tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25244759816079446892024-03-14T06:22:29.690+11:00Perfume by Nature"A Blog about my adventures as a Natural Perfumer.
About the process of creating perfumes, the various ingredients used in natural perfumery and everything else that relates to my scented life"Ambrosiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12560196932876503822noreply@blogger.comBlogger65125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524475981607944689.post-29308520712814323762016-03-25T14:45:00.001+11:002016-03-30T08:17:22.117+11:00real perfume for real women<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-w5_rkRMjmkE/VvoBJoV7bCI/AAAAAAAAA8c/OlEy68iZo_U/s640/blogger-image--757085060.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-w5_rkRMjmkE/VvoBJoV7bCI/AAAAAAAAA8c/OlEy68iZo_U/s640/blogger-image--757085060.jpg"></a></div>Just got back from Adelaide where I've been working on a custom design project with three young Australian sportswomen!<div><br></div><div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><b>Elisabetta Del Re</b>, boxer and gridiron football player</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">SA boxing champion, Australian silver medal holder, Adelaide Phoenix captain</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></span></div><div><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>Annette Edmosdson</b> cyclist</span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">two times World Champion , Team Pursuit World Record Holder , Olympic Medallist and a Commonwealth Champion</span></div><div><span style="text-align: center; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; text-align: center; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> <b>Mariafe Artacho del Solar</b>, beach volleyball player</span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="text-align: center;">Australian and world champion and olympic hopeful</span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="text-align: center;"><br></span></span></div><div>its been really exciting, flying over with a photographer, staying in a hotel and doing the perfume consultations in interesting venues like the Botanical gardens!</div><div>Talk about an amazing project! When i was first approached by their manager Shane Jones about<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> doing a custom perfume design project with</span> 3 young Australian sportswomen, I was a bit doubtful.<div>I'm not a sports follower, and it wasnt a big money gig. But the more i got to know them, the more the idea began to fascinate me...</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-11m-VKg4nP0/VvrwhP32PTI/AAAAAAAAA8s/RCbHBrfysr8/s640/blogger-image-1001863168.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-11m-VKg4nP0/VvrwhP32PTI/AAAAAAAAA8s/RCbHBrfysr8/s640/blogger-image-1001863168.jpg"></a></div><br></div><br></div><div>Perfume, luxury and a silver medal in bike track racing dont normally go together.</div><div>we associate perfume with girly girls. Britney Spears, Kim Kardashian, and a whole slew of female actresses have perfumes marketed by big corporations. </div><div><br></div><div>These perfumes are the ones we all know from the shops. Cheap, mass produced things that are designed by focus groups and marketing analysts rather then perfume artisans. And they sell us a really narrow image of femininity that is tied to well, looking pretty, and being famous. </div><div>The women these perfumes are promoted by, are not real people. They are the artificial star images, created and photoshopped by their management and PR teams. And so are their perfumes.</div><div><br></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">These Australian sportswomen by contrast, work their asses off for their passion. And unlike their male counterparts, they don't get huge corporate sponsership deals to support their efforts, in fact they all have real world jobs they work at on top of all day training sessions, weekend competitions, overseas trips....</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">And part of the idea for the project is to showcase them and their achievements as women.</span></div><div><br></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">What also fascinated me about this project, was that they had chosen "me" in particular, because not only am I </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">one of the few existing indie perfumes who actually does custom design, I am also one of the few proffesional perfumers out here who works exclusively with botanical ingredients.</span></div><div>It makes sense when you think about it, as athletes they need to pay attention to what they put on and in their bodies. Fresh, organic, no junk....their bodies are their business, so they need to be treated as temples and kept at their utmost best...</div><div>So they want perfumes made from natural, eco friendly, healthy ingredients too!</div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Its a such a great perfume project, because there is no commercial focus dictating what i have to create.