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Showing posts from 2012

Ask the Perfumer - Dec. 16, 2012 - the blog has moved

Hi Everyone: I want to be able to email winners of my giveaways, so I switched to Wordpress and installed it on my website.  That way, I can directly email winners to let them know of their wins .   http://AnyasGarden.com/blog See y'all over on my own blog site!

Ask the Perfumer - Sunday Dec. 9, 2012

It's hot and steamy in Miami today!  This is our dry season, so it's odd to have to go out into the garden and water plants while the humidity makes sweat form on your skin, even if you're not moving or working.  Whew!  I share this hot moment with you in the frozen north, hoping you can vicariously warm up a bit, dreaming of next summer in your region.  Not too much blooming here, just the reliable jasmine grandi, aglaia odorata and various veggies, like tomatoes, peppers and peas. The question I want to ask you this week is do you grow fragrant plants inside when it's cold outside?  I'm thinking of jasmines, aglaia, herbs like basil, rosemary and thyme.  Some lucky folks with green thumbs grow citrus indoors, even in Jersey, like my cousin.  Now, if you have any questions, I'm here to answer your queries until 10 tonight ET.

Citrus names can be confusing to a perfumer - here's some information about the fragrant fruits

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A student wrote me privately last week, and I told her I was going to post her question and my answer in the student forum since it's good information for all . Question: I loved the red mandarin (citrus nobilis) in our kit so much that I decided to order some to add to my collection of essential oils. I got a small bottle from Eden Botanicals but it smelled different from the one in our kit - then I checked the label and realized it was Citrus reticulata not Citrus nobilis. I had not noticed this when I placed my order. I checked on the White Lotus Aromatics website and they also had Red mandarin with botanical name Citrus reticulata. However the white lotus description of the aroma was more in line which what I experienced when I did the OE for red mandarin. The red mandarin in the kit had this gorgeous smell like it was already a complete perfume and I could also sme

Ask the Perfumer Sunday Dec. 2, 2012

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As we move into the month of December, often the most rushed, hectic month of the year, filled with holiday preparations and everything associated with that, sometimes something presents itself as a chance to slow down, think of earlier times, and rare, fragrant things.  I have had such a slow down, due in part to my own chosing to relax, but also caused by a new item I'll soon have in my Vintage Vault: the rare, legendary Abishag perfume from Israel.  I'll perhaps relate the Old Testament story of Abishag at a later date, but the most succinct description of her is that she was a beautiful girl chosen to lay in bed next to the elderly King David because he was always cold.  Here is one depiction of the story: by Pedro Amerigo Well, if you're lying around this cold December day, and want some perfumery questions answered, I'll be the virtual Abishag to warm your brain with shared experience and help. One photo of the vintage Abishag perfume that is on its way

Anya's Garden Perfumes - Giveaway and 25% off

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  Anya's Garden Perfumes - Free Christmas Tree Scent Room Candy Wax Melt  It's my way of thanking my customers and giving back with a unique, limited-edition fragrance product. The scent of a fir balsam holiday tree is so beautiful! I miss the scent in my home because I have cats and well, you know what a cat-astrophe that can be with a tree in the house. As I blended and hand-poured the Room Candy limited edition Fir Tree wax melts I was happy with the thought that these would be my giveaway to 25 lucky customers. Leave a note with any order that you would like a Room Candy Fir Tree wax melt and it will be included in your order, for free! (a $12 value) Each melt can be relit again and again and will provide many hours of holiday delight. You must have a tea-light burner for these, and observe typical precautions with any flame product. A safe holiday is a happy holiday! (So is a fir balsam-scented holiday!) 25% Holiday Discount

From the Past: Anya McCoy in Organic Gardening magazine Feb. 1997

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In my first semester in college I wrote a paper on organic gardening.  I was studying horticulture and living in Berkeley, so it was a perfect topic.  At 21, I was managing the apartment complex where I lived (don't ask me how I snagged that job, just a bit assertive with the management, I guess) and wanted to research the basics of organic gardening to supplement what I had practiced since childhood. Years later, (again assertive!) I wrote to the editors of Organic Gardening magazine asking why they didn't have any Zone 10 (South Florida) seed testers.  Growing herbs, veggies and flowers in this climate was very different from the other zones I had lived and gardened in, inlcuding California, Oregon, Pennsylvania and New York.  Editor Mike McGrath asked me to be the first Zone 10 tester and I was happily overwhelmed with lots of seeds sent every Spring (wrong time of year!) to test. So, when they interviewed me I was able to explain the switch in seasons we have here so

