The Blue Marble is the photograph of Earth, taken in 1972, by the crew of Apollo 17 on their way to the Moon. Showing the Earth’s vulnerability and isolation in the vastness of space, it quickly became an iconic symbol of environmental activism for generations.

Another symbol of our Earth, named after the Greek goddess Gaia, created much attention with its own hypothesis. The Gaia hypothesis, proposed in the 1970’s by scientists James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis, contends that Earth is an enormous ecosystem, comprised of many smaller systems. Together, they represent a dynamic and self regulating process in which oceans, atmosphere, plants, animals, fungi and the Earth’s crust, interact to maintain and adjust conditions for life to exist on the planet. This theory has informed emerging hypotheses such as earth system science, which takes a holistic approach to how geology, oceanography, ecology, and meteorology all affect the health of the Earth and its ability to sustain life.

These theories and discoveries are increasingly being used to study climate change, in all its facets, and how changes in one ecosystem impact another. As we do this, we realize how susceptible our Earth is to the effects of various man-made pollution, warming and the continued arrogance of humans.

This Blue Marble perfume represents the beauty, complexity and fragility of Earth’s intertwining systems through scent. Comprised of 7 accords representing oceans, soil, cold flowers, wet rocks, woods, green plants and metals, it allows us to think about and experience the intersection of these endangered ecosystems personally, as they move across our skin, through time and space.

I wish to thank Glynn Gorick, a noted British science illustrator and animator, for giving me permission to use his image “Ocean Life Powered by Sunlight” created for the Bigelow Ocean Science Lab in Maine. Glynn has always been interested in “nature and making things”, and studied both zoology and the arts. Glynn taught science and agriculture in high schools including those in the UK, Zambia and Papua New Guinea. He eventually started working full time as a painter and illustrator to help scientists describe their published research. He is busy creating a new website to house his many animations and illustrations.