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Yes, the perfumes will be available to buy, but we're talking small batches here from a small indie perfume house. Not David Jones, we gotta please our investors style mass production.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Real personal hand made luxury.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The concept is to simply sit down with the 3 women, and design their own perfect fragrance. No constraints on making it a commercially viable product, no target market consultations, no pricepoint restrictions on the ingredients we choose.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Just what each of these women dreams of as her own special personal bespoke perfume. </span></div></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>Real, amazing women</b> who are the kind of roll models I'd want my daughters to look up to</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>And Real perfume.</b> Natural oils, plant extracts, tree resins, the best of the best.</span></div><div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">And I get to give them one of the most feminine of luxuries: A perfume designed to fit who they are...with all their strengths, beauty and longings!</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">What makes the project even more exciting is that I get to tell their stories in the process!</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Designing their perfumes means I have to get to know them, what they dream about, what makes them tick....a custom perfume is like a hand sewn dress, cut to fit perfectly...</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">So we're </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">making a scent doco of these womens journeys as we go along.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">stay tuned for more blogs about each of the individual perfumes!</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">#realperfumeforrealwomen</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><br></div></div></div></div>Ambrosiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12560196932876503822noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524475981607944689.post-32504016490979941552015-08-03T14:59:00.002+10:002015-08-03T15:00:49.884+10:00Perfumery Workshop in September<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Since a number of people couldn't make it to the June workshop, I'm running the same format on<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>September 5th</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">here in my Byron Bay studio! </span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yDGDjmRgU7Q/VX-xSQTTjtI/AAAAAAAAA7E/9SceLca_ff0/s1600/IMG_2884.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yDGDjmRgU7Q/VX-xSQTTjtI/AAAAAAAAA7E/9SceLca_ff0/s320/IMG_2884.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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We're going to look at the basic way a botanical perfume is created:<br />
<br />
<b> -the difference between aromatherapy and botanical perfumery</b><br />
<b> - the different types of scented ingredients (essential oils, absolutes, CO2 extracts, alcoholic tinctures)</b><br />
<b> -the different bases used and how to choose whether to work in oil or alcohol</b><br />
<b> -how a perfume is actually made</b><br />
<b> -the basics of scent design</b><br />
<b> -what top middle and base notes are</b><br />
<b> -how to classify different oils</b><br />
<br />
and most importantly: <br />
<b> -how to evaluate individual oils to see how they will work in a perfume </b><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YEFtIDkW68I/VX-xIqT6nAI/AAAAAAAAA7A/LmWQmOSOLoQ/s1600/IMG_2037.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YEFtIDkW68I/VX-xIqT6nAI/AAAAAAAAA7A/LmWQmOSOLoQ/s320/IMG_2037.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
As part of this,we'll be looking at a number of commonly used ingredients and I'll be talking about the botanical and aromatherapy effects of each oil, their historical and spiritual uses, as well as their qualities from a perfumers point of view.<br />
And we will then experiment with combining them in different ways to achieve different effects.<br />
The idea is to give you a real understanding of how to approach the process of creating a perfume useing botanical ingredients.<br />
<br />
Each participant will go home with a hopefully much better understanding of the process of perfumery, notes and hints on the ingredients we've used and some little bottles of the perfume blends we've worked with to further work with at home.<br />
<br />
<b>The cost for the workshop is $490 which includes all of the materials used in the class and the finished blends to take home. </b><br />
<br />
If this sounds like something you'd be interested in, send me an email at<br />
<br />
<a href="mailto:ambrosia@perfumebynature.com.au">ambrosia@perfumebynature.com.au</a><br />
