EnTrends

Tanja Bochnig was born in Germany but
won her first modeling contest in Paris
when she was twenty years old. She
decided to move to Paris and worked
there for five years. In 1990, she moved
to New York and began working with
the elite Ford Modeling Agency.
EnTrends was lucky enough to catch up
with her a few weeks back before she
flew to Paris for another assignment.

It has several cuts in it and is now full
of stains from her oils. It has much
character. Bochnig tries to keep
everything very plain because she
works and lives in her home. It is an
arduous task. Due to the high rent in
New York, she cannot afford a
separate laboratory.

As for clothing, Bochnig says that she
does not go out and buy very
expensive things any more. She feels
that her clothes should be
comfortable and of natural materials.
She loves cotton, wool, and
cashmere. She wears colors instead
of black, which she used to wear a
lot of when she was in Paris.

In her free time, Bochnig loves to do
yoga and attend the opera. Her
boyfriend is an opera singer. She
loves dogs and misses having one
while living in New York. She also
enjoys reading and finds plenty of
time to do it while on the plane
traveling between assignments.
Nature is by far her favorite thing.

Bochnig feels that it is very important
to know exactly where the ingredients
for her products come from and
witness the distillation process to see
how pure the oils are. During her
studies, Bochnig went on several trips
to visit the farms in India and Turkey
where many of her flower oils come
from.

Bochnig purchases the organic bases
for her lotions and shampoos from a
company in California in order to
ensure safety, and then custom mixes
each scented product herself. No one
item in Bochnig's collection of face and
body products is exactly alike.
Bochnig feels that this type of personal
attention instills a unique energy in
each of her products.

EnTrends asked Bochnig how she
manages to find the time to run her
company and still model. She
responded, "I try to combine my
modeling jobs with research. For
example, when I am in Paris, I can go
to the lavender fields or visit perfume
bottle museums for ideas. I can also
schedule meetings with clients, label
designers, etc. My life is turbulent, but
it's never boring."

Because her life is so turbulent,
EnTrends asked Bochnig what her
favorite vacation spot is. She said that,
surprisingly, it is her home in New
York. "Even in this crazy city, I can
come home, close the door, and I feel
really relaxed. If I am traveling, I love
the Caribbean and Tobago. I like the
tropics for the flowers and the nature."

Bochnig has been featured in almost all
the European beauty magazines, along
with Vogue, Marie Claire, and has
done television commercials for
Pantene and Vidal Sassoon. She has
graced the fashion runways in Milan,
Paris, Tokyo and London. Because she
traveled so much, she often suffered
from jetlag and fatigue. It was during
those times that Bochnig first began
using natural flower oils such as
lavender and geranium to ease her
ailments.

"I was unsatisfied with all the artificial
products on the market. I longed for
pure ingredients and I discovered that
essential oils eased my ailments. I
realized that they not only smelled
good, but they also made me feel
healthy." One day, while in Los
Angeles, Bochnig walked into the
School of Aromatic Studies in
California taught by Michael Scholes.
She read a flyer that he would be
teaching aromatherapy in New York,
so she began taking his classes for one
and a half years.

In 1997, Bochnig began mixing her own
aromatherapy products. She named
them April, after her favorite month of
the year. Soon, people began to inquire
about the wonderful scents she was
wearing, so she began mixing products
for her friends. Demand grew, and in
1998, her company was incorporated
as AprilAromatics.

(www.aprilaromatics.com)

EnTrends asked Bochnig how she
likes living in the U.S. compared to her
original home in Germany. She
responded, "I love New York. It is a
combination of the whole world. It is
so vibrant and I get so much
inspiration here. However, I do miss
Germany. I miss my family and I miss
the food. I just love German food and
bread."

As for advice to other aspiring
entrepreneurs, Bochnig says not to try
and save at the beginning. "If you put
in money at the beginning, you will get
what you want. Be careful having
friends help you. If they do something
that you do not like, it is difficult to tell
them without insulting them."

In the future, Bochnig hopes to have
her product line in high-end stores like
Barney's and Bergdorf Goodman. She
also wants to find someone to help her
with the business end of her company.
She would like to concentrate more on
blending.