Anya's Garden Perfumes + The Natural Perfumery Institute

I love, love, love my soon-to-be-launched Room Candy ambient fragrance line for some many reasons!  First, it's 100% natural, with just beeswax and essential oils or absolutes for fragrance. Second, it's the ultimate recyclable product. I put together this quick little photo montage to illustrate that 1. You melt the little flower wax tarts, getting the fragrance into your home  2. After it's given upmost of its scent, you can put it into a cloth or pouch and use it to scent your drawers or closets, or, 3., Use it to recondition wood chopping boards, furniture or even to bind together the ends of frayed rope (an ancient use for it). Can you think of any other uses?  Please share.   PS the packaging is recyclable, too!

I'll be around all day to answer your perfumery questions, just popping in and out as I have a meeting or two. Here's some photos of the vintage candy molds I'm using for my Room Candy wax melts. The wax melts smell soooo good!  Read my previous posts to find out more about them.

The paper captures the deep teal of the tropical waters that surround Miami and the lush botanicals that go into the Anya's Garden perfumes The new custom tissue paper for Anya's Garden Perfume has arrived.  It will look gorgeous with my boxes and satin bags. 

Organic Room Candy - First 100 Percent Natural Fragrance Wax Melts Released by Anya Garden Perfumes  For Immediate Release MIAMI SHORES, Fla./EWORLDWIRE/Aug. 1, 2012 --- Miami-based natural perfumer Anya McCoy once again leads the trends in natural perfumery by launching 100 percent ambient room fragrances in wax melt form. Room Candy takes the latest hottest product on the market and adapts it using 100 percent natural ingredients. Organic beeswax is the wax of choice for this entry into the ambient fragrance line for this is a world-renowned perfumer who is the president of the Natural Perfumers Guild and Director of the Natural Perfumery Institute. Pure essential oils and absolute oils provide the scent for this groundbreaking line of wax melts, also known as wax tarts and wickless candles. McCoy hand-pours the fragrant blend into vintage candy molds she has collected. Testing the wax melts, she discovered that they diffused scent over a 300-square-foot r...

I can't burn fragrant candles because I have cats and overhead fans that are always on here in Miami.  So I was limited in fragrancing my home.  I use room sprays and potpourri. Below, read the latest news in my newsletter today - and an incentive to sign up for my newsletter in case you haven't done so - a giveaway.  If you miss this one, there will be future giveaways, great discounts and new products announced in the upcoming months.   Anya Presents Room Candy - the first 100% natural wax melts Fragrances : Outlaw Perfume - the first oakmoss, lime and bergamot chypre room fragrance ever! Lemon Vetiver - sweet candied lemon myrtle with an herbal twist and earthy vetiver Cafe Chocolata - yummy gourmand scent, mouth-watering combo of chocolate and coffee Bay Rum and Honey - dark bay rum and soft honey beeswax smell like a scented topical night Anya once again leads the trends in natural perfumery by launching 100% ambient room fragrances in wax melt for...

I'm resisting the urge to tincture or enfleurage my ylang ylang or jasmine grandiflorum flowers.  It's a way of 'turning off' the work and just enjoying them for their beauty.  Do you have any questions for me today?  I'll be here all day, since I'm working on my new launch and new edition of the Natural Perfumery Institute's textbook with the wonderful assistance of Andrine Olson.  Also wish to thank Bruce Bolmes for his contributions to the textbook.     Beautiful ylang ylang flower in my garden last week.  Photo by Elise Pearlstine

White champaca - Michelia alba Last week I showed you the beautiful golden champaca, this week I'm sharing a photo of the beautiful white champaca growing in my garden.  What a gorgeous, highly-scented tincture this makes!  It's so strong, I have to dilute it for standardization. Do you have any perfumery questions this week?  I'll be here until 10 PM ET to aid you in your perfumery work.

Good morning, dear friends!  I started drinking high-octane coffee again this week, and I'm wired and have already been very productive this not-very-hot-or-humid morning in Miami.  My front garden is a floral wonderland today, and I'm sharing my photos with you.  I hope they inspire you to grow your own fragrant botanicals, whether you harvest them to scent extraction or not.   I'll be here today, working on my hush-hush new fragrant product, so I'll be answering your natural perfumery questions. Gold Champaca Greeting me at my front door - a vigorous Jasmine grandiflorum plant Not scented in the morning - night-blooming jasmine A closeup of the pretty little nightblooming jasmine flowers Tahitian gardenia - yes, the one Monoi is made from My ylang ylang tree is loaded with blooms A harvest basket before 9 a.m. Wonderful work if you can get it!

Ask the Perfumer is taking the day off to care for the parched plants in the garden and to TCB.  See you next week!

July 1st!  Hope you're having summer fun in the Northern Hemisphere, and cool times in the Southern.  Any perfumery questions today?

SHARE with your perfumer and B&B friends - Allured Books is again offering a great discount to make your summer cool! Read below: SUMMER DISCOUNT: 30% through September 15, 2012 Coupon Code:anya30 All Alluredbooks including new ones below. A few sample pages on the title page (links below) will help youdecide if the book is right for you. Of course - Arctander Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin- still in stock! http://www.alluredbooks.com/Fragrance-Creation/Arctander-s-Perfume-and-Flavor-Materials-of-Natural-Origin.html New Books: Coloring the Cosmetic World http://www.alluredbooks.com/Coloring-the-Cosmetic-World-Using-Pigments-in-Decorative-Cosmetic-Formulations.html Practical Modern Hair Science http://www.alluredbooks.com/Practical-Modern-Hair-Science.html Essential Oils Volume 9 http://www.alluredbooks.com/Fragrance-Creation/Essential-Oils-Vol-9-2008-2011.html Preservatives for Cosmetics (regulatory and preservatives may be of special interest.)...

Take a break from your fun summer (or winter, if you're in the Southern Hemisphere) activities and Ask the Perfumer your questions about any aspect of perfumery.

  Horst P. Horst: Lisa Hands With Vase and Flowers, 1941 I just love it.

I was looking for vintage aromatics on eBay, and came across the ad, below. I didn't save the image, so I googled and found the one above.   It seems that the firm of Magnus Mabee and Reynard was sued for adulterating their oils in 1914, and they lost.  The history of the herb and spice trade, and then the essential oils/absolutes/attars trade have historically been rife with adulteration.  I learned about this when as an undergraduate, completing studies in economic botany I found out that the word "sophistication" had its roots in this price-gouging, false-advertising practice.  From Dictionary.com:  so·phis·ti·cat·ed [ s uh - fis -ti-key-tid ]   adjective (after what you would expect, i.e., worldly), comes: 3. deceptive; misleading. and sophisticate - verb (used with object) 3. to make less natural, simple, or ingenuous; make worldly-wise. 4. to alter; pervert: to sophisticate a meaning beyond recognition.   Here's t...