Moi
Hullo dears, Miss Nightingale, here.
An avid perfume maker, I am also forced – completely against my will – to WORK for a living (disgusting, but one has to scrape together the pennies), currently managing a designer fashion concession. It’s hardly the salt mines, but I’d rather be focusing on my perfume making.
I currently reside in rather grandly named Royal Tunbridge Wells, located in the county of Kent in the UK. Far from living in the castle (or, at the very least, a medium sized mansion) I so obviously deserve, I live like paupers rent a small flat. I am waiting for that benevolent [yet previously unknown] relative to leave me their entire estate, and expect the hand-written-on-vellum letter from their Dickensian solicitors any day now…
It should be obvious to even the most casual observer that I am pretty much obsessed with the Victorian & Edwardian [also, to a lesser extent, 1920’s/30’s/40’s] eras, and have been for as long as I can remember. I distinctly recall my mother asking me what I would like to be when I was older. I replied: “A pickpocket!” which didn’t exactly swell her maternal bosom with pride. Thank goodness I decided I wanted to be a ballet dancer [ha! Short-lived], an actress [secretly feel I missed my calling], a writer [secretly still wish] or Prime Minister [unwise] instead.
I am also quite insanely obsessed with Victorian (and older) slang, probably due to the amount of Victorian novels I have devoured, and likely connected with my love of the bawdy, burlesque & steampunk types. Most of my perfumes are named after slang terms for, well, brazen hussies, disreputable cads, bounders, and ne’er-do-wells. Not what every perfumer would reach for when naming their creations, but I am not every perfumer. 🙂
I’m a member of the indispensable perfume-addicts website, Fragrantica, the editors of which very kindly asked me to be an occasional contributing writer, which I very much enjoy. My username there, should you wish to snoop into my perfumed drawers (so to speak), is miss_nightingale.
I had fantastic feedback when I sold my creations on ebay & LiveJournal, and indeed had given up my job of working in a bookshop to undertake the perfume making full-time. Due to unforseen circumstances in a relationship [a very polite & vague way of referring to this time, I assure you!] – I had to leave my house with a suitcase & move back in with my parents, bless their hearts, then aged 30-something. An interesting period of my life we shall gloss over. In a nutshell, I had to start from scratch, find a new job and a new place to live. Done & done, I am now actively involved in my first love, again [no, not pickpocketing or ballet dancing, you will be relieved to hear] – perfume making. It’s what drives me, inspires me and makes me want to go further in the world.
Are you wondering if you have accidentally stumbled into my first draft for an autobiography spanning several leather-bound volumes? I promise I wont detain you any longer, though it is sort of your fault for being nosy, isn’t it? ;p
Anyway, I do hope you enjoy reading this blog!
Kindest regards,
Miss Nightingale
22 Comments so far
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Beyond the Pale 
Hello there:-)
Comment by telimena42 August 3, 2009 @ 9:08 pmWhere can I get Your perfume? And I love Your page About Me.
Thank You:-)
Hello!
We are still in the process of gathering supplies & making up the perfumes in sufficient quantity to stock our shop. When they are ready (hopefully very soon!) you’ll be able to get the perfumes from our Etsy shop (linked on left hand of this blog): http://www.beyondthepale.etsy.com – until they are ready, you can go to the shop’s page and click on ‘Subscribe to shop feed’ in the right hand column, very bottom. This should inform you of when we update our shop!
Thank you so much for your interest, and for your kind words on my About Me page!
Mis Nightingale,
xxx
Comment by beyondthepaleblog August 3, 2009 @ 9:40 pmCannot wait for your perfumes – do hurry! 🙂
Comment by Hattie August 11, 2009 @ 2:06 amwill check out your shop and I have to tell you…your pic has inspired me to start wearing red lipstick again!
Ang
Comment by Ang August 27, 2009 @ 5:20 pmOh thank you! Yes, please do start wearing red lipstick again – it’s such an emotional uplift slapping some on, I find (even though quite a few people, surprisingly, do stare). I am honoured to have inspired you to wear it! 😉
Comment by beyondthepaleblog August 27, 2009 @ 6:10 pmOne should always wear lipstick. You never know!
Please do stock your shop soon!
Blessings,
Comment by Dina Kerik September 5, 2009 @ 12:09 amDina
A pleasure to meet you!
Comment by Frenchmum September 14, 2009 @ 12:01 amWhy thank you! Likewise. 🙂
Comment by beyondthepaleblog September 14, 2009 @ 8:48 pmHi there!
