Anya's Garden Perfumes + The Natural Perfumery Institute

The Natural Perfumers Guild has partnered with Cropwatch in the past, most notably in early 2007, when the Guild joined them in challenging the adoption of IFRA's (International Fragrance Association) 40th Amendment without public review or input. We further support Cropwatch in their ongoing efforts to bring an outside evaluation as to the practices related to the legislative control of natural aromatics as they are used in the body care, aromatherapy and perfumery industries. The information presented below is further documentation of Cropwatch's ongoing efforts: CROPWATCH STATEMENT ON TEA TREE OIL Jan 2008. Pre-amble. The SCCP has the subject of tea tree oil (TTO) on its agenda for its Brussels meeting of 22.01.08. You will remember that allegations about the instability & skin safety of tea tree oil, as well as complaints about gaps in the toxicity data, were previously made in the flawed SCCP Opinion SCCP/0843/04, to which the Australian Te

Sometimes it's difficult to find items for the work we do. Scent strip holders are nearly impossible to find, and the ones coming out of France, which are usually given away at trade shows, are ugly, in my opinion. I corresponded last year with the *only* firm in France that produces them (at least that's what I was told) and I just gave up. I am wanting to have some made with the Natural Perfumers Guild logo on them, either in steel or wood. I either had to contract for a minimum of 1000 or buy their squat, off-the-shelf ones. Sometimes photo or memo holders can do the job, like the Sputnik photo clip contraption found at Target and other stores. Diane Rowles, a student in my class , deserves a round of applause for discovering that antique wire "frogs", used to hold flowers in place in a vase, fit the bill. You can just push the scent strip in with one hand (a real advantage over the "clip" models,) and they're small and don't take up much room o

The image above is really nice viewed in its original size. Just click it on. The world image is used in the online course website's internal pages. The students see that pictorial banner when the log in for their study modules, chats, or when the access the site to catch up on the downloads needed for class, to follow links or any of the many options available. The image was chose to best illustrate the ability of this course to link up natural perfumery students worldwide. You can click on the detailed Classes page on Anya's Garden for details and to read a testimonial from a Fall 2007 student. More testimonials are available upon request. The Fall 2007 class contains 26 students spanning the globe from Australia to Belgium. The Spring 2008 class, which is just being formally announced here for pre-registration is already half full, and the geographic stretch is a little further: China to Italy. I am very, very humbled by the interest and passion and dedication these studen

It was a great surprise to find out this morning that I won something yesterday, the first day of the new year. Here's what I posted on my Yahoo group, and please note the contest I've now posted there is only open to members of that group: I'm not like many other perfumers -- I do not sample, or keep up with what's on the market. As an artist, I like to create for my own muse. I do get to sample the lovely perfumes of the Guild members, because they send them to me for the Guild Scent Library. Marina, of the great blog Perfume Smellin' Things http://perfumesmellinthings.blogspot.com/ recently had a drawing for eight of her special favorites of the past year, and I won, picked at random out of 112 entries! I used to win stuff all the time when I entered contents, and I haven't for a while (entered contests, that is), so I'm going to start again. Stuff I've won in the past: An Apple Ibook, a trip out of town to an away game with the Tampa Buccaneers, l

Kaffir Perfume has been reviewed on the Bittergrace blog and both Kaffir and Temple are reviewed by Helg on Perfume Shrine .

I've had a lot to celebrate lately, in both my professional life as a perfumer and President of the Natural Perfumers Guild, and my personal life. After 2.5 years of grueling work, I'm able to take some time off, party more, enjoy life and just have fun. One of these events was taking my 88 year-old mother to a favorite Slow Food restaurant of mine, Michael's Genuine Food and Drink in Miami's Design District. It's practically a neighborhood place for me, being just a short drive from my house. We had reservations for a little before noon, as I knew the place gets slammed with guests and I wanted to get her settled into her seat before the place filled. When we got to the Design District, Art Basel crowds filled the streets as the galleries were open and excitement was in the air. It was very festive and a lot of fun! Michael's is set back in a treed courtyard, with the choice of indoor or outdoor seating. We choose indoor, even though the weather was nice bec

