A Return to Ritual
The story of mama loux
The First Language
Long before MAMA LOUX, there was scent. Some of my earliest memories are of wet earth in spring, lilacs drifting through the porch, autumn leaves, my
mother’s perfume, and vanilla. Later, Hawaiʻi introduced me to gardenia,
jasmine, rain-soaked earth, and the salt air of the Pacific. I did not know it
then, but I had been following scent for much of my life.
A Life with Plants
I began working with plants as a chef, learning through flavor, season, place, and the transformation of food. Over more than thirty years, that practice expanded into skincare, botanical preparations, aromatics, and other forms of formulation. The materials changed, but my approach stayed rooted in curiosity: understanding what a plant is, how it behaves, and what becomes possible when it meets another.
A Doorway Through Scent
During a ceremony many years ago, an incense was burned that changed the way I understood fragrance. I could not fully describe its scent, but I felt how it could shift perception, carry memory, and mark a threshold. That experience drew me deeper into botanical aromatics, from woods and flowers to the resins of trees.
Learning to Listen
Studying scent taught me to slow down. A fragrance can be difficult to name, so I had to notice what I sensed before reaching for an explanation. That attention began to feel close to intuition. I grew curious about the thoughts and materials that kept appearing in my path. One of those threads was a word: mastic.
Hello, Mastic
I read about mastic first, then found it by chance on a shelf in a small shop. I brought it home to Maui and placed a pinch on a prepared coal. Its scent bloomed with warmth, clean air, wood, and a brightness that reminded me of citrus. It seemed to open the space while drawing me more fully into my center. I wanted to know where it would lead.
The Alchemy of Blending
I began blending resins, learning how each one behaved on heat and how its scent changed beside another. I studied their origins, properties, histories, and traditional uses, then let observation and intuition guide the proportions. Slowly, the work became a meeting place for plant study, formulation, perfumery, and ritual.
The Beginning of MAMA LOUX
After years of public work in books, television, teaching, and entrepreneurship, I entered a quieter chapter of healing and deep listening. My relationship with resins continued to grow, and MAMA LOUX gradually took shape. It carries both my fascination with these materials and my responsibility to understand where they come from, honor the people and traditions connected to them, and work with care.
I am still learning and following the thread. MAMA LOUX is an invitation to deepen our relationship with scent, ritual, ourselves, and the living world.
Return to Ritual.
The mama loux
Field Journals
Late September Early autumn holds the strange abundance of a world beginning to withdraw. Goldenrod burns yellow along the edges...
A Field Study in Passage, Surrender, and Becoming What Is Elemi? There are some resins I understand first through their...
On learning to receive one of life’s oldest forms of information Sometime in September, the light changes before we have...
Late September Early autumn holds the strange abundance of a world beginning to withdraw. Goldenrod burns yellow along the edges...
A Field Study in Passage, Surrender, and Becoming What Is Elemi? There are some resins I understand first through their...
On learning to receive one of life’s oldest forms of information Sometime in September, the light changes before we have...