Posts

Natural Perfumers Guild Associates win Int'l Green Packaging Award at HBA Expo in NYC

Image
Natural Perfumers Guild Associates Francesca and Kate of Pacific Perfumes were rewarded for making the long trip from New Zealand to NYC because they just won the International Green Packaging award at the HBA Global Expo http://www.hbaexpo.com/ !  The award was for their new Artisan line, which is all natural perfume.  I know Guild member Michelyn Camen the EiC of Cafleurebon loves their perfumes and she's meeting with them on Thursday.  I can't wait for the interview/report! http://www.facebook.com/PacificPerfumes http://pacificperfumes.co.nz to get a look at the packaging.

Ask the Perfumer - Sunday, June 26, 2011 - until 10 PM EST

Hi Everyone!  I'm back from a semi-vacation, a staycation I think it's called, but I'm still refreshed and ready to answer your questions.  The growing season is in full bloom in most parts of the world, and if you have any fragrant plants sending out their beautiful scents now, or will soon, and want to extract their scent, ask away. Or, maybe you have another question about perfumery.  I'll be here, on and off, until 10 or so EST.

Ask the Perfumer - On Vacation June 12 and 19th, 2011

Hi Everyone: Taking a vacation for a few weeks, keep those perfume-related questions on hold, and I'll answer them when I get back.

Ask the Perfumer - Sunday, June 5, 2011 - until 10 PM EST

Shall we continue the discussion on isolates?  A few posts came in last week after the forum was closed, and I received some private emails, also.  Of course, feel free to ask anything you wish, I'm just inviting the other folks to post here.

Uncorked! Natural Perfumers Guild Members Blogging Event: Happy 5th Anniversary - and My Path To Natural Perfumery]

Image
Twenty Guild members are joining me in pulling out the stopper, uncorking the stories of our natural perfumery paths. Like effervescent top notes, our stories are released, ticking our memories and sharing them as they waft out over the Internet.  I hope you love reading all of the fragrant bios as much as I do.  Links to their blogs are at the bottom of this post.  Enjoy! I grew up thinking all fragrances were natural: flowers, gasoline, floor cleaner, deodorant, lightening bugs, hairspray, dirt, and particularly, perfumes. As a child I sniffed everything, and I dabbed myself with perfumes with wild abandon. I was lucky that I grew up two blocks away from the biggest public park in the world, Fairmont Park in Philadelphia.  It gave a bucolic respite from the row houses and tiny yards of the tightly-packed streets where I lived.  The street where I grew up in Philadelphia, two blocks from Fairmont Park. Memories of roses, boxwood, iris flowers flood me as I look at this photo. I

To celebrate the Natural Perfumers Guild's 5th Anniversary - 25% off membership - until June 15th, 2011

Image
We're going to have a fun inter-Guild blogging event tomorrow, June 1st, to celebrate the 5th Anniversary of the Guild. 21 Guild members are participating, and we're going to share our stories of our path to natural aromatics and natural perfumery. It should be a run read, clicking from member blog to member blog and taking in the bios of the members. I'm really looking forward to it! The Guild has many benefits associated with membership, from networking with others in the community to discounts on raw materials, educational programs, group buys and much more. Next week we're having an Online Marketing chat with the perfumers, and it will be archived and made available to all Guild members. I'll cover public relations, press releases, blogs and branding, and Larry Marsala will speak on google rankings, meta tags, search engine optimization and techie stuff. A 25% discount on the yearly membership fee will be given to new members who join between May 31 and J

Ask the Perfumer - Sunday, May 29, 2011 - until 10 PM EST

I wish some folks would ask me about natural isolates.  What I have to say, with my limited, but growing knowledge, might surprise you.  I'll be here, on and off, throughout the day.

21 Guild members will take part in a blogging event on June 1st, 2011 to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Guild

Image
21 Guild members are set to blog on June 1st, the fifth anniversary of the Natural Perfumers Guild. It's going to be a fun, intimate event to let us get to know each other better, and you're all invited in for a peek. The theme is fun and the logo is bubbly, like a fizzy, diffusive top note!

So Simple, So Elegant- Why Didn't Anybody Think of This Before? Banish the Bain Marie! Plus, a giveaway for helping name this new process.

