Ask the Perfumer - Sunday, Feb. , 2012 - until 10 PM EST

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Happy Sunday, Everyone! Enjoy the refreshing hyacinth visual as I enjoy my first Ask the Perfumer Sunday free of my stalker.  Yes, this blog, my websites and my Facebook page have been haunted for some time now.  Everytime I checked my stats, there she was.  I can't tell you the relief  I'm feeling.  I'll blog about that soon, as keeping a secret, hiding the abuse she heaped on me for years, only made the problem worse, and the stalking more creepy.

I feel sort of reborn today, and I'm excited that I can post with such freedom.  Please send me your perfumery questions, as they keep me connected with the pulse of what is happening in your life, even if you are anonymous to me :-)  For almost ten years - ten years! - I have been at the nexus of the growing natural perfumery community, through the educational Yahoo group I host.  There, I have answered thousands of questions, freely and with lots of love.

This public forum, where you can pick my brain on any aspect of natural perfumery, reaches a far wider audience than the 2200-member Yahoo group, and I'm happy to be here for you!

Comments

  1. Marie2/26/2012 11:00 AM

    Dearest Anya

    I'm so sorry to hear of your stalker story. I myself have been bruised by Mandy Aftel! Many love you and support you.

    Please help me with my tincture of bluebells. I tried to capture them last Spring here in the UK, but all I smell is alcohol.

    Marie

    ReplyDelete
  2. queen_cupcake2/26/2012 2:18 PM

    Glad you are stalker-free! I don't have any questions right now, just wanted to say hello and congratulations.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Fallah2/26/2012 2:58 PM

    Thank you for telling us about your "stalker", Anya. In anybody else's hands, to do so would have been a piece of class-less, malicious gossip, unbelievably tacky...but not yours! You're different!

    My question is: would you ever make a perfume without one of the layers, ie. no base or no top or no heart?

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnyasGardenPerfumes2/26/2012 4:58 PM

    Dear Marie:

    Thanks for you kind words.

    I think you just need to keep on recharging the alcohol with new bluebells. Let them tincture out for a day or two, strain them, and put new bluebells into the alcohol. You may have to do this many times until your tincture becomes strongly-scented - but it's well worth it.

    xoxo,
    Anya

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  5. AnyasGardenPerfumes2/26/2012 4:58 PM

    Thanks, Queen C:

    xoxo,
    Anya

    ReplyDelete
  6. p2/26/2012 7:39 PM

    I'm so sorry to hear about your stalker experience, but I'm glad to hear that it's behind you now - it must be an enormous relief indeed!

    I bought a few tonka beans last month and just started soaking them in grain alcohol about 10 days ago, and my god, what a magical scent!! Are there any safety concerns I should be aware of when making perfumes with my tonka tincture (and giving those perfumes to others)? I am a little disturbed by the fact that coumarin is such a potent circulatory drug! And I'm also wondering if coumarin is related to furocoumarin, and if therefore coumarin (and my tonka tincture) might be phototoxic.

    Thank you for so generously sharing your knowledge!

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnyasGardenPerfumes2/26/2012 8:43 PM

    Dear Fallah:

    I finally reached the end of my patience with over 400 hits in a few months. I will blog more about it soon, and how keeping secrets (how I had been verbally abused and browbeaten by her for years) can be the wrong decision. It's a cautionary tale.

    I have created two perfumes without top notes. First was a custom perfume, Dreamweaver, for a world traveler who wanted a cocooning perfume for long airplane flights. The second is my Amberess, a musk rose/amber perfume.

    xoxo,
    Anya

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  8. Fallah2/26/2012 8:58 PM

    Thanks Anya. Could you explain the how and the why of those perfumes without top notes? Why you chose to make them that way, and what was going on with the other notes to allow that? Would you consider leaving out base or heart notes in another perfume?

    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  9. Mary Humphrey2/26/2012 10:03 PM

    Hi Anya -

    When creating a pleasant natural perfume, but one that has little lasting ability (45 minutes compared to hours), is it acceptable to retain the formula as is? It is a beautiful blend, just lacks staying power.

    I have been searching for grape alcohol sources other than those on the west coast. Do you know of any mid-west resources? I am considering contacting other regional perfumers to see if we can co-op the alcohol supplies.

    Thank you -

    Mary

    ReplyDelete
  10. AnyasGardenPerfumes2/26/2012 11:43 PM

    Hi Fallah:

    An experienced perfumer can follow her instincts. I just knew both perfumes were perfect without top notes.

    I don't know how a perfume would have complexity or longevity without heart and base notes. Not a fine perfume, anyway.

    Thanks for asking,
    Anya

    ReplyDelete
  11. AnyasGardenPerfumes2/26/2012 11:46 PM

    Hi Mary:

    Try the perfume out on different people. Skin temperature and chemistry may be skewing the results if you're trying it on just one person. If it still lacks staying power, look to boosting up the heart notes. Increase the ones you have in similar ratios. Boost up a base note or two. Try adding up to 5% vegetable glycerin to slow down the evaporation.

    I don't know of any midwestern grape alcohol suppliers.

    xoxo,
    Anya

    ReplyDelete
  12. p2/28/2012 12:32 AM

    I would have never thought to add glycerin - what a good tip!

    ReplyDelete

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