Faux-Ever: How to Care for Your Permanent Botanicals
, by Kasema Johnson , 7 min reading time
Our permanent botanicals are built to last for years. Here's how to dust, shape, spot-clean, and store your faux-ever florals so they stay beautiful.
We call them faux-ever florals for a reason.
A fresh bouquet asks for water, a trimmed stem, and a week of your attention before it fades. Ours ask for almost nothing — and give it back for years.
But almost nothing isn't nothing. A little care keeps a permanent botanical looking exactly the way it did the day it arrived: color true, petals soft, silhouette full. Here's everything you need, from the everyday habit that matters most to the seasonal reset that keeps a piece looking new.
The one habit that matters most: dust, gently and often
If you remember nothing else, remember this. The single thing that ages a permanent botanical isn't time — it's dust. A light, regular touch keeps color from dulling and petals reading lifelike.
Once a week or so, run a soft feather duster or a clean, soft-bristled brush lightly over the blooms and leaves. Work from the top down, and let the tool do the work — no pressing, no pulling. A makeup brush or a small, clean paintbrush is perfect for getting into layered petals and tight centers where dust likes to settle.
For a quick refresh between dustings, a gentle shake or a low, cool setting on a hair dryer lifts dust from the hard-to-reach spots without touching a petal. Cool air only — never warm, never hot.
When it needs more than a dusting
Sometimes dust turns into film — near a kitchen, a fireplace, or a busy entryway. That's when you move from dusting to a light clean. The rule of thumb: choose the gentlest method that will do the job, and spot-clean rather than soak.
- Start dry. A soft, dry microfiber cloth wiped gently over each petal and leaf lifts most buildup.
- For a stubborn spot, a cloth that's barely damp — wrung out until it's almost dry — can wipe a smudge from real-touch and coated stems. Wipe, then let it air-dry fully.
- Never soak, never submerge. Our blooms never need a drink to stay beautiful, and standing water is the one thing that can loosen a finish or mark a delicate petal. Keep them dry and they'll hold for years.
- Go easy on fabric and paper elements. Anything textile — like our Heritage Edition African wax print details — or any paper accent should be dusted only, never dampened.
Keep them out of direct sun
A bright room is a permanent botanical's best friend. A steady, direct sunbeam is the one thing to avoid — over months, unfiltered sun can soften color the same way it fades a curtain or a book spine.
You don't need shadow. You need indirect light. A bright hallway, a shelf a few feet back from the window, a mantel that catches the room's glow — all perfect. This is exactly why our pieces do so beautifully in spaces where fresh flowers can't go at all.
Shape it your way
Here's something a fresh bouquet will never let you do: rearrange it whenever you like.
Our stems are made to be adjusted. Fluff the blooms, bend the stems, and angle each one until the arrangement sits the way you love it — fuller on one side, taller in back, opened up after time in a box. If a piece looks a little flat after shipping or storage, a few minutes of gentle shaping brings it right back to life. There's no wrong way, and you can do it as many times as the mood strikes.
About the scent — and how to enjoy it
This is the part that surprises people. Your piece arrives carrying the scent of fresh flowers — a real fragrance, meant to be met the way you'd meet a garden: in the moment.
Like the real thing, that scent is a seasonal pleasure. It's at its fullest when your piece first arrives and softens gently as time passes, while the beauty stays exactly where it is. There's nothing to spray, refill, or maintain — simply enjoy it as it unfolds and mellows. If you keep your piece out of direct sun and heat, the fragrance lingers longer, too.
Caring for your wearables
If you're wearing a Crowned Band™ or a piece from the Adorned Edit™, the care is just as simple. When you're not wearing it, rest it in its box or on a shelf where it won't be crushed or leaned against. Stored flat and free, it holds its shape wear after wear. A quick, gentle fluff of the blooms before you put it on, and you're ready.
A note on our dried pieces
A few of our lines — Dried & Gathered™ kits, dried arrangements, and the botanicals in Bloom & Blade — are dried by nature, delicate by design, and they like slightly different handling:
- Hold by the base, not the blooms. Dried stems are naturally fragile.
- Keep them dry. Moisture and humidity are their only real enemy — skip the bathroom shelf and the kitchen sink.
- Dust with a whisper. A soft breath, a low cool hair dryer, or a feather-light brush is all they need.
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Expect a little mellowing. Their color may soften over time — that gentle aging is part of their nature, not a flaw. Beauty, aging well.
Storing between seasons
Rotating a piece out for a season? A little care going into the box means it comes out looking exactly as you left it.
Dust it first, so nothing sets in while it rests. Then store it cool, dry, and out of direct light — a closet shelf is ideal, never a damp basement or a hot attic. Give the blooms room; don't pack them tight or lay anything heavy on top. Loose tissue tucked around the petals protects the shape. When the season turns and you bring it back out, a few minutes of fluffing and shaping is all it takes to make it new again.
That's the whole of it.
Permanent botanicals are, by design, the low-maintenance kind of beautiful — a little dusting, a little light, and years of a room that always looks in bloom.
Ready to bring more of the season home?
Explore Stem & Story™, Wrapped in Wild™, and the Keepsake Collection.
Looks alive. Stays that way.
With gratitude,
Kasema
The Wild, Curated.