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Showing posts from September, 2012

Ask the Perfumer Sunday Sept. 30, 2012

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                                                    When the senior-year literary magazines for my high school were distributed, I was surprised that a botanical pen-and-ink drawing of mine was chosen for the table of contents artwork, and was on mirror pages.  I didn't realize it at the time, but I had an intuitive grasp of plants growing up from the soil.  No wonder I became a botanist and landscape architect, and given that my subject was the rose in this drawing, a natural perfumer. If you have any questions for my weekly forum, please post them before 10 PM ET, USA.

From the Vintage Vault - Antique East Indian Perfume Case with Bottles

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I snapped this wooden perfume case up, even though it looked a little rough, and one bottle was missing.  Sadly, another bottle broke during transit, and only four of the original six remain.  The bottles stoppers are fused into the bottle very strongly, and I'll think about trying to get them open.  Only a tiny scent, very oxidized, remains where the stoppers meet the bottles, nothing I can identify. Do you love antique perfumery items?  I sure do, and I like sharing them with you.  It's been a long, lazy summer, and now I am going to revive my Vintage Vault series.  I have LOTS to share with you! Spare, elegant gilt work on the top of the box The silver mirror is tarnished.  I wonder what faces gazed into it as the lady (ladies) who owned it dabbed on the perfumes? Lovely that the key survived all these years, along with four of the original bottles.

Ask the Perfumer Sunday September 23, 2012

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Good morning everyone, as we move into Autumn in the Northern Hemisphere, Spring in the Southern.  Here in Miami, I can both plant and harvest at this time of year, so maybe we're in the Middle Hemisphere? The Ask the Perfumer forum is open, so please ask any questions you have about perfumery, the emphasis on the natural aspect of our art. Here's a photo of some of the unmolded fragrant wax melts from my new line of ambient scents, Room Candy. I'll be blogging about them later this week.  If you're a blogger and would like a sample to review, write me via my website http://anyasgarden.com

The Natural Perfumery Institute Celebrates Its Fifth Anniversary with Discounts on Tuition and Textbook

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A message from Anya McCoy, Head Instructor and Director of the Natural Perfumery Institute:   In 2007, after five years of hosting the largest and oldest Yahoo  group for natural perfumers , and at the request of many members, I created a formal curriculum for online perfumery study. Since then, students from around the world have enjoyed a professional education in perfumery without having to leave the comforts of their home.   To celebrate the Fifth year of the perfumery education method and materials I developed, new home study students of the Natural Perfumery Institute who purchase the textbook will be able to deduct 10% off the cost of the book until Sept. 23, 2012 at midnight. For students outside the USA, this $50 savings off the $500 price, equals getting the Express mail shipping for free.   Online interactive students will receive $130 refunded, a 5% savings on their $2600 tuition (not applicable to payment plan students). There are no coupons because of the var

The Oozy-ness of oakmoss and a call to suppliers for sensible packaging

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Not the prettiest picture I've ever posted, but working with oakmoss isn't pretty! On the left you can see the slurry oozing out of the bottle neck a bit - and on the right, the primordial reception pool.  Plop, plop. Lisa asked a question in my weekly "Ask the Perfumer" forum yesterday, and it is timely.  She asked about the safety of oakmoss, a known sensitizer. I need some more for my Outlaw fragrance wax melts in my Room Candy line.  They contain oakmoss, bergamot and lime - yummy chypre!  I am also getting my assistant ready to pour a lot of kits for my students and customers, and bottle of 3% oakmoss dilution is included. Anyway, I'm sensitized to it, but I know people who could bathe in the stuff and not have a problem. Besides the sensitization, my problem with oakmoss and other thick aromatics, even those that don't cause a problem for me, and that is that suppliers still bottle them in narrow-necked bottles that require a lot of warming to sem

Ask the Perfumer - Sunday, September 16, 2012, - until 10 PM EST

If you have any natural perfume-related questions, I'll be here until 10PM tonight to answer them for you.  Tincturing? Sourcing? Packaging - oh, the dreaded packaging problems!  What's on your mind?

Ask the Perfumer - Sunday, September 9, 2012, - until 10 PM EST

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I'll be here until 10 PM ET to answer your questions about perfumery, and in the meantime read my update, below, including a giveaway of my latest launch, Patchouli Silk ! This has been my laziest summer ever!  Now it's time to get seriously back into the perfumery world.  I'll have Prima Rosa , a perfume, to release in October.  I may only release one perfume a year, because that pace, to me, seems "right".  I will be releasing Room Candy , my line of 100% organic and natural room fragrance wax tarts, later this month, as soon as the packaging is finalized.  The response from my newsletter readers who received samples of Room Candy has been very positive, with kudos for "long lasting", "the scent fills my big house" and "love the fragrance". Now, for a surprise - luxury bar soap!  The first soap launched will be Patchouli Silk .  100% natural, exceptionally creamy and yes, it feels silky and will leave your skin silky - and perf