Image
Sometimes students say the darnedest things, and sometimes those gems turn your head around when you think about the process of making thick, pasty aromatics pourable. Michael Singels, a student from California, and a longtime member of the Yahoo Natural Perfumery group I host, posted about a new, simple process in the student chat group for my perfumery course that literally made my mouth drop open.  I have read every post on the NP group for almost nine years, and I've been on many other forums, and I've never seen this. Ready for this?  What to do instead of using a bain marie process to warm up thick aromatics so they can become liquid and mobile for use, or transfer from one bottle to another? First, for those who don't know what a bain marie is, it's a water bath. It can be as simple as heating some water in a cup and placing the bottle with the thick stuff in it, or as complex as a true "double boiler" type of set up for a large bottle or containe

Ask the Perfumer - Sunday, May 22, 2011 - until 10 PM EST

Late start today due to gardening duties.  I'll be here until 10 PM my time to answer any questions you may have about perfumery.

Ask the Perfumer - Sunday, May 15, 2011 - until 10 PM EST

Half way through May, and oh my, so much to do!  Still, I love to make time to answer your questions about perfumery.  I'll be here until 10 PM tonight, so ask away.

Ask the Perfumer - Sunday, May 8, 2011 - until 10 PM EST

Happy Mother's Day to all the woman in the world, who, in some way, give motherly love to others.  It's in our nature, we are here to give comfort and guidance.  Each Sunday, my motherly ways come in play with this forum.  So, ask mama! ;-) ETA: The link to a CaFleureBon article on scented memories of our mothers, including one on my mother.  I just got back from visiting her at the nursing home, she's doing fine.

Ask the Perfumer - Sunday, May 1, 2011 - until 10 PM EST

I got a late start today because I had to get the lilac blog posted.  May certainly is the time for lilac thoughts, and lily of the valley, too, eh?  Several bloggers are taking part in a blogging event for Natural Perfumers Guild member Dawn Spencer Hurwitz's new perfumes Muguet de Mai and Muguet Cologne (yes, two!) that are botanical accords of the lily of the valley flower, only available in synthetic form prior to this.  You can leap from blog to blog starting at Cafleurebon .

Lilac Alchemy and the Cooperative International Effort

Disclaimer:  It has come to my attention that Douglas Stewart of Scentsual Antiquities has a link to this blog post, perhaps implying that he is endorsed by me.  This is not the case, and I have no affiliation with him, and would wish he would take the link down, as it is deceptive. I have taken down the entire post because the two advising me were revealed to not have the real information or research validated.  This happens sometimes, and I regret any false data that was stated.

Thought-Provoking post on greening a product, quality and a reference to Natural Perfumery

Michelyn Camen, the editor-in-chief of Cafleurebon launched a new feature, the Letter from the Editor, which will be a monthly event.  I think it's a great read on many levels.  Click here and leave a comment, if you wish.

Ask the Perfumer - Sunday, April 24, 2011 - until 10 PM EST

Happy Easter everyone. I hope you have a chance to have a relaxing day, and I hope you will enjoy beautiful weather this lovely Spring day.  I'll be online on and off today, and I'm happy to check in for your perfumery questions. There were quite a few comments that were added to last Sunday's "Ask the Perfumer" during the week, so if you were following a topic there, you may wish to visit the comments thread again.

Natural Perfumers Guild Update for April 2011

Image
Guild news: We welcome Anu Prestonia of Anu's Essentials as a Professional Perfumer. Michelyn Camen upgraded her membership to Associate by adding CaFleureBon to our roster. Laura Natusch of Urban Eden joined as an Associate andBeverly Laird has joined us as a Friend. Many thanks to David of Renaissance Aromas and Nick of Sharini Parfums Naturels for renewing their membership. David is an Associate and Nick is a Professional Perfumer. Also Trygve Harris of Enfleurage (Associate) and Lydia Sabbah of Sabbah Perfumes (Professional Perfumer) renewed their memberships. It's been a busy month! Mandy Aftel, who founded the Guild in 2002, resigned from the Guild, by mutual decision.  The direction of the Guild is inclusive of those who wish to teach, and those who wish to sell various lines of oils they desire, a sharing and learning place for all.  Mandy is honored as the Founder, and as the leader in the natural perfumery world, and we treasure her for her gener

Perfumers Share Their Thoughts on Earth Day + a Giveaway

Image
CaFleureBon, one of the highest-ranked perfume blogs in the world, has a great Earth Day post up.  EIC Michelyn Camen invited a number of perfumers, myself included, to share our thoughts on what Earth Day means to us.  There is also a great giveaway, via a random draw,  for those who leave a comment. Read the blog here and leave a comment, sharing your thoughts.  I have to say the folks who have posted so far are really impressed me with their comments.  So thoughful!

