At first glance, Julia Krylova’s handmade bouquets look like any other bouquets you might find on display in the window of a florist’s shop.
Pink, red and purple roses, colorful astras, camellias and sunflowers burst vibrantly from artful containers.
But unlike regular flower bouquets, Krylova’s never need water, the petals never fade, and their fragrance — while fresh and floral — are just a bit different from what you might expect from, say, a bouquet of roses.
That’s because the bouquets Krylova sells through her online company Flowers Bureau are all made of carved soap.
“Sometimes it’s hard to explain to people what they are exactly, because they really look real and all have their own unique fragrance,” Krylova said.
Unlike the more common artificial flower arrangements, which are typically made of paper, cotton, latex, rubber and plastic, soap flower arrangements can imbue a room with a fresh fragrance similar to that of real flowers, minus the maintenance and short lifespan.
The inspiration to start selling soap flower bouquets came from Krylova’s recent move to Greenville. Born and raised in the urban metropolis of St. Petersberg, Russia, she found herself suddenly in an entire new environment when she moved to be in the Upstate with her husband.
“It’s really super different, because St. Petersburg is really crowded — our second-largest city after Moscow,” Krylova said. “But here, there is so much nature, the mountains, so much green.”
She found herself emulating that sensation by bringing a natural sentiment to her creations and began by opening a kiosk to sell her bouquets in WestGate Mall, before launching her online platform. She now sells not just in Greenville, but nationwide — including Alaska — with careful packaging to ensure not a petal is out of place.
“To me it is the same as if they are real flowers,” she said. “I am super gentle.”
To find out more about Krylova’s bouquets, visit flowers-bureau.myshopify.com.