Ask the Perfumer Sunday Nov. 11, 2012

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I'll be here all day, on and off, as it's a great day for planting veggies and flowers according to the moon sign and phase, and a Libra can't help but want to plant under a Libra moon!  The calendulas I planted last week are already up! Now to the subject of perfumery, which is as close to my heart as gardening, I'm happy to answer your questions up until 10 PM tonight. Oh, I almost forgot!  Great news - Due to popular demand, the apprenticeship program of the Guild will begin in early 2013. Join the Guild in Nov and enjoy a 10% discount on the membership fee, and be in the random drawing for prizes in December. Use the code 92347 at http://naturalperfumers.com/

Until Nov. 10th - discount on tuition at the Natural Perfumery Institute

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Until Nov. 10th - take 10% off http://perfumeclasses.com/enroll/signup.php Use coupon code E17502DE9B when enrolling. Anya McCoy's Natural Perfumer Institute students enjoy lifetime enrollment in a student discussion forum, lifetime access to updates to the course, experienced adjunct faculty to assist in answering questions. The course includes a 350-page comprehensive textbook that includes numerous charts, forms, color illustrations, an extensive glossary and links to suppliers of alcohol, supplies and raw materials worldwide.

Perfumers Relief Aid - for those in our community affected by superstorm Sandy

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Perfumers Relief Aid - for those in our community affected by Superstorm Sandy: If you could share this  it would be appreciated.  If you have alternate ideas on how to publicize this effort, I would welcome hearing from you. The information in this email is also at http://naturalperfumers.com/pra.php Hello Everyone in the perfume and aromatherapy community: Do you know a perfumer who lives in the area devastated by Superstorm Sandy?  If you are in contact with them, let them know about this.  We're collecting their names and addresses to try to bring them some joy in the upcoming holiday season. I've been suffering from PTSD since Sandy hit the Northeast.  As a repeat hurricane 'victim' living in Miami, I identified and empathized with those whose lives are disrupted by that monster storm.  I felt helpless, other than donating to the Red Cross.  I had a brainstorm this morning after reading a New York perfumers account of her studio being destroyed by the storm.  The

A Natural Perfumers Guild Project - Home for the Holidays Ambient Fragrance - Plus a Giveaway!

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Added:  Good luck to everyone in the draw! (See below in the comments section) Elena of Perfume Shrine blog reviewed my Room Candy, and she is hosting a draw over there - so leave a comment on her blog and you will double your chances of winning!  http://www.perfumeshrine.blogspot.gr/2012/11/home-for-holidays-home-fragrance-project.html xoxo Anya As the holiday season approaches, and homes and apartments are closed up against the cold weather, thoughts turn to making the indoors fragrant - naturally.  Home for the Holidays is the Natural Perfumers Guild's answer to indoor natural fragrance for this time of year. Call them room fragrance, ambient fragrance, the terms mean one thing - make your place smell nice! Flora, the Guild muse, is bundled up with boots and a sweater to ward off the chilly weather.  When she goes inside, she can enjoy the Home for the Hoilday scents.  Ambient fragrances include scented candles, potpourri, incense, room sprays, reed diffusers and in my

Ask the Perfumer - Oct. 28, 2012 - cancelled

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Ask the Perfumer for today is cancelled on account of gardening :-) There's lots to be done to prepare for the lunar-based planting days ahead. In Miami, our crops grow best between October and April, so I have lots and lots of veggies and pretty flowers to plant.  See you next week! Google translated this little Norwegian ditty as:  Tink leaves havens and tomatoes cucumbers and salads are solar comrades.  I have an email into a Norwegian friend to get an alternate.  The image is just so cute!  Yes, I do sing a little to my plants.  I have a riff on Figaro that is to the tuberose ;-) Add caption A little Anya's Garden Perfumes trivia: when I started Anya's Garden Perfumes in 2006, I originally used seed packets for my samples.  Here is the label I made for the sample/seed packets.

Why does tiger urine smell like basmati rice? Why does the drydown of ground coriander seed smell like bergamot?

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Someone asked me a question on one of my Facebook page, and since I often get asked similar questions, I thought I'd post my answer here and refer folks back to this blog post in the future. Question:     Hey you're probably the right person to ask! I ground some coriander by hand last night for a recipe. it went through several scenty stages, beginning with an almost minty/herbal scent and ending up smelling very much like bergamot. Are the two related? Answer: Coriander is in the Umbelliferae family, and bergamot (mint) is in the Labiatae. Unless you mean bergamot citrus, which smells like the bergamot mint - confused? I'm going to make you a little more confused, but I bet you learn something that'll stick with you, even though it doesn't answer your question directly: 1. All aromatics are made up of levels of scents, much like the top/middle/base notes we're familiar with with perfumes. 2. I'll admit I don't know the name of

