Ambrosia boasts a counter of good scents.

The newest boutique in Winslow Green is as pretty as its name.

Ambrosia – the food of the gods in Greek and Roman mythology, or something with a delicious flavor or fragrance – has been open barely a week, yet it’s making a name for itself among women who ordinarily would cross the water for beauty products.

Trendy makeup, body balms and candles line the walls of the light-filled space like jewels in a salon, beckoning with rich colors, lush scents and romantic names.

“I love pretty packaging,” said owner Suzanne Miller, who chooses products with local consumers in mind, not day-trippers. “But it has to be good to be in the store.”

Miller’s goal is to be the island’s own beauty product store. A trained makeup artist who studied at Fred Segal in California, Miller knows her clients.

“Women on Bainbridge don’t want to look ‘done.’ They want to glow,” she said. “They are very active and very down to earth.”

Miller carries cosmetics that are, at this time, exclusive to Bainbridge. Several makeup lines fill the pages of the hottest fashion magazines and she happily will demonstrate how good they look.

Miller and her husband, Patrick, have been islanders for seven years. Their children are ages 2 and 3.

The couple met at a California winery. She was living in Marin County, where she had worked as a party planner and in retail before turning to web design. A pilot for Alaska Airlines, Patrick called Huntington Beach home.

Once married, the couple didn’t want to live in Los Angeles. They settled in Issaquah, but soon realized they wanted something more. They heard about Bainbridge and checked it out.

“I fell in love my first day here,” Miller said. “I loved it. It reminds me of New England…so quaint, so precious. I lived in Marin and Florence, so I needed to live someplace exceptional.”

She toyed with the idea of returning to her former job as a consultant web designer for large corporations but instead, the day she moved to Bainbridge, she announced, “I will own a shop here.”

Miller designed an apothecary-style store where she could provide personalized service and special, high-quality products. She carried out fact-finding missions in Los Angeles and New York, decided what she liked and contacted the appropriate vendors.

“I’m not a department store shopper,” Miller said. “I’m a boutique shopper. I like the individual connection.”

Miller stocks an array of products for Bainbridge women and men of all ages, including Italian toothpaste; Thermae spa products; palm oil candles, which European churches use; Steph & Co. bags; men’s Grooming Lounge kits; and Sundari essential oils. Makeup lines with a celebrity following include Scott Barnes, Hourglass and “3.”

Having such a shop on Bainbridge makes sense to Miller, who says islanders don’t have to fit a trip to Nordstrom’s cosmetic counters into their hectic schedules.

“I’m a mom. I don’t have the time to take the ferry over when I need something. It’s expensive, it’s time-consuming and a waste of my day,” she said. “This is one-stop shopping.”

Miller stocks several varieties of beautiful candles with all-natural scents. Anthousa home ambience diffusers are the candle alternatives. Each shapely glass vessel holds a fragrant liquid whose scent is diffused through slender sticks. When the scent becomes faint, the sticks are flipped and full fragrance is restored.

Miller intends to stay true to Ambrosia’s calling.

“There are no wine glasses in my shop,” she said. “This is a beauty boutique. They had to create a heading in the phone book for me.”

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Ambrosial delights

Ambrosia Beauty is in Winslow Green. Hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. The first monthly wine-and-appetizer party is Aug. 3. Information: 842-5370.