Anya's Garden Perfumes + The Natural Perfumery Institute

Avery Gilbert, Guild Associate and general raconteur on all things olfactory, finds a book that confirms his theory that the hoo-ha over human pheromones is just bunk. 

I'm a little late getting this started today, but I will be here the rest of the day.  Post away!

I'm going to try to find a fragrance-related image for each night.  This dreidel-shaped perfume bottle surely fits the bill, and is a lot of fun, to boot. To be in the running to win a 3.5ml mini of any of my perfumes, or the 10-sample set, please visit my Facebook fanpage and use the "suggest to friends" option.  That is, if you are already a member yourself.  If not, please join - and still use the "suggest to friends" option.  The drawings will be held on Dec. 9th and announced here and on the Facebook fanpage.

Victoria of Bois de Jasmin blog honored me with a surprise review of Temple, a perfume I launched in 2007.  Lovely review, thoughtful and touching on spiritual and timeless threads.  Temple was meant to be a limited edition, due to the cost and rarity of the aromatics, but so many crave it, I decided to keep it in stock.  It's wonderful when a few years later, a review pops up that was expected, and validates my dedication to producing quality, timeless perfumes.

Anya's Garden Perfumes Celebrates the Festival of Lights with an eight-day perfume giveaway. The Jewish tribe of the Macabees regained control of their temple in 167 B.C., and celebrated the event by lighting an oil lamp.  Despite the fact that there was only enough oil for one day, the lamp burned brightly for eight days.  This is the birth of the miracle of the Festival of Lights, known as Hanukkah, or Chanukah, and is commemorated each year.  Typically, foods such as latkes, a potato pancake, are fried in oil in remembrance of the long-lasting oil of the Macabees. I was raised in a "mixed" household, where I was made to attend Catholic school, but where I was allowed to light the Hanukkah candles by my Jewish relatives, while often still wearing the Catholic school uniform, having rushed over after classes to attend the sundown ritual. I'd like to up the ante on Hanukkah gifts, which are often responsible, everyday items like socks and sweaters, by hosting a ...

Please post your questions, and forgive my slight delay in answering during the morning hours.  I will be available on a timely basis the rest of the day.

You know I can't take an outrageous statement like that lying down.  It comes from this poorly-written and poorly-researched article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/nov/28/not-easy-being-green-perfume-synthetic They don't allow comments there, but I welcome them here, where they will be out on the Internet.  Please post your feelings!

The new sample set from Anya's Garden Perfumes now includes the latest releases, Light and Amberess.  You can read more about the two very different, very beautiful perfumes in my post immediately preceding this one, which is about the Outlaw Perfume project of the Natural Perfumers Guild. Each sample is about a half a milliliter, enough for two applications.  The cost for the 10 is $65, and if you use the voucher code outlaw at checkout, you'll get 10% off the price.  They're included in the new Anya's Garden fabric pouch, so they can be carried in a purse, or stored together.  Each order comes with a card that describes the order in which the perfumes should be sampled.  Think of it as a perfume guide akin to a wine-tasting guide.  You'll want to sample the softer, lighter perfumes before the powerful, full-bodied ones, much like a flight of wines. The samples now come in a satin fabric pouch with Anya's Garden Perfumes embossed on the fabric. Do...

The outlaw is in the house ;-) I hope y'all have been following the Outlaw Perfume project and it's fired you up to be one, too.  Use that rose and jasmine in appropriate amounts.  IFRA and the EU are getting pushed back at by some artisan perfumers! Well, outlaw or not, you're welcome to submit questions on perfumery today from 10 to 10.

  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...

Ask the Perfumer is open and I'm waiting for your questions about perfumery, especially natural perfumery and natural raw materials.

  How very lovely that two of the four bloggers that grouped together for the Holiday Gift Guide selected my perfumes, Guild, and perfumery courses for inclusion.  I haven't sent any samples to one of the other bloggers ever, and the other in a year or more, so they're not up-to-date on my offerings.  Lucy at Indie Perfumes did make me blush with her praise! I will be offering 10 perfumes come Monday, Nov. 15th, 2010 when I launch Light and Amberess, so that's a little pre-release leak: the 10 will be offered for $65 for the sample size, a wonderful value. Here's links to Lucy and Elena's Holiday Gift Guide picks, so you can read about their choices: http://perfumeshrine.blogspot.com/2010/11/holiday-gift-guide-2010.html http://indieperfumes.blogspot.com/2010_11_01_archive.html#2523908032031520792

The Natural Perfumers Guild is having a membership drive. There are vintage and contemporary perfumery books and article included in the membership, plus many prizes to be awarded in a random drawing of the names of the new members. Fees are marked 20% off the usual rate, and can be found at here . The dozens of books and articles that new members can download are listed here. Deadline to join at the reduced membership rate and be in the drawing is Nov. 30th. Winners may state their choice of prize from the following list: *Five one-year Basenotes Supporters memberships A $59 value* Thinking of starting a perfume business? Take part in the chat on the most active perfume site on the Internet. The Basenotes Plus ( née Basenotes Supporters) is a great way to connect to the community. *One Basic Natural Perfumery textbook A $500 value* This is the textbook for Guild President Anya McCoy's Basic Natural Perfumery course. 349 full-color pages. Winner will be emailed a ...

Turning the clock back has me up early, and I'll get you are, too, with perfumery questions. Ask away!