Anya's Garden Perfumes + The Natural Perfumery Institute

  Perfume From Your Garden Treasures in Two Jasmines by  Anya McCoy  |  Jan 10, 2017  |  Anya's Garden Perfumes  |  0 comments Jasminum auriculatum  and  Jasminum azoricum There are ten species and cultivars of jasmines in my gardens, and I want to share information about two very rare ones that are particularly rewarding.   Jasmine auriculatum  is a vine/bush with heady, green, sharp, somewhat indolic (if harvested at night) flowers. In India, this species of jasmine is called Juhi, and I first smelled the absolute in 1976 at the Magic Dragon shop in West Los Angeles. Here’s a photo of me with my young J. auriculatum vine in 2011. It was taken by my front door, but the auriculatum didn’t last there long – I had to move it. Why? Because around 10:00 PM at night, the scent would go so indolic, I thought a dog left a deposit by my front door! Sweet during the day, deadly stink at night, it had to be moved to the back fence, ...

  Anya’s Garden Perfumed Morning by  Anya McCoy  |  Aug 6, 2014  |  Anya McCoy ,  Anya's Garden Perfumes ,  enfleurage ,  natural aromatics ,  natural perfume ,  raw materials of perfumery  |  2 comments I’m so thankful for the assistance of my apprentice Paula Diaz and Jimmy in renovating my front garden. Edged, mulched beds full of fragrant flowers and leaves look so beautiful, and the plants are so healthy now with proper care. I’ve had some really poor gardeners wreck part of my gardens in the past few years, but Paula and Jimmy have helped undo the poor pruning, weed control, and other afflictions the poor gardeners imposed on my fragrant environment. This is a photo of what I see when I look out my front door in the morning. It’s hard to get the flowers and plants all in focus, due to the light and dark shadows, and the depth of field setting. I fiddled with the settings until I got this long shot, and I’m happy with...

  When is a Jasmine not really a Jasmine? by  Anya McCoy  |  Oct 2, 2013  |  Yellow jasmine – not really a Jasminium, a Gelsemium First things first, the backstory: I’m making lemons from lemonade. Recently, the landscaper butchered my orange jasmine hedge in the back garden, and it has to be removed. I did some retail therapy, and went to three different online rare plant sites and had fun! One plant I’ve meant to grow is Caroline Jessamine, Gelsemium sempervirens. I’ll now have about 65 feet of fence to grow several fragrant vines on, so I’m really happy. In the upcoming Perfume From Your Garden book there will be similar plants – the jasmines – with instructions for readers on ways to extract the scent. Sign up for the newsletter at  http:// perfumefromyourgarden.com/ There’s lively interaction with folks on Facebook who waiting for the book, and they’re asking questions, leaving comments and suggestions, and having a lot of fun thinking of the Perf...

Well, there is some room for fun double entendres.  After all, isn't jasmine associated with lusty romance, the scent known to entire the opposite sex (no matter what sex you are!)? So when I read this article, well, yes, my mind went there. The only problem I have is with the fact that Dr. Hirsch, who is well-known for his aromatic sensory studies (remember the findings that men find lavender and pumpkin spice arousing - that was his study) is that it's never clear if he using true, natural aromatics or synths.  Are we to believe he use pricey jasmine grandiflorum?  If not, and a well-paid ball player wanted "the real stuff", believing it would give him an advantage over his synth-sniffing opponents, would he try to source from reputable suppliers?  I guess the analogy of replacing steroids in the story shows parallels of a sort :-) Oh, and the photo below. Priceless! "Jasmine makes me bite my bat".  Please, stop me, I can't help myself, LOL. http...

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...