April Aromatics - Interview with perfumer and owner Tanja Bochnig

TANJA BOCHNIG - APRIL AROMATICS

Since I became involved with perfumery I was blessed to be able to meet amazing people. Creative, good hearted, passionate souls that are sharing with me the great purpose of spreading & sharing knowledge about fragrances.

On March 8th we celebrated Women's International Day worldwide, and here in Brazil, the entire month is dedicate to all women's achievements in many areas. So to close this month with a golden key I prepared a surprise for my readers:

+ Q Perfume Blog brought Tanja Bochnig as a special guest and celebrate her life achievements.

Modeling for fashion since she was 18, Tanja traveled all over the world. Developing a very successful career, Tanja had the opportunity to be in touch with many cultures. In order to stay centered and fit, she began practicing Yoga and today she is a certified Yoga teacher.

Since her childhood Tanja was fascinated by the world of fragrances and well being. Today she made an old dream come true: to create her own brand of natural products, combining her passion for fragrances, Yoga and good health - April Aromatics.

Her beauty is just an expression of her soul. She is a delicate, giving, warm soul that is committed to celebrate nature is its natural form.

Being in touch with her, sharing her experiences (Tanja gave birth to a beautiful child) made me fresh and inspired.

She is far from being just one more pretty blonde in the fashion world going for the big bucks. She is intelligent, sensitive, willing to learn and willing to share.

So + Q Perfume Blog has been exchanging with her e-mails and finally managed to put together for my readers some of her insights, her ideas and a tiny idea of April Aromatics is all about.

So welcome Tanja! + Q Perfume Blog wants to thank you for accepting to be the guest of honor.

+ Q Perfume Blog:

April aromatics. I am curious to know if there is something special about the month of April, because to me it is a very special month. My son was born in April because I wished him to. It is the most beautiful month in Israel, where my son was born. It is also the month of Aries, which was a perfect combination with Leo. So, is there any story behind the name?

Tanja Bochnig:

April is my favorite month of the year, I was born on April, so yes I am an Aries too...(And you look like a lioness, with your hair). In April everything is new and fresh. I love the colors of April, the light of the sun and that all the strength of nature that is coming back to life. The plants and every living being are awakening into a new life and spirit. Also, the flowers have this fresh, clean smell. That's why I called my company April Aromatics.

+Q Perfume Blog:

Where does your interest in fragrances come from?

Tanja Bochnig:

Since I was a little girl, I had a very developed sense of smell. I loved the smell of coffee my mom made in the mornings, (even I never drank coffee in my life). I loved when my dad was baking at home and the scents drifted through the whole house. I loved walking through the German Christkindl's markets with its spicy, sweet smells, and the scent of cut fir trees lingering around.

+Q perfume Blog:

Childhood memories are so nice! Especially when we remember them vividly with the scents related to them! Do you have a special one?

Tanja Bochnig:

Yes, Christmas was a very special time in my childhood. It was also the time of the "oranges", when you could buy oranges in the stores...I do associate Christmas with oranges..funny...(Nowadays you can oranges at any time of the year, esp. if you live in the US, where they are being flown in from Florida).

But in every season there was a unique smell that accompanied my growing up. My mom was and still is very fond of celebrating the seasons, and I think that enhanced my heightened sense of smell.

+Q perfume Blog:

I see that your parents had a lot to do with it than?

Tanja Bochnig:

I remember my mom’s first perfume. It was Chamade by Guerlain. When she kissed me goodbye, before we left the house to go to school, I could feel her being with me throughout the day, smelling her on my cheek. I think I will always associate this perfume with my mom.

+Q Perfume Blog:

I remember my mom had Joy in her closet. I also remember Fidji and Opium. Do you remember your first fragrance?

Tanja Bochnig:

I remember my very first perfume that I was given by a friend of the family when I was 16 years old. A perfect scent for a young woman: L'air Du temps, by Nina Ricci.

+Q Perfume Blog:

I remember my first perfume – meaning the one that I purchased, not a gift from an adult, was First by VC & Arpels.

Tanja Bochnig:

Before I started my company and making "natural" perfumes, I was collecting all sorts of perfumes and I still do have a huge array of perfumes bottles, mostly vintage, in my collection. At the time I was modeling and traveling around the world, flying from one assignment to the next. There were moments where one could have blindfolded me at certain airports, and I could have recognized the city by the way the air smelled.

