Anya's Garden Perfumes + The Natural Perfumery Institute

Hi Everyone: I want to be able to email winners of my giveaways, so I switched to Wordpress and installed it on my website.  That way, I can directly email winners to let them know of their wins .   http://AnyasGarden.com/blog See y'all over on my own blog site!

It's hot and steamy in Miami today!  This is our dry season, so it's odd to have to go out into the garden and water plants while the humidity makes sweat form on your skin, even if you're not moving or working.  Whew!  I share this hot moment with you in the frozen north, hoping you can vicariously warm up a bit, dreaming of next summer in your region.  Not too much blooming here, just the reliable jasmine grandi, aglaia odorata and various veggies, like tomatoes, peppers and peas. The question I want to ask you this week is do you grow fragrant plants inside when it's cold outside?  I'm thinking of jasmines, aglaia, herbs like basil, rosemary and thyme.  Some lucky folks with green thumbs grow citrus indoors, even in Jersey, like my cousin.  Now, if you have any questions, I'm here to answer your queries until 10 tonight ET.

A student wrote me privately last week, and I told her I was going to post her question and my answer in the student forum since it's good information for all . Question: I loved the red mandarin (citrus nobilis) in our kit so much that I decided to order some to add to my collection of essential oils. I got a small bottle from Eden Botanicals but it smelled different from the one in our kit - then I checked the label and realized it was Citrus reticulata not Citrus nobilis. I had not noticed this when I placed my order. I checked on the White Lotus Aromatics website and they also had Red mandarin with botanical name Citrus reticulata. However the white lotus description of the aroma was more in line which what I experienced when I did the OE for red mandarin. The red mandarin in the kit had this gorgeous smell like it was already a complete perfume and I could also sme

As we move into the month of December, often the most rushed, hectic month of the year, filled with holiday preparations and everything associated with that, sometimes something presents itself as a chance to slow down, think of earlier times, and rare, fragrant things.  I have had such a slow down, due in part to my own chosing to relax, but also caused by a new item I'll soon have in my Vintage Vault: the rare, legendary Abishag perfume from Israel.  I'll perhaps relate the Old Testament story of Abishag at a later date, but the most succinct description of her is that she was a beautiful girl chosen to lay in bed next to the elderly King David because he was always cold.  Here is one depiction of the story: by Pedro Amerigo Well, if you're lying around this cold December day, and want some perfumery questions answered, I'll be the virtual Abishag to warm your brain with shared experience and help. One photo of the vintage Abishag perfume that is on its way

  Anya's Garden Perfumes - Free Christmas Tree Scent Room Candy Wax Melt  It's my way of thanking my customers and giving back with a unique, limited-edition fragrance product. The scent of a fir balsam holiday tree is so beautiful! I miss the scent in my home because I have cats and well, you know what a cat-astrophe that can be with a tree in the house. As I blended and hand-poured the Room Candy limited edition Fir Tree wax melts I was happy with the thought that these would be my giveaway to 25 lucky customers. Leave a note with any order that you would like a Room Candy Fir Tree wax melt and it will be included in your order, for free! (a $12 value) Each melt can be relit again and again and will provide many hours of holiday delight. You must have a tea-light burner for these, and observe typical precautions with any flame product. A safe holiday is a happy holiday! (So is a fir balsam-scented holiday!) 25% Holiday Discount

In my first semester in college I wrote a paper on organic gardening.  I was studying horticulture and living in Berkeley, so it was a perfect topic.  At 21, I was managing the apartment complex where I lived (don't ask me how I snagged that job, just a bit assertive with the management, I guess) and wanted to research the basics of organic gardening to supplement what I had practiced since childhood. Years later, (again assertive!) I wrote to the editors of Organic Gardening magazine asking why they didn't have any Zone 10 (South Florida) seed testers.  Growing herbs, veggies and flowers in this climate was very different from the other zones I had lived and gardened in, inlcuding California, Oregon, Pennsylvania and New York.  Editor Mike McGrath asked me to be the first Zone 10 tester and I was happily overwhelmed with lots of seeds sent every Spring (wrong time of year!) to test. So, when they interviewed me I was able to explain the switch in seasons we have here so