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Or you can book your space now:<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_TK1hp8koLKk/THN65PdjPSI/AAAAAAAAAKc/xc_VdWJktVE/s640/custom%20design%203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_TK1hp8koLKk/THN65PdjPSI/AAAAAAAAAKc/xc_VdWJktVE/s200/custom%20design%203.jpg" width="200" /></a><b><span style="font-size: large;">Perfumery Workshop</span></b> <b><span style="font-size: large;">ticket</span></b> <b><span style="font-size: large;">$490</span></b><br />
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Ambrosiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12560196932876503822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524475981607944689.post-11099060725689901382015-06-16T15:18:00.000+10:002015-06-16T15:18:45.243+10:00Workshop: The Mystery and Magic of Perfumery<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aGzbb0gwFvo/VX-rzY2y4VI/AAAAAAAAA6s/iIbKe2_mr94/s1600/IMG_2033.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aGzbb0gwFvo/VX-rzY2y4VI/AAAAAAAAA6s/iIbKe2_mr94/s320/IMG_2033.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
After an inspiring phone call the other morning, I'm finally going to be running the first of the promised workshops on perfumery on the <b>4th of July</b> here in my Byron Bay studio!<br />
<br />
People have been asking me for ages when I'm going to be running classes...but it's taken me a while to work out what I can actually offer.<br />
Teaching perfumery is a BIG project. Realistically, trying to condense my 30 years of experience into a few one day workshops just isnt possible.<br />
But what I can do is offer lessons in where to start, and give people the opportunity to talk, ask questions, and above all to play with some of the essential ingredients and bases used in perfumery in a real perfume studio.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yDGDjmRgU7Q/VX-xSQTTjtI/AAAAAAAAA7E/9SceLca_ff0/s1600/IMG_2884.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yDGDjmRgU7Q/VX-xSQTTjtI/AAAAAAAAA7E/9SceLca_ff0/s320/IMG_2884.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
So that's what I'm going to do.<br />
<br />
We're going to look at the basic way a botanical perfume is created:<br />
<br />
<b> -the difference between aromatherapy and botanical perfumery</b><br />
<b> - the different types of scented ingredients (essential oils, absolutes, CO2 extracts, alcoholic tinctures)</b><br />
<b> -the different bases used and how to choose whether to work in oil or alcohol</b><br />
<b> -how a perfume is actually made</b><br />
<b> -the basics of scent design</b><br />
<b> -what top middle and base notes are</b><br />
<b> -how to classify different oils</b><br />
<br />
and most importantly: <br />
<b> -how to evaluate individual oils to see how they will work in a perfume </b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YEFtIDkW68I/VX-xIqT6nAI/AAAAAAAAA7A/LmWQmOSOLoQ/s1600/IMG_2037.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YEFtIDkW68I/VX-xIqT6nAI/AAAAAAAAA7A/LmWQmOSOLoQ/s320/IMG_2037.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
As part of this,we'll be looking at a number of commonly used ingredients and I'll be talking about the botanical and aromatherapy
effects of each oil, their historical and spiritual uses, as well as their qualities
from a perfumers point of view.<br />
And we will then experiment with combining them in different ways to achieve different effects.<br />
The idea is to give you a real understanding of how to approach the process of creating a perfume useing botanical ingredients.<br />
<br />Each participant will go home with a hopefully much better understanding of the process of perfumery, notes and hints on the ingredients we've used and some little bottles of the perfume blends we've worked with to further work with at home.<br />
<br />
<b>The cost for the workshop is $500 which includes all of the materials used in the class and the finished blends to take home. </b><br />
<br />
If this sounds like something you'd be interested in, send me an email at<br />
<a href="mailto:ambrosia@perfumebynature.com.au">ambrosia@perfumebynature.com.au</a><br />
<br /></div>
Ambrosiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12560196932876503822noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524475981607944689.post-11366911577121139122015-05-27T12:04:00.000+10:002015-05-27T12:04:36.432+10:00A perfume for Chikii<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_YaYvBBYkF4/VWUiCzJevzI/AAAAAAAAA5s/5CvuNfz6XMQ/s1600/kwan%2Byin3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_YaYvBBYkF4/VWUiCzJevzI/AAAAAAAAA5s/5CvuNfz6XMQ/s320/kwan%2Byin3.jpg" width="296" /></a></div>
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Annette, the lovely owner of the Australian online eco cosmetic store <a href="http://chikii.com.au/" target="_blank">"Chikii" </a>popped into my studio the other day for another "custom fitting" session for her new perfume!<br />
We've been working on a signature scent for her business for a while now...and it looks as though we may finally have it!<br />
