The Story of Melis
Melis hand-crafted, natural perfume has been created to literally awaken your senses.
The Beautiful Truth of Natural Perfume.
Many commercially available, big brand perfumes are made using synthetic fragrances that allow manufacturers to create memorable, consistent and unusual scents.
The downside is that these perfumes often contain phthalates, parabens and petrochemicals. Given that the chemicals are absorbed directly into our bloodstream, some research suggests these ingredients can have a serious impact on our health, playing havoc with hormone function and even fertility.
When Melissa was pregnant with her first child, she was determined to avoid synthetic body products and medications. Instead, she turned to the beautiful, restorative aromas of nature and ancient practices and thus Melis began to take shape organically.
Melis natural fragrances are derived purely from botanical species you would likely recognise, including rose, jasmine and even the kaffir lime tree.
Like liquid nectar, they’re created from only pure essential oils and botanical ingredients - a gift directly from Mother Nature.
Made with Intent.
Melis was created to inspire a more conscious, natural and connected way of living with ourselves and those around us.
Melis founder, Melissa Italiano has always been cognisant of the power of scent as a bypass for stressful moments in her own busy life and its ability to assist in her journey, via the senses, to live a mindful life in the ‘now’ with more intent.
Honouring this profound impact, Melissa recognised an opportunity to create Melis to help others use scent to take stock, recalibrate and appreciate ‘Melis’ moments. Connecting back to yourself by smelling your favourite scent and mindfully selecting your brain’s memory imprint elevates your personal vibration and wellbeing.
All perfumes are included in Melissa’s personal *Mahat meditation practice, a sacred meditation that connects you to the Melis intention - for you to know and live your own personal truth and we welcome requests for personalised intentions and placements for individual orders.
* Mahat Meditation was founded by Melaney Ryan of the Melaney Ryan Institute of Applied Consciousness. www.mriac.com.au
‘Beauty is truth, truth beauty
- that is all ye know on earth,
and all ye need to know.’John Keats
“I think our sense of smell is underutilised. It’s part of our story-telling and how we remember things. It makes sense to use it to provide grounding, focus and clarity.”
Kat Snowden
Meet the Perfumer ~
Kat Snowden
Perfumer, Aromatherapist and Cosmetic Chemist Kat Snowden is the artisanal perfumer of MELIS’ debut 'Olivia' collection. A self-confessed perfectionist with a generous spirit, Kat is a leading light in the field of natural skincare and perfumery. The exhilaration of experimenting with new combinations of scents and learning the intricate details about the way the individual components interact with each other was enough to lure Kat Snowden to embark on a career as a professional perfumer and scent designer.
That pursuit has led her to undertake extensive study both locally and abroad, adding to her existing skills making wholesome, all-natural cruelty-free skincare. Her business, Clean Slate, revolves around creating natural scents and skincare products and teaching others about natural perfume blending techniques.
When Melissa attended one of Kat’s perfumery classes with the intention of developing her own range of scents, Melissa's personal story, appreciation of natural perfumery and the desire to incorporate certain base notes, resonated with Kat and the two organically conspired to collaborate.
Kat is aligned to Melissa's philosophy that scent is a powerful tool for evoking memory and emotion and she hopes MELIS will empower more people to use scent to make better connections with their own personal journey.
The ‘MELIS’ Concept
It was never the intention of founder Melissa Italiano, to name her perfume brand after herself, but after many alternative options were considered, her brand designers proposed the name ‘MELIS’ after both her name and its derivation from Greek language for 'bee' and 'honey'. After initially declining the suggestion, she sat with it and realised how apt it was.
Melissa explains, “Part of my life’s challenge and journey has been to connect with and allow my feminine side to shine. I have conditioned and patterned myself to be a doer, always striving and pushing through life. For a long time my masculine side dominated my existence, largely because of my inability to embrace vulnerability.
MELIS is a much softer and more feminine sounding name than Melissa and so honours this journey. Natural perfume helps us nurture and connect with our femininity.
MELIS is very much a celebration my discovery of different aspects of myself. Energetically, we all have a masculine and feminine side (yin and yang) and these energies need to be balanced and then fuelled in order for us to flow through life and thrive. When one is more dominant than the other it can be more difficult to achieve this flow.”
Journey with Intent
With Intent – Episode 3
Kat Snowden
Melissa: A self-described perfectionist Kat Snowden’s well-honed senses and passion for natural perfumery has led her to notoriety as a natural perfume educator and scent designer for the MELIS range...
With Intent – Episode 2
Alys Pardoe
Alys Pardoe is a seeker, yogi, teacher, philosopher and so much more. I was intrigued to interview Alys after entering into a deep conversation about the human body, mind and...
Experiencing the Melis range of perfume for the first time was like stepping into heaven.