A Yummy, Natural Trend: Perfuming Your Food - and the Launch of Anya's Garden Food & Drink Oils - with a Giveaway

Image
Trends are fun, and it's fun to be on the front end of one.  Funny thing about this trend, which is using essential oils for food and drinks, is that it's been around for a long time. I've been cooking with essential oils since 1978, starting out with the humble dill weed oil. Nobody noticed much except my friends and family and customers of my early-80's catering business. The difference is that now it's starting to get attention in the media.  Heck, I wanted to launch my latest line, Anya's Garden Food & Drink Oils , way  back in 2006.  At that time, I wrote a letter to a local chef who was opening a new restaurant, pitching her the idea.  She never replied, I got toooo busy with life and work, and had to put my line on the back burner. Now, the timing is better, anyway.  There are several mixologists who have been hosting perfumed cocktail soirees for the past year or so.  Menket Prince, whom I knew from aromatherapy groups back in the mid-90

CaFleureBon really hit a nerve with their recent post on phobias - and how aromatherapy can help

I was honored that Editor-in-Chief Michelyn Camen asked me for my professional opinion on how specific essential oils or absolutes can help alleviate phobias.   I have studied aromatherapy enthusiastically since I first obtained Robert Tisserand's book The Art of Aromatherapy in 1979.  I was fascinated with the theory (followed up by clinical practice trials) that the beautiful oils I loved could help all sorts of medical issues. I submitted information about vanilla, lavender and neroli, which is orange blossom.  Then I noticed not many men were leaving comments on CaFleureBon.  I think men hide their phobias, don't you?  Do they have a phobia about asking for directions? LOL.  That is a common complaint of the women who accompany men on road trips. Here's one I never heard of - Arachibutyrophobia - fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth. Just some silliness to break up the monotony of the day.  My contribution to helping some men get over to CaFle

Ask the Perfumer - Sunday, April 17, 2011 - until 10 PM EST

I'm up early because it's going to be a busy, busy day, but I'm not too busy to answer your questions about perfumery.  If you know what I'm "soft" launching tomorrow in an expansion of the Anya's Garden Perfumes fragrant products, and you post here with the correct answer, you'll win two of the launch products ;-)

Mandy Aftel resigns from the Natural Pefumers Guild

The Natural Perfumers Guild’s Founder, Mandy Aftel submitted her resignation from the Guild on January 28, 2011, and announced it publicly on April 14, 2011.   We respect her decision, and wish her well in her endeavors and her three Fifi nominations, which paved the way for natural perfumery to be accepted as an ART.  We look forward to bringing the Guild to the next level as we work towards achieving our goals of even more awareness and new voices, noses and fans in   the 21st Century.

Ask the Perfumer - Sunday, April 10, 2011 - until 10 PM EST

Image
I'll be here until 10 PM, EST, USA, so if you have any questions, please post.  I'm working on the lilac post I promised two days ago, but life sure has a way of messing up your plans, eh? ;-)  Are the lilacs blooming where you are?  I have tips on how to capture it's scent.

Kewda flower may be victim of government crackdown on gutkha in India

Image
Oh, no, my beloved kewda flower, the male flower of the Pandanus odoritissimus, a Prehistoric plant that has survived for millions of year, may be in danger because of a proposed Indian law.   It seems that the kewda flower is one ingredient used in a rather toxic chewing gum known as gutkha.  You can read the article for all the details, but I will cut the chase about the problem:  an industry may be shut down because of this, an industry that supports many families and a beautiful product that is used in perfumery.  I use pandanus flower oil in two of my perfumes, Fairchild and Kewdra.  I will be able to harvest the flower here in Miami or grow my own if supply dries up.   Pandanus - aka Kewda flower I truly don't think it will dry up, because some of the distilleries will remain active.  Perhaps the distilleries could have been more forward-thinking and used some long range planning for alternative uses for their kewda oil, but often industries fail on the human end of the p

