About Us
“Beloved poison prepared by the angels! Liqueur that consumes me, O the life and death of my heart!”
~ Charles Baudelaire on perfume, "The Perfume Flask" from The Flowers of Evil collection of poetry, 1857
Ivy's Poison is a small-batch Canadian brand of perfumes and beauty elixirs. Our inspiration stems from the 1850s French Gothic poetry of Charles Baudelaire and the apothecaries of his era where witchy folklore collided with science. During this time (as it is today), the poisons were cures as much as they were agents of peril. And it was here where the curative dosing of 'poisons' and natural botanicals – since the two were often one and the same – was being perfected.
As with everything, our products included, the most enchanting beauties have a dark side. Inside the voluptuous rose, intoxicating jasmine, the brightest citrus, green mosses, resins, and more, lurk the potential to cause harm as much as the gift of sensual pleasure. The secret to safely harnessing their beauty lies in respecting their power and knowing their thresholds.
It is within this space – where bewitching botanicals mingle with smart formulation – that our craft unfurls.
Welcome to Ivy's Poison Apothecary.
The Alchemist
Shauna Rudd is a perfumer and skincare formulator who has studied with renowned experts Sarah McCartney of 4160 Tuesdays, natural perfumer Ayala Moriel, Ashley Eden Kessler at the Institute for Art and Olfaction, Formula Botanica school of natural and organic skincare and Tisserand Institute for essential oil usage, safety and chemistry.Shauna lives in Canada, north of Edmonton, Alberta with her husband and two kids, creating scented potions in the woodlands under skies alight with aurora borealis.