It's such a beautiful scent...and concept...<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fMj4vSSPgkk/VWUk6SejI7I/AAAAAAAAA6I/4QJyvot0lMA/s1600/Annette%2BChikkii.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fMj4vSSPgkk/VWUk6SejI7I/AAAAAAAAA6I/4QJyvot0lMA/s320/Annette%2BChikkii.jpg" width="234" /></a>What Annette wanted was something elegant and calming, a beautiful womanly scent that would give the wearer a sense of peace....a feeling of space, which women so desperately need in their daily busy loves in our culture!<br />
It's based around the energy of the eastern Goddess Kwan Yin, deity of compassion and mercy. <br />
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We've chosen some beautiful ingredients to build it with:<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TcnXx_gY3lg/VWUio0EvA-I/AAAAAAAAA50/NhetElMLcxA/s1600/Neroli.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TcnXx_gY3lg/VWUio0EvA-I/AAAAAAAAA50/NhetElMLcxA/s200/Neroli.jpg" width="200" /></a><b><i>Neroli,</i></b> the delicate queen of bitter orange flower, fresh and elegant and calming<br />
<i><b>Orange Flower</b></i>itself, giving the scent a warm honey floral depth<br />
<i><b>Labdanum: </b></i>a soft woody vanilla like basenote made from the Rockrose that grows in Crete. One of my favourite ingredients as it has a sweet woody gentleness to it that is understadely supportive in a perfume....a true skin scent<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RD0FEPxsm0Q/VWUjCV7Y7-I/AAAAAAAAA58/hZcbz6oDZoc/s1600/genda.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RD0FEPxsm0Q/VWUjCV7Y7-I/AAAAAAAAA58/hZcbz6oDZoc/s200/genda.jpg" width="200" /></a>And <i><b>Indian Genda attar,</b></i> a traditional indian oil distilled from marigold flowers. This is the rarest ingredient in the perfume, as it is incredibly difficult to come by real traditionaly made natural indian attars nowadays. You can buy cheap fake copies in any indian knick knack shop, but the real thing is rare and costly...and I've been lucky enough to be able to source some of the real thing. It adds a lovely green, <br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TY3IWUwDAkk/VWUk9ssPICI/AAAAAAAAA6U/VEtpQEXWdUo/s1600/Chikkii.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TY3IWUwDAkk/VWUk9ssPICI/AAAAAAAAA6U/VEtpQEXWdUo/s200/Chikkii.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wa_kVHwxODI/VWUk9uctfvI/AAAAAAAAA6Q/j_Lc4Otz3VA/s1600/Chikkii2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wa_kVHwxODI/VWUk9uctfvI/AAAAAAAAA6Q/j_Lc4Otz3VA/s200/Chikkii2.jpg" width="200" /></a>exotic and magical element to the scent...... It's going to be one of the most elegant perfumes I've ever created. Such a beautiful soft, understated floral....I'm totally in love with it! It reminds me of jade...cool, soothing, strong and yet gentle at the same time....<br />
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Ambrosiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12560196932876503822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524475981607944689.post-36956635069378133992015-04-28T12:18:00.000+10:002015-04-28T12:18:53.162+10:00Boxes boxes and more boxes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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My studio has been covered in cardboard boxes this week.<br />
Ive been trying to find better packing solutions for the perfumes for a while...and getting more and more frustrated. The old velvet bags Ive been useing are nice...but a) they are made from synthetic material which i wasn't happy about and b) they simply don't look that profesional when they are sitting on a shelf. And since we are doing more and more wholesaleing, it was time for an upgrade.<br />
The problem, as usual, was that I could have anything I wanted, as long as I was willing to buy thousands and thousands at a time. Which being a small indie perfume house, simply isn't in the realm of feasible or sensible.<br />
Ive spent the last year or so writing back and forth to manufacturers, getting ripped off after paying out money for samples that never arrived, being quoted insane manufacturing and shipping costs and generally getting totally fed up with the whole thing.<br />
And then I finally had a brain wave.<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BvHWUrKCa2k/VT7pZu0ec1I/AAAAAAAAA48/D8HNsqG1q7s/s1600/boxes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BvHWUrKCa2k/VT7pZu0ec1I/AAAAAAAAA48/D8HNsqG1q7s/s1600/boxes.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a>Simple. Clean, Kraft paper boxes and beautiful colorful pictures as stickers instead of printed on the boxes themselves!<br />
And simple square shapes instead of cool round cylinders (which is what I really wanted....this is part of the ripped off for non existent samples saga).<br />
I found a supplier willing to sell me small quantities to play with, and two weeks ago a large box full of tiny boxes of different sizes arrived in my studio, and I've been in creative heaven ever since!<br />
The next difficulty of course has been working out what kind of labels to put on them....How to keep them simple and beautiful while still providing enough information?<br />
