Happy Women’s Day (for yesterday) dear veggies! To embrace the empowerment of women in South Africa, Jasna from FashionJazz invited me to celebrate all things beautiful at the picturesque Nederburg Wine Estate.

On this gorgeous winter’s day, we made our way through the winevalley for a luxurious ladies’ feast of the senses. This included making our very own perfume and indulging into a four-course lunch, paired with Nederburg’s speciality wines!  For me, this unique experience was especially altered to meet my vegan needs, and so I am extremely excited to share this affair with all of you.

The fun-filled day commenced with a fascinating fragrance blending workshop, hosted by Kumanov Cosmetics. What better way to celebrate Women’s Day than expressing yourself through flavour combinations that inspire you. We were each guided into crafting a perfume, composed of original oils imported from Grasse, France. From a selection of ten oils, each lovely lady had to pick a selection of three or four oil combinations as the make-up of her one-of-a-kind scent. These were carefully combined and bottled for us to take home!

From there we used the same scent as base to create a complimenting perfumed body cream, using raw wax and a bit of hot water. What an unbelievable experience! As I was rubbing the velvety product into my skin, I could not believe that I made my very own, signature scent and complimenting cream from scratch. 100% me and 100% cruelty-free!

A delicious four-course lunch followed, paired with Nederburg’s finest Heritage Heroes collection. Jasna was sweet enough to inform the chef of my veganism prior to the event, and so I too had a feast…

First course: Sautéed mushroom soiree, paired with The Young Airhawk 2013

Second course: Cape Malay lentil bobotie samosas on fresh avocado and tomato & onion salsa, paired with The Motorcycle Marvel 2001

Third course: Tomato ratatouille with steamed broccolini and green beans, paired with The Brew Master 2011

Forth course: Fried bananas, kiwi and apple covered in coconut caramel, paired with The Beautiful Lady 2013

The day was completed with a gift – a bottle of The Beautiful Lady to take home along with our perfumed creations. What a blessing it was to experience such divine luxury. I am truly thankful to the Nederburg team for spoiling us richly and I am looking forward to upcoming events held at the estate!

Follow Nederburg on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube for the latest news, upcoming events and wine and food pairing ideas. For more information on Kumanov’s Prive Prefume workshops, visit them on Facebook and Twitter.

Vegan love xx