We’re officially at the halfway point between the Winter and Spring Solstice — which feels like just enough light to lift the mood, but not enough to stop hibernating. In the pagan calendar, this moment is known as Imbolc, a sort of ancient permission slip to start thinking about renewal without doing anything too drastic about it. Sounds good to us. We’re treating this last stretch of winter as sacred: rewatching old films, catching up on books we stacked up in December, and leaning fully into the art of being still. Springtime is just around the corner, but for now we’re still loving the seasonal quiet.
Recently, we’ve been taking our baths laced with Fig Milk. Think of it as a gentle nudge toward spring rather than a full leap. Softly perfumed with fig and violet leaf, it sits perfectly in the in-between – this isn’t winter’s depth, but it’s not spring’s exuberance, either. If Imbolc is about first stirrings, this is ours: immersive rituals, an evocative scent, and the sense that something is beginning to move. For now, there’s nothing better to do than linger in heavenly limbo.
There are still a few weeks before warmer weather beckons us back outside — the perfect excuse to curl up on the sofa with a great film. May we suggest one of the classics we’ve collected over in the 39BC Journal, all of which celebrate the subtle, oh-so-sexy art of restraint. We’ve put together a list that captures the spirit of Fig Milk — a scent inspired by the quiet lushness of longing and the private pleasure of devotion — spanning Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1961 masterwork L’avventura, starring the luminous Monica Vitti, through to Clueless (1995). A film that, frankly, never fails to lift the mood.
A BOOK WE LOVE In 1993, Diane von Furstenberg published The Bath — a fabulous book on the history of bathing, threaded through with poetic observations on humanity’s relationship with water and illustrated with photographs of the bathrooms of her equally fabulous friends. It leaves you with the strong impression that DVF selects her inner circle based, at least in part, on whether they have a sunken marble tub at their country house. As criteria go, we respect it.
The book ranges widely, from Edenic origin stories and Roman excess to the monumental social theatre of the Baths of Caracalla, where citizens wandered galleries, lecture halls, massage rooms, and shops for as long as they pleased. A whole city, organised around water. Imagine!
The excerpts alone are reason enough to track down a copy. On ritual, she writes: “The bath is the cradle for communion with life, because water is the source of all that lives. Through the ritual of bathing we worship water.” And as a wise man, she reminds us, once said: “Wetness is the essence of beauty.” Correct.
A NOTE FROM SHAR
This week has been busy, busy, busy – even by my standards. The past few days have been jam-packed with investor calls, meetings, and dinners with fellow beauty founders (more on that soon). As you read this, I’m en route to Japan to begin research for our next 39BC collection, inspired by Himiko — a mysterious third-century female ruler and shaman who governed a powerful island kingdom for over fifty years, then vanished from the Japanese record almost entirely. Female power, ritual, and mystery – you can see why I’m obsessed.
I’ve been so busy that my usual rigorous planning has gone out the window, so I’m calling it in: please send me your Japan recommendations. I’ve done Tokyo many times — the shopping, the eating, the classics — but this trip I’m especially interested in experiences connected to scent, ritual, and (of course) bathing. You can ping over your suggestions directly to our new Whatsapp line.
In other news, Thursday evening was spent having dinner with my beloved friend (and OG 39BC customer) Alfred Bramsen. Alfie is a wildly talented illustrator, creative consultant, and self-confessed Japanophile who regularly posts photos of his exquisite homemade meals on Instagram. I headed over to his gorgeous East London flat for dinner, and I can confirm that his dishes taste as good as they look.
And while we’re on the subject of East London — I’m very happy to announce that 39BC is now stocked at Earl of East. Although the fragrance-focused business now has four London stores, it’s the Redchurch Street location I know and love best — a proper destination store on a street packed with excellent shops and restaurants. The 39BC expansion continues.