Thx for your comment. I love your blog and will definitely link to it 🙂
Comment by Relle September 24, 2009 @ 10:50 pm[…] line notepad’s were mentioned in Beyond the Pale Blog, which is managed by Miss Nightingale. Miss Nightingale is a lover of all things 1920’s-40’s, and she is a avid perfume maker located in the […]
Pingback by Concepcioun Handmade Handbound Journals » Blog Archive » Beyond The Pale October 11, 2009 @ 1:52 amyou say you’ve ignored brooches. I’ve ignored blogs and am beginning to see there is much here that I may be missing. thank you for putting my brooch in such fine company, and for letting me know. My mother was from London. I still have family there. Love the Victorian as well. Will have hours of fun reading what you have here, titles look facinating.-thanks-gay
Comment by gay halseth November 28, 2009 @ 4:20 pmOh I ignore blogs, too, for ages. I thought they were absolutely bound to be full of nonsense. Well, mine is sort of full of nonsense, but there are many, many worth reading! I keep adding to my list and if I go away for a few days, have about 400 posts to go through!
Thank you so much for your comment – I really appreciate it and am thrilled you like my blog. I hope you have fun reading some back-posts. 🙂
Comment by beyondthepaleblog November 28, 2009 @ 7:00 pmWhimsical Fashion-conscious Video
Hi!
I thought that you and the followers of your blog and twitter might find this video interesting!
http://bit.ly/7DxnHm
My actress in “Paper Birds” is wearing a vintage jacket from Paris, the skirt used to be a long vintage skirt from a flea market in Los Angeles but was cut to make it mini, the yellow tights were from a department store in Los Angeles, the shoes are from Paris.
The wardrobe was meant to reflect her whimsical and maybe even mythical personality and create a stark contrast with her environment.
The theme of the video is about the inspiration that can be found even in ordinary circumstances and that in giving back / sharing to the world – magic is created. A theme that is appropriate for the holiday season!
Thanks and Happy New Year,
David
P.S. I have still pictures if you’d like as well.
Comment by David January 1, 2010 @ 1:09 am[…] didn’t I know about this film? It looks awesome and delightful. (Though, let’s face it, Miss Nightengale can make anything look awesome and delightful on her [coincidentally] awesome and delightful […]
Pingback by Emma Alvarez Gibson » Blog Archive » The Week That Was (Not Quite Over) June 3, 2010 @ 8:45 amI came by to check out those gorgeous wedding dresses you posted, (not that i’m getting married anytime soon), but congratulations to you! by the way, great bio!
Comment by starsweare August 14, 2010 @ 12:48 amThank you!
And thank you, again for your kind words. 🙂
Glad you found your way here, you’re very welcome. 🙂
Comment by beyondthepaleblog August 14, 2010 @ 9:25 pmI just discovered your blog and LOVE it! So many great links and fun things to peruse, I will be checking back often…
Crooked Thorne
Comment by crookedthorne January 28, 2011 @ 9:14 pmThank you SO much, comments like that make my day! 🙂 xxx
Comment by beyondthepaleblog February 20, 2011 @ 4:58 pmYou are great and a great blog! Lovbe the writing style and tone. would love to sample your perfume. We are looking for a brand scent… Colin
Comment by Colin Cleaver May 14, 2011 @ 3:47 pmThank you for your lovely comments, I’m so glad you liked the piece, and my blog in general!
I shall have to bring a few samples around when I get the next batch on the go (it tends to get put on the back-burner as it’s been more of a delightful hobby with how busy I’ve been doing everything else, lately!) 😀 x
Comment by beyondthepaleblog May 14, 2011 @ 4:08 pmJust found your blog…love it
Comment by D Murphy June 12, 2011 @ 11:26 amJust found you too, love your style of writing! In saying that, we are a newly established e-commerce site that caters to handmade items mainly from the Middle Eastern, North African region. We have recently ventured into the UK handmade market for artists to join our establishment. We would like to know if you would be interested in sharing your page on our blog and vice versa. For example a back link in an exchange in banner ads?
Also, if you would be interested in writing an article about us on your site?
We are currently sponsoring http://acatlikecuriosity.blogspot.com/ for this month based in the UK, which has been an amazing experience. We encourage you to check out the site if you would like to have a look.
We have read your blog and are very interested in working with you. If you have any feedback, ideas or thoughts please do share we are open to hearing different avenues of how we can work together.
Just to tell you a little bit about Ananasa;
Founded in 2011, Ananasa.com is an online marketplace that enables artisans, artists and designers in the Middle East to sell their creations worldwide with no barriers.
Ananasa.com started when two sisters wanted to expose the hidden beauty of the Middle East to the world. Ananasa takes away the headaches of logistics, customer service & marketing so artisans can focus on creating their handmade items and individuals worldwide can buy unique items from the Middle East easily.
And that is why it’s called Ananasa (اناناسة):
Ana: means “I” in Arabic
Nas: means “the people” in Arabic
A: adding an a at the end allows the word to become feminine, just like the co-founders.
” for the people, by the people”
We are looking forward to hearing from you
Thank you so much, have an amazing day
Keep smiling!
The Ananasa Team
Comment by Nadia June 10, 2013 @ 8:05 am