I posted this the other day on both Perfume of Life and Basenotes. I've never met another perfumer before, and wanted to see the glitz and glamor surrounding Mr. Christian and his luxe line. He is well-known for creating "the world's most expensive perfume." Quite a heady experience for a niche artisan perfumer like me, LOL. One thing I didn't realize until afterwards -- the Neiman Marcus store was not awash in strong perfume fumes, despite many spraying and testing. I suppose they have good air "scrubbers". I appreciated this, as my nose is very sensitive, and it could have been an unpleasant experience. I was told his appearance made the nightly news locally, as did Paris Hilton's presentation of her perfume Can Can the next day. I did somehow restrain myself from going to her event, but had fun relating my visit to NM, the Chanel boutique next door, etc. Please not what a sanguine "reporter" I am, not even getting the names of the perf

The Winter 2007 issue of Glow, a beauty and fashion magazine published in Toronto, features an article "Two Scents" that yours truly is quoted in on the subject of natural perfumery. They give equal time to Thierry Wasser, perfumer with Firmenich, and a fragrance scientist both working on the synthhetics side of perfumery. The editor has written a rather balanced view of the two camps of natural perfumery, and I think it's a good read that will help the general public get a grasp on the major differences between our artisan art and their corporate product. Click here to visit my site where you can view the PDF of the article.

November 16, 2007 Two new perfumes launched by Anya's Garden 11/07 Be the first to experience and luxuriate in the fragrance of two very different, new-to-the-market citruses , paired in unexpected ways for very different results. Mirroring the new citruses, you'll find agarwood in the base, but two very different agarwoods - one light, golden and spicy, the other true Laotian and Vietnamese dark, deep, hypnotic Ouds. Read more on the perfumes page. Kaffir Fragrance Family: Citrus-Leather Exotic, gourmand, flirty, fun, and radiating good vibes of sexy playfulness, Kaffir can transport the wearer to explore their own version of intrigue and romance -- then smoothly moves into a rich, leather drydown. For the worldy and artistic man or woman. Temple Fragrance Family: Citrus-Spice-Wood Luscious, fresh and a wake-up delight, the orange juice essential oil grabs your attention, and t

Kaffir , a unique and groundbreaking perfume from Anya's Garden, truly is from Anya's Garden - in Miami Shores, Florida, USA. Kaffir Lime leaf, also called Thai Lime Leaf, is used in Asian cooking for the unusual, exciting, penetrating flavor it imparts. The petitgrain oil also imparts an aldehydic kick, and Kaffir the perfume honors and exalts that sensual experience. No other citrus comes close to the odor impact of kaffir, which I call the King of Citrus. There is a story of delight, destruction and rebirth behind the kaffir tree of my home garden. Nine citrus trees were planted - and ripped out - of my garden. I planted them when I moved in, but the State of Florida, in a misguided attempt to stop the spread of a non-threatening citrus disease, cut down over 1,000,000 citrus trees, including my kaffir tree. However, my kaffir was the only one to resprout from the root

STOP THE FDA GLOBALIZATION ACT OF 2008 If it weren't for our sense of smell, would would not be able to discern the food we put in our mouths. Our sense of smell makes it possible for us to taste our food. Our tastebuds help us sense salty, sour, sweet, bitter and umami. When purchasing tomatoes or melons at the store, we use our nose to detect which ones are the ripest with the probable best taste. No scent? No taste. When agribusiness giants gobble up family farms, or development paves over yet another field of beans with concrete, we, the people, become more separated from the crops that smell and taste good. Every small scale farm that goes under puts another nail in the coffin of free enterprise providing fresh, tasty, nutritious food on our table or fragrant, beautiful ingredients for our natural perfumes. Taking your children out to a local farm to pick a pumpkin becomes more of an impossibility when urban sprawl means a 40-mile drive each way. I call it the Cheez-Wiz factor

