocrine system and soothe anxiety. Here, it offers equilibrium, the steady inhale after a bright exhale.Clary Sage (Salvia sclarea)The Latin clarus, meaning clear, hints at this plant’s historical use: to sharpen spiritual and literal sight. Clary sage was burned by early herbalists to induce trance, vision, or restful sleep. Its scent is strange and dreamy, slightly musky, like damp hay and steeped tea. High in linalyl acetate, it acts as a nervous system sedative, grounding the composition in the dream-state between sleep and bloom.Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)The quintessential English herb, lavender is the botanical equivalent of exhale. Its clean, camphorous top note is instantly recognisable, but in Seymour it unfurls slowly—earthier, woodier, like lavender still rooted in chalky soil. Used since Roman times for cleansing, protection, and rest, lavender tempers the composition with a serenity that is ancient and wise. Galbanum (Ferula gummosa) Hiba Wood (Thujopsis dolabrata) Cypress (Cupressus sempervirens) Root and Resin – Memory, Depth, RegenerationBase NotesGalbanum (Ferula gummosa)Used in sacred incense as early as the 7th century BCE, galbanum was considered a conduit to the divine. Sharp, green, and slightly bitter, its presence in Seymour is not ornamental, it’s an anchor. Chemically complex, it contains pinene, cadinene, and other terpenes that stimulate the immune system and ease grief. This is the scent of broken stems, living chlorophyll, primal reawakening.Hiba Wood (Thujopsis dolabrata)Little known outside Japan, Hiba is deeply revered in Shinto tradition, and is used to build temples, purify spaces, and protect the soul. It carries a scent that is simultaneously antiseptic and smoky, like a hot spring in a cedar forest. Its essential oil, rich in hinokitiol, is powerfully antimicrobial. In Seymour, Hiba is the quiet keeper of boundaries — the liminal space between body and spirit.Cypress (Cupressus sempervirens)A tree of mourning and mystery, cypress has lined the cemeteries and temples of the Mediterranean for thousands of years. Its essential oil is crisp and coniferous, with an almost peppery dryness. Cypress is said to aid in transitions — emotional, seasonal, spiritual. In Seymour, it closes the circle: a quiet nod to endurance, legacy, and the parts of spring we don’t see, the roots that dig deeper while everything else rises. Crafting Seymour: The Alchemy of Natural PerfumeryOur premiere fragrance recalls a Somerset spring not as a moment, but as atmosphere: wet branches, windswept skin, petals opened in the pale sun. Formulated without alcohol and crafted with nourishing butters — cocoa, jojoba, and sea buckthorn — this natural blend is also skincare, anchoring scent in a ritual of touch, breath, and belonging. Fragrance as a Form of RemembranceSeymour is less a scent and more a landscape — one that recalls the low hills and hedgerows of the British countryside, but also the ancestral memory of healing gardens, votive groves, and forest shrines. Commune’s approach to formulation rejects alcohols and synthetics not just for health, but to honour an older way of composing scent — one that prioritises skin compatibility, emotional resonance, and a deeper sensory connection.In Seymour, fragrance becomes a means of rewilding the self — not in the external, performative sense, but inwardly. To wear it is to return to something — to the green pulse beneath our habits, to a slower rhythm guided by season and scent.
