Anya's Garden Perfumes + The Natural Perfumery Institute

From The Non Blonde's Best Perfumes of 2010: This is a "Best Of" list, so I'll address one of the most important movements of the year- the growing public interest  in independent artisan perfumery, including all natural/botanical scents. The Natural Perfumers Guild and its current president, Anya McCoy, made a huge contribution to educating the public and promoting the cause and concept of natural perfumery as a luxury product made of the finest ingredients by artists committed to creating beauty. Between the Mystery Of Musk project and the Outlaw Perfumes initiative, McCoy and the Guild pushed several very small lines into the limelights and encouraged the creation of some of the most interesting and vibrant perfumes of recent years. Showing the world what a talented perfumer can achieve when freed from bureaucratic restrictions, I hope the Outlaws will forge a new path and inspire others to take a stand against IFRA. How awesome would it be?

  Soon after I started blogging in 2006, I began to write of the incredibly restrictive and unreasonable "guidelines" of the International Fragrance Association, and the resultant laws from the European Union that effectively killed perfumery.  True, they also ranked some synthetics as "dangerous" (brain disruptions), but the list of naturals, which had been used for centuries without major problems, was overwhelming.  I rarely bother to blog about these issues anymore.  I discovered I was the ONLY perfumer doing so at the time, and it cast a bit of a bitter pall over my blog.  I'd rather be blogging about the beauty and luxury of naturals, so here I am. I passed the ball on to other bloggers! Nine bloggers will be participating this week, and you can find their links at the end of this post. They're all insightful, intelligent and passionate about perfumery.  Their readership far outstrips mine, and the Outlaw Perfume project is a great way for them to...

I ignore IFRA. I'm an independent artisan perfumer who is not a member of an organization that is a member of IFRA, so I have no danger of being "publicly shamed" (their words) if I use an aromatic that exceeds their allowable levels, or is prohibited by IFRA. I know the dangers of phototoxicity, allergens, and other problems that may be caused by some aromatics, and I take care forumulating my perfumes to safeguard the safety of my customers as much as possible.  There is a backlash against IFRA, and this shows their weakening stance. Since their regs are built upon, IMO, bad science, I hope it all goes away soon and the mainstream perfumes of old can return.  Here's a link to their latest statement, where the effervescent Jean-Pierre Houri talks about how “This year’s Amendment will hardly affect the palettes of perfumers.” Well, they've destroyed the palettes of perfumers in the past few decades, and that's why many mainstream perfumes smell like ...

  Oakmoss The other day I came across a blog entry on Nathan Branch's site, and despite trying to register and log in to post a comment, I couldn't. I wrote Nathan, haven't heard back yet, so I just want to put this out there because I feel there was such a misunderstanding of IFRA regulations a correction was needed. Seems Nathan received a lot of bottles of perfume to photograph for Abigail Levin's The Posh Peasant website. As he unpacked the box, his BF, in the next room, began to have respiratory distress. This continued until the bottles were packed back in the box and sealed.  Here is what I tried to post on the blog: Interesting theory, however, incorrect. IFRA regs cover possible skin-related issues (including oral preparations, such as mouthwash), not the respiratory system.  They also drift into the murky world of potential systemic problems, hence the completely incorrect stance against coumarinic raw materials. http://www.ifraorg.org/files/docu...

Below please find the transcript of the Powerpoint presentation Natural Perfumers Guild Associate Tony Burfield of Cropwatch gave to the British Society of Perfumers March, 2010. Tony Burfield was the only presenter at the Safety and Regulatory symposium who did not offer ways for the perfumers to comply EFFA, SCCNFP, REACH et al. Instead, he presented fact after scientific fact as to why much of the compliance requirements are based on bad science and political maneuverings, coupled with a dose of market manipulation. The Natural Perfumers Guild is proud to have Tony as a member and we hope that those reading this will help spread the information presented here. So goes REACH, so go your beloved perfumes. Tony Burfield's Cropwatch is: A loosely based, non-financed, independent watch-dog to the aroma & natural products trade. In existence approx 6-7 years. Best known for its pro-active campaigning activities on natural aromatics, data-bases on threaten...

As many of you know, I have fought for years against the creeping corporate takeover of indie and microbusinesses. Just search on this blog for IFRA, EU, FDA Globalization Act and government. The future of our businesses is in immediate danger. I am horrified that several organizations that represent indie and microbusinesses are in lockstep with the FDA and tweeting and blogging about their 'victories" with legislators, either blinded or too blind to see the horrible demise in store for our businesses - they should be fighting the FDA, not kowtowing to it, giddy with "making progress". They're not, they're being fooled. Please everyone - don't be the frog in the pot of cool water who never feels the heat being turned up until it is too late and he's cooked. Read this following speech, given at the International Herb Symposium by Stephen Buhner and pass it around, and more importantly, ask those who are all puffed up and happy that the FDA and legisla...