It wasn't until months later, when I had a bit of a bad bout with the February mango pollen in Miami, that I realized I had damaged my liver a bit due to 9/11. After 9/11 traumatized the nation, it was noted some people turned to self-medication to deal with the terrorism. Some drank a lot, overate, or took drugs for depression. Some perhaps did all of the above. I turned to my beautiful aromatics, absolutes, essential oils, concretes and CO2 extracts, all from nature, all complex, heady, indulgent fragrances. They allowed me to escape into their fragrant magic, distract me, overwhelm me. The year before, on my birthday, I had gone on a shopping spree, a gift to myself, of a lot of aromatics I was not familiar with, to fill in the gaps in my olfactory education. I had already been collecting and studying natural botanical essences since the early 1970's, but had let it lapse a bit in the late 1990's. In the early '90's, I had a very successful oil perfume line I sol

Yes, this is the second time this week this image has appeared on this blog. When I blogged a few days ago on the wonderful book The Scent Trail that I had discovered, little did I imagine that within a few days the author Celia Lyttelton would join the Guild as an Associate member. I'm not even finished the book yet -- only up to p. 185, deep into the world of saffron imagery she so beautifully conveys in her visit to India. We just left nutmeg in Sri Lanka, this is a whirlwind trip! In a world that sometimes gifts you with synchronous fun moments, a friend who is on my Natural Perfumery group revealed to me that she is close friends with Celia, and in fact, they will be giving an talk together in late October. Well, quick emails were exchanged, and here we are, a gifted writer on natural aromatics is in the folds of the Guild. If you're reading this blog, you're interested in natural perfumery -- go get the book. You'll love it!

Imagine a book that is so attuned with your nose, your language, your desires, your obsession, that just an hour after opening it, reading random passages, you have to pick up the phone and call your perfumer friend 3000 miles away, in Ireland, near midnight her time, to rave about it and insist she gets on the 'net and order a copy for herself. That is Celia Lyttelton's The Scent Trail. I saw the cover online, read a tiny bit, and just had to have it. If you are at all interested in natural aromatics, you will want it too, and begin to devour every word the minute you get it, as I did. Lyttelton was raised in Tuscany, and followed her mother, a famous archaeologist, on treks around the world. She, like all of us, has strong scent memories from childhood, some unique, as her grandmother's peppery-rose perfume, made for her in Egypt, and the formula brought to Paris so she could have it replicated. Bespoke before many of us knew bespoke (which I like to call couture or cust

Robin of Now Smell This discovers the beauty of natural aromatics in food: Now Smell This Great review of Isabelle's yummies. Read my confession as to what I did with her samples, good for a laugh! Isabelle is one of the loveliest people, and a valued Professional Perfumer in the Guild. I'm so glad to see this recognition for her! Here is an upcoming event that celebrates Isabelle's birthday and the launch of a new perfume: Found the information on the Soiree: Desire in Sunlight Couture Perfumes graciously invites you to a PERFUME CHOCOLAT SOIREE In celebration of Isabelle's Birthday to launch our newest perfume - 'La Fete' a rich honey floral blend Saturday 13 October 20074-7 pm location: 2510 42nd Avenue East, #447D, Seattle 98112 RSVP 425.471.4770 breathe in beauty, Isabelle Aurel

Sometimes the busy bee that is me has a bit of a blurry see. Ok, bad poetry. Sharper image now, though. In May of 2005 I discovered that there were folks out there blogging on perfume. I also found perfume forums. As a respite from some rather nasty folks who had plans to take over my natural perfumery group and used some rather Machiavellian means, I drifted around the internet looking for some related, non-stressful talk on perfume. (BTW, that "group" founded on my stolen list is well, listless and feeble, and mine has more than doubled in size to 1300 members -- the good guys do win in the end.) I found about a dozen blogs, and made friends, or at the very least, acquaintance, with the bloggers. I chatted about mainstream perfumes, aka those made with synths, the stuff you find in all the department stores, boutiques and drugstores, always referring to my beloved natural perfumes also. Many of the ladies (and two men) bloggers weren't very familiar with natural perfume

