Perfect Potion - Sal Battaglia & Carolyn Stubbin
iam: an aromatherapy, natural perfumery and skincare artist
Sal Battaglia and Carolyn Stubbin are a creative partnership whose work flows from a shared, lifelong love of the natural world. Together they founded the pioneering Australian aromatherapy house, Perfect Potion, in Brisbane in 1991. For more than three decades, their art has explored the meeting point of nature, scent, and the senses.
Sal is an artist of scent. For over forty years he has worked with the raw materials of the natural world—essential oils, resins, woods, and botanicals—masterfully formulating unique essential oil blends and composing natural perfumes much as a painter works with pigment or a musician with notes. An internationally acclaimed author, his books, including The Complete Guide to Aromatherapy and Kotodama of Scent, are regarded as essential references in the field. His practice sits where craft, chemistry, and contemplation meet, creating natural perfumes designed to move and to heal, while inviting others to slow down, breathe deeply, and rediscover the world through their sense of smell.
Carolyn is a visual artist, photographer, and author who holds a Master of Visual Arts. As Creative Director of Perfect Potion, she has shaped its artistic vision from the very first store. As the formulator behind the entire Perfect Potion skincare range, she creates holistic skincare utilising a rich palette of unique Australian botanicals and natural plant ingredients from all around the world. Her artistic eye was first trained in her hometown of Boonah, in the Scenic Rim—traditionally Ugarapul Country—where the smell of freshly turned earth and eucalyptus became some of her earliest and fondest memories. That connection to landscape still drives her work today, whether through the lens of a camera or the botanical art of plant-based skincare.
Sal and Carolyn share a holiday home on Minjerribah/Terrangee—a place whose salt air, light, coastline, and native flora have long been a source of retreat and inspiration. The island continues to shape their art, and they are delighted to share it as part of the Straddie Arts Trail.
Connect
Visiting During the Trail
Location: Second Sand Studio - 29 Mooloomba Road, Point Lookout (above Six Beaches Restaurant - enter throug the park)
Perfect Potion products available throughout the trail from Second Sand Studio
Time: Workshop: Saturday 10am - 11:30am
Workshop
During the trail, join Salvatore Battaglia at Second Sand Studio where he will be hosting an exclusive hands-on workshop where attendees can explore the Kotodama of Scent and create their own custom natural perfume to take home.