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Even at the age of 15, while training at the School of American Ballet in New York, he spent his extra money on cologne. When the professional ballet dancer got injured in November 2006, he began experimenting with his own fragrances. He began making scents and soaps for his fellow dancers at the Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle, and soon the requests were pouring in.
With the help of his entrepreneur father, he launched Jordan Samuel Fragrances. He sells room fragrance diffusers, bath and body oils and fragrances.
“My mission is to provide the ultimate sensory experience through artfully blended and intoxicating fragrances,” Pacitti says. “People want fragrances that won’t kill you with the scent — scents that are long-lasting but not over powering.”
Jordan Samuel offers three personal fragrances. Inizia, Italian for “to begin,” is a unisex scent that combines green tea, grapefruit, rosemary, sea salt and sandlewood for a fresh, clean scent “with personality.” Pacitti calls his Black Lavender scent “lavender meets the dark side.” It includes notes of leather, myrrh, amber and lavender for a “punch of spice and earthiness.” He created his Vanity Flower scent for a friend in the ballet company who was obsessed with vanilla. He wanted to create a scent with the sweetness of vanilla without being “too cakey.” He describes it as a citrusy, creamy scent.
In addition to the company’s three fragrances, Jordan Samue is offering L’Hiver (winter”> through the holiday season. L’Hiver is made up entirely of essential oils, including eucalyptus and mandarin peel, for a cool, refreshing scent.
Pacitti has made sustainability a focus of his products. All of his labels are corn based, and his fragrances are preservative- and paraben-free. Oils, he said, have a long shelf life without preservatives.
Pacitti said his profession has provided him with the freedom to pursue his second passion. As a corps de ballet member, he has 10 weeks off each year, and he “gets a year’s worth of work done” during that time.
Pacitti works out of his townhouse, with the first floor dedicated to his fragrance business.
NaturallyCurly has played a role in Jordan Samuel, Pacitti says. The curly dancer became a member of the site in 1999, visiting daily to get tips on how to work with his “cotton ball head.” Pacitti, a product junkie, loved researching ingredients on the site and finding out what his hair liked.
“In a way, NaturallyCurly led me to my company,” Pacitti says. “Thanks to the site, I became very savvy and passionate about ingredients.”
His visibility in the community has helped him spread the word about his business, he says. His fragrances are available in several boutiques around Seattle as well as on his web site.
Pacitti plans to expand the company’s offerings over the next year, including soaps, soy-wax candles and a shaving product.
I’ve heard a lot of people say they like to shave with conditioner, so I started playing around in my kitchen and came up with this great product,” Pacitti says. “Every time I make it, it flies off the shelf.”
The product, a mix of water, organic sunflower oil, organic shea butter and organic jojoba oil, will be called “Shea-ving Butter.”
Take part in the Jordan Samuel Economic Stimulus Sale during the month of December. When you buy a product, you get another one free!
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