East Bay Slimes

PERSEPHONE'S FATE //

✋foamy sizzly snow-slay
👃pomegranate, sparkling elderflower and honey wine, wild red currants, jasmine and osmanthus blossoms, sun-drenched fields, hops, and a hint of sage

According to the Greek myth, Persephone, the embodiment of spring, was playing in a beautiful meadow of flowers with her friends when she stumbled upon an enchanting narcissus flower. As she stooped down to pick it, the earth beneath her broke open, and Hades, king of the underworld, emerged through the gap, snatching her up onto his chariot of black horses and carrying her off down below to be his bride. Zeus, father of Persephone and brother of Hades, witnessed the abduction and kept silent to keep the peace, while her mother, Demeter, grieved her disappearance. When she learned that Zeus had conspired in her daughter's kidnapping, she was furious. To punish the gods, Demeter decided to take a long, indefinite leave from her duties as the goddess of harvest and fertility until Persephone was returned. The earth began to dry up, harvests failed, plants decayed, animals died, and famine spread across the land.

Zeus eventually consented to have Persephone returned, but because the girl had tasted the food of Hades -- six pomegranate seeds -- she was forced to forever spend half the year with him in the underworld. Her annual return to the earth in spring was marked by the flowering of the meadows and the sudden growth of new grain. Her return to the underworld in winter, however, coincided with the death of the natural world while Demeter reveled in her sadness again.

Though this tale explores the contrast of light and dark times, for the fragrance blend, I leaned more into the lighthearted, celebratory aesthetic of her return and her days in the flower fields: pomegranate, sparkling elderflower and honey wine, wild red currants, jasmine and osmanthus blossoms, sun-drenched fields, hops, and a hint of sage. A soft, foamy, sizzly snow-slay represents Persephone, nestled in a jar flecked with gold pigments. As you mix, they leave golden trails reminiscent of her hair flowing behind her as she was whisked away. Comes with a small bag of add ins: a pomegranate, a sprig of wheat (which she was oft pictured holding), pearls, glitter, and underworld demons.