STOP THE FDA GLOBALIZATION ACT OF 2008 The latest Cropwatch newsletter isn't on their site yet. You can view it on the Natural Perfumers Guild site by clicking on the link. It's long, 50+pages, packed with information. Before you read the latest message from Cropwatch below, I cannot stress enough the importance of what Tony Burfield and his Cropwatch organization are doing FOR US ALL - those of us who love natural aromatics, natural and botanical perfumery, and want to retain our rights. If you enjoy aromatherapy, naturally scented toiletries, natural body care and natural perfumes, you'll want to pay attention to this issue very closely as your access to natural aromatics is in danger. This message went out to the 1200+ members of the Yahoo group I host, and it's relevant here: Let's put the power and beauty of our numbers to work. Please volunteer to help him if you have any expertise in the areas he's asking for assistance with, or perhaps you're just a

Please visit the Perfume Classes blog for the latest update on the Basic Natural Perfumery Class I will be teaching this Fall. The class will be online and offer for the first time, online interaction with a teacher, learning modules, and a study forum.

The male flower of the Pandanus odoritissimus can weigh two pounds or more. The Pandanus is also known as the Screw Pine due to the swirl of the leaves. It is one of the most useful plants in the tropics. Practically every part of the Screw Pine is used for all type of different purposes: clothing, bowls, housebuilding, food, medicine and fragrance. But it's the wild and crazy flower I'm interested in as a natural perfumer. High, pierceing, radish-y, rosy, green, dirt, glorious, sun-drenched, yet cool as can be - that's the hydrodistilled oil of the Pandanus odoritissimus. Also can be described as hyachinth-honey, fresh floral, addictive. Dilute it down to 1% to have some of the hyacinth notes really release - wow. Male flower only, please - like the male peacock with his technicolor plumage, only the male flower of this tree has the scent. Yes, the lady trees may have the bombastic, grenade-looking fruit, but it's the essence of the male flower that is craved. And co

STOP THE FDA GLOBALIZATION ACT OF 2008 For those of you who have been following this blog since January, when we first reported on Tony Burfield's watchdog organization Cropwatch challenging the IFRA 40th Amendment, and the European Union regulation of natural aromatics, I am happy to report there is progress. On July 3rd, Tony, along with representatives of the Perfume Foundation, sat down with the representatives of the EU Cosmetics Commission in the first-ever of its type of confab. We take this as a sign of a crack in the ongoing bulldozing effect of IFRA-fueled nonsensical and nonscientific regulation of natural aromatics in natural perfumery. You can read or download a PDF of Tony's report on the meeting here: Cropwatch sits down with the European Union (EU) Cosmetics Commission. Back to lounging on the beach for me - yeah!

Just a taste of what I've been up to: I started selling exotic, and some not-so-exotic, but absolutely knock-out beautiful,exceptional raw materials on my website here. The hyacinth absolute is already sold out, but more is expected soon. Lush narcissus poeticus absolute is also sold out, both due in the end of July. Rose de Mai absolute is on the way, a non-CITES agarwood is for sale - it smells like a very posh leather good boutique, all freshly-sawn wood and buttery, fragrant leather. Vanilla absolute to die for! Heck, I'm even parting with some of my double-infused St. John's Wort oil, an incredible ruby red jewel of an oil for what ails ya. My perfumes have had a slight price reduction after the big June sale, and it's permanent. All of the pure essential oils are suitable for aromatherapy use. I also term these rare essential oils because of the exceptional aroma quality of them. Absolutely knockout in strength and clarity of scent. My most obvious reason for m

This summer is busier than the past two summers, which were some of the busiest of my life. Lots of obligations in the perfume world, personal goals, and just too much on my plate! So, I've decided to really have down time every chance I can grab it, and the picture above sums up where you should look for me. I'll be there, lolling around, or nearby, having fun, instead of working on this blog. Happy Summer, everyone!

