Flor de Selva

Pimenta, which the island calls malagueta.

White cedar is cedro blanco there, a native tree found throughout the island and especially in its mountains, and cypress brightens the edge of it. Pimenta runs fiery through the middle. Natural resins gather with it, and the wild flora that carpets the forest floor. Dominican orange and nutmeg come over the top, the island's own spices against its own citrus, with an amber accord holding underneath.

Hidden groves where rare flowers bloom in dappled sunlight, and the smell of them rises with the heat of the day. Bright at first light and rich by the warm afternoon, then meditative once the day goes. Years of researching and experimenting went into it, and resin is an integral part of the island's cultural heritage.

La Boticá is a fragrance house rooted in Afro-Dominican heritage, working out of a Long Island City atelier where a small team handcrafts every release. Dawn Marie West founded it and composes the work, self-taught, arriving at fine fragrance after fifteen years in the arts, with a background as an art director and fine art photographer. Indigenous Dominican materials are the foundation: amyris, wild orange and cacao butter from the island, alongside palo santo gathered in Ecuador.

Seven eau de parfums, hand-poured candles, botanical body oils and incense make up the range, produced in small batches and in limited editions, and built to be layered. The fragrances are vegan and cruelty free, blended on USDA organic sugarcane alcohol and housed in Spanish glass from a Costa Brava maker, made with recycled content. A percentage of profits goes to The Dream Project, which runs education programs across twenty-seven Dominican communities.