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I've compromised by using the color grahics signature photo for each perfume on the front...and putting the logo and a bit of actual information on the back of the box.<br />
I probably need to include more information. As people really don't know what the difference is between my perfumes, botanical perfumes....and all the other perfumes available in the stores...<br />
So I need to spell it out clearly. But how do i do that?<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wFEGRn8IIRA/VT7tlKnFeWI/AAAAAAAAA5Y/QsoTomGZeSw/s1600/boxesback.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wFEGRn8IIRA/VT7tlKnFeWI/AAAAAAAAA5Y/QsoTomGZeSw/s1600/boxesback.jpg" height="320" width="234" /></a><b>Tell me, what information would you want to find on the boxes?</b><br />
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Ambrosiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12560196932876503822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524475981607944689.post-8617600010152535982015-03-26T14:07:00.000+11:002015-03-26T14:07:16.729+11:00Perfume for "Chikii"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-baOv9UJwYxU/VRN1_hxy83I/AAAAAAAAA3s/SccaSMIPHvQ/s1600/Chikii3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-baOv9UJwYxU/VRN1_hxy83I/AAAAAAAAA3s/SccaSMIPHvQ/s1600/Chikii3.jpg" height="320" width="234" /></a>The lovely Annete, owner of <a href="http://chikii.com.au/" target="_blank">"Chikii"</a>, an awesome Australian webshop that <br />
specializes in natural cosmetics has asked me to create a perfume for her business!<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VTO-jc_Imc0/VRN3HHHVn7I/AAAAAAAAA4I/wjYqbw7wnGQ/s1600/chikii-logo-store1-150x150.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VTO-jc_Imc0/VRN3HHHVn7I/AAAAAAAAA4I/wjYqbw7wnGQ/s1600/chikii-logo-store1-150x150.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.chikii.com.au</td></tr>
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When I asked her what she wanted the perfume to smell like, she said "I want something beautiful, calm....that gives you the feeling of space and makes you feel safe. Women work so hard and are under so much pressure, I want to give them something to heal them and make them feel that kind of lovely meditative space they need in their lives. Something protective...."<br />
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We sat down with a whole bunch of ingredient bottles in my workshop...and the ones she picked to base it around were:<br />
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Neroli, Red Raspberry and Labdanum<br />
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Perfect for a calm zen and very sophisticated perfume!<br />
Floral in a very cool calm way, with a nice herby earthy touch from the Red Raspberry plant...and Labdanum adds a smooth vanilla sophistication to the base...yummy indeed! <br />
Such an exciting project, I'm really enjoying this! Ive made <br />
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up a few different version which can either take it in a more floral or more chypre direction...and the little bottles are now waiting for the next round of test sniffing!<br />
Custom designed perfume for todays woman....what an awesome thing to work on! </div>
Ambrosiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12560196932876503822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524475981607944689.post-62902225910274635142015-01-14T12:13:00.001+11:002015-01-14T12:20:07.000+11:00The My Gardenia project<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Well, it's finally finished. And it worked!!! Yay yay yay!!!!!!<br />
It's been a 2 year project of experimentation and fails....it all started a few years ago after my one and only supplier for natural Gardenia absolute stopped making the stuff...which meant that one of my best selling perfumes was suddenly missing it's main ingredient!<br />
After searching for some time, and being told time after time that no one out there was making it any more because all of the big perfume companies were now using artificial gardenia fragrance notes as they were easier to use and cheaper, I realized the only way I was going to get any natural Gardenia was to make it myself!<br />