SPICE BLEND - NATURAL PERFUME

+ Q Perfume Blog:

Really? That is so interesting. Can you give my readers one example?

Tanja Bochnig:

For instance Miami: The air there always smelled lush, humid and somewhat salty and warm....other cities and airports had a rather synthetic, plastic, inorganic kind of smell.

And the same goes for people....there is a saying in German: "I cannot smell you". If translated literally, it means that you cannot stand the person. So if you do not like someone’s chemistry or scent, than that is a sign to rather stay away...and we should listen to those sings...early on..(I wish I had more often...:-)).

+ Q Perfume Blog:

In Portuguese we have expressions inserting the sense of smell too such as: Something is smelling bad – meaning the person or the situation is fishy. If you also say in Portuguese that you didn’t like someone’s smell, it means you didn’t like the person. But how exactly did you get involved with Natural Perfumery?

Tanja Bochnig:

During my modeling years, I had the great chance to study all that my heart desired and that was "natural healing", the world of plants and nature, aromatherapy, yoga and finally also natural perfumery.

I realized early on that the synthetic perfumes did not resonate well with me. Often I got headaches, even migraines and felt uncomfortable wearing them, whereas when I wore natural essential oils, I felt my spirit and mood lifted and certain happiness and contentment that is beyond words to describe.

OIL BASED PERFUMES - PRECIOUS WOODS

+Q Perfume Blog:

And how did you develop your skills from a personal experience and need?

Tanja Bochnig:

At that point in my life, I decided to explore this special world in more depth. I had the opportunity to study with some of the world best natural perfumers and botanists, with whom I went on several journeys to India and Turkey to explore the life the plants and to witness where they were grown and how they were harvested.

Eventually I started making my own products and it came so easy to me to sit down and make a perfume. I had to learn to write all the formulas down, so that I could reproduce them later on.

When I am blending I feel like I am in a different world, becoming one with nature. I also feel that it is something else that is taking over...almost like channeling...I channel a perfume and it comes to me more intuitively, rather than through my mind.

+ Q Perfume Blog:

What is the idea behind your brand?

Tanja Bochnig:

What is most important to me is what goes into a bottle of perfume. It is first of all the ingredients, being organic or wild crafted if ever possible. Knowing where they are coming from, where and how they were grown and if possible being handled at a fair trade.

Secondly, I feel even more important is the energy that goes into the making process. If I am not feeling well, I do not touch my oils...I believe that this energy is being reflected in the final product. I also infuse all of my oils with certain crystals and with color. I try to complete a perfume on a full moon.

CHACRA OILS SET - AROMA YOGA

+Q Perfume Blog:

You also have a special like related to Yoga right? Can you tell me a little bit about it?

Tanja Bochnig:

I have been passionate about yoga for almost 20 years. One day it just came to me, to combine 1+1 and out of my passion of scent+yoga, AromaYoga was born. Aroma Yoga combines and intensifies the holistic effect of yoga with the application of essential oils, creating the synergistic marriage of two teachings, which are seemingly perfect in themselves. I have developed aromatic oil blends harmoniously coordinated especially for the exercises of Yoga. These seven compounds are contained in two products, "the 7 Chakra Oil Set" and the "7 Chakra Spray Set”.

+Q Perfume Blog:

We all know that you have a new born in your life. How does motherhood affect the life of a perfumer?

Tanja Bochnig:

The most important gift my sweet smelling daughter has given me, is the inspiration of all new nectars and scents that I have never smelled before on anyone's skin. My next big perfume will be dedicated to her and it is inspired of the way she smelled when she was just born. There was and still is a scent on the top of her head, that is so pure and divine. It has a hint of anise, fennel and honey and it smells so good, it makes you forget about everything else...I guess that her crown chakra is still open and able to receive all the beautiful scents she brought with her from another realm...♥ . My daughter is and will be my greatest muse. I feel so grateful.

+ Q Perfume Blog:

Thank you again Tanja for being here. I wish you all the success you deserve! I was very happy to meet you, and be a part of this continuous process of soul development that you have been sharing with so many people. May April Aromatics become a very strong brand worldwide, you can always count on me to publish your success sweety!

I invite all my readers to enter to her site and learn how beauty comes from inside out and not the other way around. To see how dreams can become true if you are fully committed. To be inspired by her like I am and to get to know all her products. They are really fantastic!!!