The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Folkwinds launched in 2022 with a clear brief: translate North American landscapes into scent. Jono Bornstein spent years working with independent designers and artisans before building a house that answered one question, what if the materials growing in your own backyard deserved center stage? Santi Ana was born from that inquiry, specifically the East Coast phenomenon of a season that refuses to commit. Summer holds on. Fall arrives uninvited. The two overlap for weeks, and nobody knows what to wear. The name references Santa Ana winds, those dry, warm gusts that sweep down through Southern California in autumn, pushing temperatures up when you thought you were done with heat. In perfumery, those same winds carry the smell of dust and chaparral, something green and desiccated at once. Bornstein wanted to capture that tension: warmth that knows it's leaving, cool that knows it's arriving.
What makes Santi Ana unusual is the layering of materials that don't typically share space. Mint and honeysuckle open bright and aromatic, but they're not allowed to win. Hay and tobacco arrive to interrupt the sweetness, pulling the composition toward something earthier, more grounded. The Vermont apple cider absolute and Canadian propolis add a depth that reads as both natural and slightly animalic, there's a resinous quality to the propolis that gives the fragrance backbone. White ambergris, sourced from certified suppliers, adds a marine sweetness that rounds out the tobacco and hay without sweetening them into gourmand territory.
The evolution
The opening is bright and aromatic, mint and honeysuckle arrive first, cutting through with their own clean intensity. Green apple and rose hip add sweetness that doesn't announce itself. The initial impression lasts maybe thirty minutes before the composition shifts. Tobacco and liatris take over in the heart, pulling the fragrance toward earth and herbs. The mint doesn't disappear, it lingers underneath, cool and persistent. By the third hour, hay has become the dominant note. This is where Santi Ana separates itself from the pack. Hay isn't a supporting player here, it's the main event, dusty and green and slightly sweet. Sandalwood and white ambergris form the base, adding warmth and creaminess that keep the hay from reading as sharp. The drydown is intimate. Nothing projects aggressively. The sillage stays moderate, close to the skin, present only to those who lean in. On fabric, the hay and tobacco can linger into the next day, a quiet reminder of an afternoon that smelled like this.
Cultural impact
Santi Ana arrived in 2022 as part of Folkwinds' debut collection, positioned as an alternative to mass-market fragrances. The house emphasizes natural ingredients and artistic packaging, hand-blown glass bottles designed by local artists. Santi Ana stands apart through its use of regionally sourced materials: Vermont apple cider absolute, North American beach rose otto, Canadian propolis. The combination of mint, hay, tobacco, and caramel apple creates a fragrance that resists easy categorization. It's not quite seasonal, not quite year-round, but occupies the liminal space that its name suggests.
