Irrepressibly joyous and playfully poetic, life partners and Living Libations owners Nadine Artemis and Ron Obadia co-create a botanical health and beauty line like no other, pure and vibrant with essential oils. Their full-hearted passion for the quality, beauty and sensory experience of their work is obvious. Their devoted fan following, including several celebrities, responds with enthusiasm. We interviewed Nadine and Ron about their creative synergy and unique offering.
Parvati Magazine: Thank you for sharing your time with us! First off, Nadine, I have to ask. Your high school science project was to duplicate L’Air du Temps with essential oils. Why L’Air du Temps in particular, and more importantly – what oils did you use?
Nadine Artemis: I loved my glass bottle of L’Air du Temps with the sculpted bird on top and the fragrance was a full floral bouquet with subtle hints of spice. I lost my specific formula from that time due to a fire, yet if I close my eyes, I can sniff out the dense floral notes of jasmine (combined with a wisp of clove to create a carnation note), rose, ylang-ylang and neroli with a tenacious base of vetiver, sandalwood, cedar, a touch of rosewood and bergamot top notes with a dash of rockrose and benzoin to create an amber accord.
At the time it was considered in the top five of distinguished perfumes.
Parvati Magazine: Ron, what do you feel you bring to complement Nadine’s aromatherapy approach to create the beauty and skin care products at Living Libations?
Ron Obadia: I bring the essence of our union. Through listening, inhaling and playing, I can uphold the ground for Nadine’s genius creativity.
Parvati Magazine: “Renegade Beauty” is your passionately lyrical ode to a more natural and vital approach to beauty. People like Alanis Morissette, Lisa Bonet, Kelly Brogan, and Danielle LaPorte sing its praises. How much latitude did you have with North Atlantic Press to keep its poetic voice intact?
Nadine Artemis: One hundred percent!
Parvati Magazine: You create items quite literally for head to toe, inside and out. Why do you think Living Libations has such a uniformly appreciative audience for these items?
Nadine Artemis: People resonate with our purity and once they have discovered the botanical banquet of Living Libations, they do not want to go elsewhere. We commit to covering every aspect of ablutions and we love to architect creations that are fresh to body care like ozonated gum gels, yoni serums, and breast massage oils.
Parvati Magazine: It’s no secret that the beauty market is predominantly female, and it seems as though “Renegade Beauty” is largely targeted at women. Yet, it’s relatively rare for a husband-and-wife duo to run a beauty company together, and you offer an intriguing range of products for men. What do you feel your creative partnership brings to the table for men?
Nadine Artemis: While many men are thoroughly enjoying “Renegade Beauty”, we do have a few chapters dedicated to unique discussions about breasts, vaginas and pregnancy. [Yet] so many areas are “gender neutral” like oral care, sun care, basic care of the skin and smelling good. Ron is great at testing products and brings his sensory awareness to the formulas that satisfy the products men are looking to discover. We love being in this partnership together.
Nadine Artemis and Ron Obadia are creators of Living Libations: a line of skincare serums, elixirs, and oral care creations. While Ron works in music and meditations with Sound Libations, Nadine has authored “Renegade Beauty” and “Holistic Dental Care” and has created vibrant collections of products formulated with botanical compounds.