Ask the Perfumer Sunday Oct 21, 2012

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Ask the Perfumer - and an Ambergris hypothesis Guild member Lisa Coburn posted a link on Facebook that took me to a video on how cephalopods--squid, cuttlefish and octopus, are masters of disguise.  As I watched it, I made a perfume connection, straight to the elusive, mysterious, rare and valued ambergris, a gorgeous material used in perfumery. Photo of the famed 'Yeti' chunk of ambergris. Ambergris is produced by the stomach/intestinal secretions of the sperm whale to protect its insides from the sharp beaks of the squid and cuttlefish, two main items in its diet.  The whale evacuates the chunk of ambergris when it becomes large enough to be an irritant on its own, albeit a softer, rounder irritant compared to the beak and cartilage of the squid or cuttlefish.  As a perfumer, I often have to gently remind excitable newbies ;-)  that the scent of the ambergris is secondary to its major contribution to a perfume, which is its ability to 'marry' and allo

Do you want to be a professional perfumer? Study with world renowned perfumer Anya McCoy at the Natural Perfumery Institute

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The Natural Perfumery Institute logo - click to visit the website Do you want to be a perfumer?  Do you want to be a perfumer who takes a basic course that covers dozens of topics in professional perfumery, in addition to learning professional techniques as taught by the French schools?  We all know the French schools are impossible to get in, because they only accept a few dozen students a year, plus they teach about artificial/synthetic perfume materials. The classic techniques of those schools are brought into the light by my course, except I teach only natural materials. The course launched in 2007, and is imitated, but never duplicated ;-) The Natural Perfumery Institute's course was the first natural perfumery course to offer: - Instructions on how to properly dilute materials for evaluation and making accords.  This method save money and allows the student to smell the aromatic "opened up". If you're blending with undiluted materials - stop!

Ask the Perfumer Sunday Oct 14, 2012

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Tincture a perfume material that's a purèe?!  Yes, that's the advice I saw someone give on Facebook.  Dear Readers, there are lots of people on the Internet putting themselves forth as an expert, and they're making it up as they go.  I teach my students, and I've been sharing with the general public for years, the proper way to make tinctures.  No, I won't advise you to tincture applesauce to get an apple-scented alcohol ;-) I'll be here until 10 PM ET today to answer all your perfumery questions, as I have been for several years.  This is a purèe-free zone. snark off/ An "artsy" photo I made of a deerstongue tincture I made in 2005, with the window screen forming the pattern in the background.  Isn't that color beautiful?  Deerstongue is a vanilla/coumarinic-scented herb and I love it.

From The Vintage Vault: Dragonfly and botanicals in pewter enwrap crystal perfume bottle

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I purchased this bottle from England.  The quality of the crystal is impeccable, and the pewter is fancifully beautiful, with dragonfly and botanical figures.  I believe the bottle would hold two ounces (60mls) of perfume. The bottle is clear crystal, but my camera's lighting makes it look grey here. Anyone have an idea how old it is? I admit I'm embarrassed but at the moment, I can't remember the industry term for a bottle such as this, purchased to be filled with perfume, unlike a perfume you purchase from me or a perfume house that of which is a commercial bottle. Here's a nice reference to differenty types of bottles.  I'll take some time and try to refresh my memory.  Can anyone assist with the name of this type of bottle?

Problem Solved! An Easy, Effective Room Fragrance Product for Natural Perfumers

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Do you make candles with essential oils and absolutes?  Do you wish they had more 'throw'?  (For those who don't know the term 'throw' - it's the amount of distance the candle scent is detected after the wick is lit.) This blog is a bit about me and what I believe is a great discovery in room fragrance products made by natural perfumers - but it's really more about You . And how to make a wonderful, highly-scented room fragrance product that may delegate your scented candles to a secondary place in your product line. I'll bet your #1 complaint is that there is little 'throw'.  I've heard this lament for decades, since the first aromatherapy candles appeared on the market.  Most aromatherapists instead turn to aromatherapy 'oil burners' to scent a room. My problem with using them is that despite how much water your put in the reservoir to 'float' the oils, they tended to scorch the oils if you didn't watch them ca

Delicious Living Magazine quotes Anya McCoy on Natural vs. Synthetic Fragrance Definitions

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Are synthetic fragrances harmful?      October 2012   Sep. 28, 2012 Jessica Rubino  |  Delicious Living http://newhope360.com/beauty-cosmetics-amp-skincare/are-synthetic-fragrances-harmful Are synthetic fragrances harmful? 4 tips for buying natural fragrances Are synthetic fragrances bad for my health? What's the difference between a natural and synthetic fragrance? How do I know if a fragrance is truly natural? Your top questions answered, plus shopping tips.  When made from plant-based ingredients such as herbs, flowers, spices, and essential oils , fragrances don’t just make you smell good—they can make you feel good, too. Unfortunately, most conventional sweet- smelling ingredients today are synthetic. After the invention of synthetic fragrances in the 1800s, perfumers quickly replaced natural, plant-based ingredients with artificial ones. Now, fragrances can contain any number of 3,100 natural or synthetic ingredients, many of which are derive