I am afraid this is going to be brief- I have a friend visiting from New York City and one of our ritual things to do is to take the coast road up to Santa Barbara and have lunch in the Taqueria Super Rico, which is home to some of the best guacamole in the world (Julia Child was a big fan.) Since we were coming back that way anyway I decided that we would stop by and say “Hello” to Roxana Villa, who in addition to being a brilliant perfumer is one of the nicest and most welcoming women you could hope to ever meet.
Her store is exactly what I thought is would be- gorgeous! She has displays of the solids with little bell jars covering them on top of a gorgeous old apothecary display and all of her wares to play with. She showed us all sorts of things including a couple that are coming up: Melifera and Flruish, which are delights.
We spent about a good hour sampling and chatting and just having fun with scent. My friend had never heard of the line and ended up buying several things that jumped out at her, and I cadged a couple of samples of the new releases. I’m fairly exhausted from driving (construction and two car accidents on Sunset made traffic a nightmare) so I am having a glass or six of Chardonnay and typing this up- I’ll review them later on when I’m back to “normal.” But I will state they are lovely.
Roxana Illuminated Perfume’s store is located on the second floor at the Wizin Market Square in the first building as you enter the parking area. The address is 28914 Roadside Dr, unit #219, Agoura Hills, CA 91301. The exit off the 101 is Kanan Road and Roadside Drive is south of the Freeway. If you come to Los Angeles, It is well worth a trip out there to visit- Roxana is a delight and her scents are spectacular.
Portia, wish you were here.
Images: My iPhone.
Tom, thanks for letting us know about Roxana’s lovely store. I have not had the pleasure of trying any of her scents, so I must remedy that ASAP. And that guacamole sounds divine — what is their secret there?
It’s just really fresh and good: perfectly ripe avocados, minced onion, cilantro,just enough lime juice and just a dash of hot sauce, served with three freshly (like minutes ago) made tortillas. Everything they serve is delicious; the real deal. If they served margaritas I’d move to Santa Barbara.
What fun! I’m a Roxana fan, too 🙂 Look forward to your reviews, Tom.
It’s hard not to be a fan of hers.
Tease!
🙂
Hey Tom,
Wishing we were all hanging out together too. What a beautiful shop, so jealous that you got to hang with Roxana too.
I am going to wear some Roxana Illuminated Perfume in you guys honour tomorrow. I just saw my little frag bags from our last Roxana visit, I know exactly where they are.
Portia x
You would love the place. I don’t think you would love the convertible we had though..
Tom, what a fabulous surprise treat to have you and your charming friend stop by today! Whenever I get a chance to see you I always want more. Thus, please come back again soon so we can continue chatting about fragrance, flavor and other fineries of life over a glass of local wine. And, I must check out Taqueria Super Rico!!!
It was great to see you and Marietta thought you were great. But you might want to put a picture of the facade of the building on your website- we had a bit of a time trying to find it.