You can't move forward in fear. You must be motivated and feel you have some power, some ability to change things, or effect a different outcome. The following blog is meant to erase fear and replace it with a sense of being awake and aware at the forces that shape our artful industry. What is all means to me: I don't want any more government regulations that can limit my ability to conduct a safe, environmentally-friendly small business. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." If you have a small USA-based business that manufactures perfume, aromatherapy or body care products such as lotions, body butters, soaps (soaps with a claim of moisturizing or some other attribute beyond cleaning) and related products, the Federal Drug Administration's Global Harmonization Act of 2009 (FDAGA2009), currently in committee, but fast moving towards a vote into law, can pose problematic to you continuing your business. The requirements for testing, paperwork and personnel ar...

I was noodling around the Internet this morning and found this: "Until recently, the EU banned the sale of ugly carrots with knobby protrusions, cucumbers that were grossly curved, and equally unaesthetic specimens of 24 other fruits and vegetables. "It makes no sense to throw perfectly good products away, just because they are the 'wrong' shape," said the EU's commissioner for agriculture." I've often related to disbelieving friends and colleagues that the EU is so out of hand with their Draconian, bad-science, big brother is watching you (and forcing you out of business) mentality that they regulated the curve in bananas. Too much curve, can't be sold in the EU. My particular peeve with them is the bad science and horrid fees they impose on perfumers both artisanal and corporate alike. They've been partly to blame for the reformulation of many perfume classics, deeming oakmoss and orange oil alike too dangerous for us poor silly une...

You don't have to be Einstein to recognize the disastrous effect this unfair corporate-sponsored Act will have on the small independent business owners who make cosmetics, perfumes and other body care products. STOP THE FDA GLOBALIZATION ACT OF 2008 Today I took part in a meeting of a Coalition of small business owners/organization leaders who are very concerned about the proposed FDA Global Harmonization Act of 2008 here in the USA. We are pooling our membership rolls into building a groundswell of grassroots efforts to give us strength in numbers as we work towards stopping the FDA. The most articulate message I have seen so far on this subject is by the President of the Indie Beauty Network, Donna Maria Coles Johnson, and I urge you to visit her blog and view the video she prepared on this. Then, PLEASE sign the petition on that site, and don't forget to use your full name and city and state. The short story? This GHA will effectively put many of the small perfumery, body ca...

STOP THE FDA GLOBALIZATION ACT OF 2008 CROPWATCH AT THE CROSSROADS - looking for your feedback note: if you wish to contact Tony about the questions below, you can write him at info@cropwatch.org After 4 or 5 years of continuous activity, Cropwatch has some choices to make. Do we go on the way that we have been, snapping at the ankles of those who run & regulate the aroma industry so badly, or should we 'old dogs' learn some new tricks? Cropwatch s upporters, and organisations sympathetic to our aims, regularly offer us donations and advise us of potential sources of grants, to which we have always said 'no thanks, we're non-financed'. Our current thinking is that this might be a mistake, since we are limiting our potential effectiveness. . We are certainly not asking everyone for money, but we are asking you to help us with some feedback on how a financial input could potentially help the aroma world to become a better & fairer place, so please mail...

Below is a letter I just received from Tony Burfield of Cropwatch. Feel free to redistribute it. Dear All, Citrus Oils: the Situation Cropwatch is directly opposing IFRA's Risk Assessment on furanocoumarins, and its proposals to severely restrict citrus oil usage in cosmetics products. Unfortunately, because of the lack of transparency exercised by RIFM, IFRA and the EU Commission over this matter. it means that unless you, dear reader, belong to a professional association, probably won't get to see IFRA's information letter IL799 on the topic, or the Risk Assessment that the EU Commission was given in late 2007 by IFRA. IFRA have apparently suggested a cosy future chat with the EU Commissioners, some unnamed industry moguls and fragrance consumers (presumably IFRA or RIFM members) to 'explain matters' - presumably code for agreeing their highly restrictive citrus oil proposals (see below) with the EU regulator. Nobody with an independent or contrary opinion is to ...

More Debunking of Bad Science from Tony Burfield of Cropwatch I've known Natural Perfumers Guild member Tony Burfield of Cropwatch for about ten years now. We "met" in online forums on aromatherapy, where we, and many others were real "safety nuts." All this precedes the recent upsurge in interest in niche perfumers creating fragrances in their (often unregulated) studios. At the time we were alarmed at the new folks flooding into the aromatherapy world, enticed with, and in love with, natural aromatics. Often they had no idea of maximum allowable usage rates and surrounding safety issues. Natural aromatics do have some risk factors, depending upon the chemical composition of the aromatic and the rate at which it is used in a blend. Some are fairly innocuous. Others can permanantly scar you with Berloque dermatitis markings, which look like dark, blotchy birthmarks. Others may cause blistering rashes, itching and lifelong sensitization. A few cause allergenic re...