Ask the Perfumer - Sunday, April 3, 2011 - until 10 PM EST

It's a hot and steamy day in Miami, the peach-scented frangipanis, Vietnamese gardenias, gardenias, white champaka and long-petaled jasmine, next to the Confederate jasmines, are blooming.  I'll be enfleuraging and tincturing all day, but will still love to answer your perfumery questions. Oh, and once I sort through all the entries, write the respondent's names down, cut the paper with the name into strips, I'll choose the winners from the Guild- and ginger-helpful respnses this past week.  Well, one name will be selected because I like the name they've suggested for the non-fresh ginger. First, though, coffee!

Bottle Buy for the members of the Natural Perfumers Guild - and a giveaway

Image
The Natural Perfumers Guild has added a new benefit to membership: group bottle buys.  What this does is bring affordable, beautiful bottles into the micro-businesses that make up the Guild.  No matter what category membership a Guild member holds, they can take part in this.  Elise Pearlstine generously offered to help organize the buy and administer it.  She made the initial contact with suppliers to identify what was available in case lots, then she received samples from them, and she and I evaluated them. We looked at the bottles and caps available, and determined that yes, even though five or six Guild members might be sharing the same buy, with different caps and labels, there would be enough of an aesthetic difference so that the perfume bottle would be "their own" as it were. After presenting about nine different bottles/sizes to the Guild members via a photo gallery in our private Yahoo group, bottles G and J were selected by those participating in the buy.  I

Contest: Fresh ginger, fresh ginger, wherefort art thou fresh ginger?

Image
Can you help me?  I need two things from my readers. There will be a freebie gift for two helpful souls who reply, one for each subject. First:  Back in late 2006, I stumbled across *fresh* ginger root essential oil at liberty natural.  There were two - one from Madagascar, one from Indonesia.  I immediately told my perfumery friends about it, and I used the fresh version in the kits for my students.  Why the excitement? Fresh grated ginger - zest, fresh, hot, spicy fragrance Previously, the only ginger root oil available was from the peeled, sun-dried roots, and it was a middle note for perfumery.  It had a mellow, soft fragrance, much like the dried ginger powder you get for baking purposes.  This fresh ginger, on the other hand, smelled just like the fresh cut or grated root!  Hot, spicy, wet, luscious, and a top note! I've used the aged, dried ginger EO, because it is valuable in perfumery and for food and drink purposes, but its soft character was just that, soft, c

I Don't Supply Formulas for Students of the Anya's Garden Natural Perfumery Institute

Image
Nowhere in the 350 page textbook, nor in the online study area of the website (access via password to the private area) will at student of the Natural Perfumery Institu te find a formula.  Not a formula for an accord.  Not a formula for a basic perfume.  I don't instruct students to study existing perfumes, either mainstream or niche, synthetic types, or natural. Students are given the skill set to properly evaluate, analyze and categorize the array of natural aromatics that they obtain, either by purchasing the course kits, or have purchased on their own.  They are instructed how to create accords and evaluate how the aromatics interact.  They then are given instructions on how make a perfume. This system works beautifully, in my opinion, and allows the students intellect and creativity to combine, allowing them to set their own aesthetic.  They still adhere to the fragrance family paradigm, and select a cohesive theme for their perfume, say, a gourmand floral, but they arri

Ask the Perfumer - Sunday, March 27, 2011 - until 10 PM EST

Ask the Perfumer is open for questions from hot and humid Miami - summer is giving us a sneak peek with 90F-degree weather today.  I'm just in from watering my plants, which, since we're on water restrictions, is only on Wednesday and Sunday, and I'm wilting.  Perk me up with your questions. And today is a very special day for Mandy Aftel, master natural perfumer - she's nominated for three FiFi Awards from the Fragrance Foundation.  I believe it's the first ever Indie Awards by them, so it's quite a coup. 

Ask the Perfumer - Sunday, March 20, 2011 - until 10 PM EST

In the Spring, do your thoughts turn to lighter perfumes? Ask the Perfumer is open for questions today, and with a gentle reminder: please do not post follow-up questions to me privately during the week.  This is the forum for all questions.