Anya's Garden Perfumes + The Natural Perfumery Institute

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...

Jasmine sambac "Grand Duke of Tuscany" from my garden As an artisan who grows much of her botanical aromatics, I made a conscious decision not to rely on the vagaries of the open market for many of my supplies. Of course, I have to buy concretes, absolutes and essential oils - but not that much anymore. I have a huge stash of stuff I've stocked over the years, all properly stored to preserve freshness. I am increasingly aware of the fragile nature of the supply chain, and I hope you, artisan natural perfumer, if you're reading this, are too. Heck, if I were a perfumer who used synths in my perfumes, I'd be quaking in my business boots. Even worse if I used bases from major supply houses. You're completely at their mercy. That stranglehold on supply, as more and more smaller supply houses are gobbled up in the EU-fueled stranglehold on the supply of processed aromatics - combined with the weak US dollar, typhoons that destroy crops, adulteration, and the warine...

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...

Tony Burfield's recent work challenging IFRA and the EU has forced them to show their hand, and here is the plain, awful truth, which Tony said all along was their agenda: http://www.cosmeticsdesign-europe.com/news/printNewsBis.asp?id=74667 They're insisting that synths are good, and naturals are bad and expensive. Baloney (well, ok, some naturals are expensive, let the market find it's own level.) Funny they cite Calone: it was the first perfume ingredient that ever caused a respiratory reaction from me. For my entire life, despite dousing myself in perfumes that yes, contained some synths, when Calone was introduced, it, and the other harsh synths that followed, caused both me and a lot of the general public to rebel against heavy, harsh perfumes. I had no idea what, at that time, had changed perfume, I just knew everyone was complaining. Before that, I remember people would complain someone was wearing "too much" perfume, but after the age of harsh synths came...