I'll be here all day, on and off, as it's a great day for planting veggies and flowers according to the moon sign and phase, and a Libra can't help but want to plant under a Libra moon!  The calendulas I planted last week are already up! Now to the subject of perfumery, which is as close to my heart as gardening, I'm happy to answer your questions up until 10 PM tonight. Oh, I almost forgot!  Great news - Due to popular demand, the apprenticeship program of the Guild will begin in early 2013. Join the Guild in Nov and enjoy a 10% discount on the membership fee, and be in the random drawing for prizes in December. Use the code 92347 at http://naturalperfumers.com/

Until Nov. 10th - take 10% off http://perfumeclasses.com/enroll/signup.php Use coupon code E17502DE9B when enrolling. Anya McCoy's Natural Perfumer Institute students enjoy lifetime enrollment in a student discussion forum, lifetime access to updates to the course, experienced adjunct faculty to assist in answering questions. The course includes a 350-page comprehensive textbook that includes numerous charts, forms, color illustrations, an extensive glossary and links to suppliers of alcohol, supplies and raw materials worldwide.

Perfumers Relief Aid - for those in our community affected by Superstorm Sandy: If you could share this  it would be appreciated.  If you have alternate ideas on how to publicize this effort, I would welcome hearing from you. The information in this email is also at http://naturalperfumers.com/pra.php Hello Everyone in the perfume and aromatherapy community: Do you know a perfumer who lives in the area devastated by Superstorm Sandy?  If you are in contact with them, let them know about this.  We're collecting their names and addresses to try to bring them some joy in the upcoming holiday season. I've been suffering from PTSD since Sandy hit the Northeast.  As a repeat hurricane 'victim' living in Miami, I identified and empathized with those whose lives are disrupted by that monster storm.  I felt helpless, other than donating to the Red Cross.  I had a brainstorm this morning after reading a New York perfumers account of her studio being destroyed by the storm.  The

Added:  Good luck to everyone in the draw! (See below in the comments section) Elena of Perfume Shrine blog reviewed my Room Candy, and she is hosting a draw over there - so leave a comment on her blog and you will double your chances of winning!  http://www.perfumeshrine.blogspot.gr/2012/11/home-for-holidays-home-fragrance-project.html xoxo Anya As the holiday season approaches, and homes and apartments are closed up against the cold weather, thoughts turn to making the indoors fragrant - naturally.  Home for the Holidays is the Natural Perfumers Guild's answer to indoor natural fragrance for this time of year. Call them room fragrance, ambient fragrance, the terms mean one thing - make your place smell nice! Flora, the Guild muse, is bundled up with boots and a sweater to ward off the chilly weather.  When she goes inside, she can enjoy the Home for the Hoilday scents.  Ambient fragrances include scented candles, potpourri, incense, room sprays, reed diffusers and in my

Ask the Perfumer for today is cancelled on account of gardening :-) There's lots to be done to prepare for the lunar-based planting days ahead. In Miami, our crops grow best between October and April, so I have lots and lots of veggies and pretty flowers to plant.  See you next week! Google translated this little Norwegian ditty as:  Tink leaves havens and tomatoes cucumbers and salads are solar comrades.  I have an email into a Norwegian friend to get an alternate.  The image is just so cute!  Yes, I do sing a little to my plants.  I have a riff on Figaro that is to the tuberose ;-) Add caption A little Anya's Garden Perfumes trivia: when I started Anya's Garden Perfumes in 2006, I originally used seed packets for my samples.  Here is the label I made for the sample/seed packets.

Someone asked me a question on one of my Facebook page, and since I often get asked similar questions, I thought I'd post my answer here and refer folks back to this blog post in the future. Question:     Hey you're probably the right person to ask! I ground some coriander by hand last night for a recipe. it went through several scenty stages, beginning with an almost minty/herbal scent and ending up smelling very much like bergamot. Are the two related? Answer: Coriander is in the Umbelliferae family, and bergamot (mint) is in the Labiatae. Unless you mean bergamot citrus, which smells like the bergamot mint - confused? I'm going to make you a little more confused, but I bet you learn something that'll stick with you, even though it doesn't answer your question directly: 1. All aromatics are made up of levels of scents, much like the top/middle/base notes we're familiar with with perfumes. 2. I'll admit I don't know the name of