June 1, 2007: The Artisan Natural Perfumers Guild is now the Natural Perfumers Guild. We're celebrating the one year anniversary of the reopening of the Guild with a new name and a new logo, seen above. In the past year 88 wonderful people joined the Guild, supportive and enthusiastic about the art of natural perfumery, helping spread the word, networking amongst themselves and just being supportive. We're also adopting the phrase "Slow Scent" as our slogan. Mandy Aftel, the Founder of the Guild, coined the term for her new book, and is graciously sharing it with us. Here's a great example of how we're all connecting and helping each other and spreading the news about what we do, and who we are: with hours of reading the June Guild newsletter, Blunda Los Angeles store owner Persephenie called Andrea Budje of Aromahead because she wanted her to come to LA from Florida to give a class at her store - all because of a small feature I put in the newsletter withou

The very-talented Helen of ZenSoaps created this image from a photo of the Grasse variety of Jasmine grandiflorum I have growing in my garden. I find it alluring and mysterious, sensual and spiritual, much like the flower itself. Today is the Full Moon in Sagittarius. White fragrant flowers bloom wildly and profusely during a full moon, and here in Florida, our major flushes of blooms are from April - June, with intermittant blooms throughout the year. I have been harvesting Jasmines - grandi (sparse, it may bloom more in July, for some reason), sambacs - Belle of India, Maid of Orleans, Grand Duke of Tuscany and several lesser-known varieties, like long-petaled Belle of India. Also into the alcohol goes the auriculatum and azoricum, and night-blooming Jasmine, Cestrum nocturnum, and Orange Jasmine, Murraya paniculata. Quite heavenly tinctures they are, too. More like the fresh flower on the vine than the concretes and absolutes we buy from suppliers. I use them to supplement and enhan

It is my pleasure to announce the first-ever sale on the perfumes of Anya's Garden. The sale is in celebration of three happy events: the six-month anniversary of the launch of Anya's Garden, and the wonderful success of the perfumes, which are lovingly reviewed on forums such as Perfume of Life, MakeUpAlley and others, and the appreciative notes from customers, who write to say how the perfumes create a mood, bring back a memory of a warm summery place, or as in the case of Fairchild, take them to an intoxicating salty, flowery shore in the tropics. This is what a perfumer aims for, at least I do. Not just to create a pretty or exotic fragrance, but to create one that evokes a soulful response, or in the case of Pan, as it has been reported, a real pheromonal response from men. Pan is a hit with the ladies who do not mind a slightly masculine scent, and among gay men, where it is a cult favorite. The ladies say the men flock around them, or give them appreciative stares in p

STOP THE FDA GLOBALIZATION ACT OF 2008 Cropwatch's latest newsletter reports on the latest madness from bureaucracy run amok regarding perfume and fragrances. http://www.artisannaturalperfumers.org/news.htm You can download the pdf, all 18 pages of the strange, sad story.

I got a call two months ago from an associate editor at Palm Beach Cottages and Gardens Magazine, published by Conde Nast. She said they wanted to put a bit in their "What's New" section for the March issue. The magazine came out on Friday, and I got my copy in the mail today. Pretty good coverage for a perfume line that was only officially launched in December. Click here and follow the link to see my homemade photo positioned above a $730,000 Mont Blanc pen!

STOP THE FDA GLOBALIZATION ACT OF 2008 Time for a break from blogging again. Time to network more with the people around the globe who are aghast at the bad science, bad attitude and outright bias that International Fragrance Association (IFRA) and also the European Union (EU) are exhibiting towards natural perfume materials. Just when natural products are enjoying a 20% annual rise in sales, and traditional products only 3-4% rise, they want to severely limit our access too these gorgeous, lovely natural aromatics. Yes, perhaps some essential oils or absolutes, if used in an excessive amount *may* cause a rash in in some people; wine causes allergies, too, but we don't see the EU limiting it, or banning it. My time has been eaten up by the learning curve necessary to work on this. On Sunday I had to take a few hours to cobble together a printout for an esteemed ethnobotanist and natural perfumer because he is without a computer, and I couldn't just send him links to websites.