So I dug out some of my antique perfumery books and started to experiment with the traditional technique of "enfleurage". My boyfriend at the time lives out in the hills inland from Byron Bay, and had a number of large gardenia bushes on his property, so I had lots of blossoms to experiment with. <br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uSxe9lFwKes/S-PHZrSJMSI/AAAAAAAAACg/s0CBlkLBewk/s1600/gardenia0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uSxe9lFwKes/S-PHZrSJMSI/AAAAAAAAACg/s0CBlkLBewk/s1600/gardenia0.jpg" height="320" width="252" /></a>Enfleurage is a technique that used to be used to extract delicate floral fragrances from delicate flowers that could not be distilled. Such as rose and jasmine, and also gardenia. You are basically soaking the flowers in or on a base oil or fat to let the scent soak into it, and changing the spent flowers for new ones over and over again until the base you are using is saturated with the scent. Sounds simple huh? The first technique I tried was useing fluid oil. This was incredibly tricky as it turned out. You have to soak the fresh flowers in oil for a certain amount of time, and keep swapping them for new flowers when the old ones start to wilt. The first problem I ran into is that the perfume manuals I had were from France. And Australia is a LOT hotter. So the first batches I made, leaving the flowers in for the recommended time, let to a brown cloudy fermented MESS instead of the silky soft perfumed oil I was hoping for! We threw that lot out, and started again, keeping the bottles in a cool shady spot inside the house and changing the flowers more and more frequently....Now the Gardenia plants only flower for a short time, so it was a real run against time, with batch after batch fermenting just when it had been recharged for the 10th or so time! And it looked as if the project was going to fail...But we finally managed to work out the timing and we ended up with a small amount of softly sweet floral Gardenia scented oil just as the last flowers blossomed... it is lovely stuff, but not really strong enough to be a perfume in it's own right...but it makes a beautiful body oil! <br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-979IuAXsg0Q/VK8yHhGgE0I/AAAAAAAAA10/mS6lp8maFAs/s1600/097.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-979IuAXsg0Q/VK8yHhGgE0I/AAAAAAAAA10/mS6lp8maFAs/s1600/097.JPG" height="320" width="239" /></a>This year I was determined to try again, this time using a different technique. This time I decided to use a more traditional approach using a solid oil so the flowers would have less chance of turning into a fermented mess. Traditionally, they used to use lard and other animal fats, but I thought I could improve on this and find a nice botanical alternative, so I made up batches of macadamia oil, mango butter and various botanical waxes to what I thought would be a good consistency. I started right at the beginning of the gardenia flowering season this time, and soon had every surface covered with containers coated with solid oil and wax blends, full of white fragrant gardenia flowers. And for the next weeks it was a constant job of collecting the flowers in the morning and evening (trying to avoid the jumping ants <br />
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that seem to love to live at the base of the plants and which seem to rejoice in finding interesting places to bite you while you are reaching for those last high up blossoms at the top of the bush!), changing the wilted flowers for fresh ones and keeping an eye on the process. The trouble with fresh flowers is that they contain lots of water. And water provides a wonderful environment for mold. So we realized pretty quickly (and after tossing out a number of batches) that we needed to provide enough air circulation around the containers to stop this from happening, but not so much that the scent from the gardenias would evaporate instead of soaking into the oil and wax layers... I changed layer after layer of old flowers for new, worrying that the scent wouldn't be strong enough before I ran out of flowers as the season came to an end. I can remember sitting in the workshop and holding up a container to a friend who'd wandered in and asking "Does this smell strong enough?". He answered "honey, you can smell it from out on the street! The whole workshop smells of Gardenia!"<br />
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In the end, all the hard work paid off. It really and truly actually worked! Deep heady sultry honest to goodness Gardenia in a solid base! So the next step was melting all the individual batches down together, adding more wax to make it solid enough to package and use, and adding the other essential oils from my original "My Gardenia" recipe to turn it into an actual perfume!<br />
The Gardenia enfleurage makes a wonderful base...but I added some green light topnotes and a musky wood base to re-create the feeling of the fresh flowers on the plant... while keeping the Gardenia as dominant as possible to basically recreate the feeling of sitting amongst the Gardenia bushes at dusk when the scent it strongest..... <br />
And now on my shelf there is a pile of beautiful tiny little jars of exquisite one of a kind truly authentic "My Gardenia" perfume pots!<br />
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Want to know what it smells like?<br />
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<a href="http://www.perfumebynature.com.au/store/p35/%22My_Gardenia%22_solid_perfume.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Go to my store</span></a><br />
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Ambrosiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12560196932876503822noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524475981607944689.post-23814803388981424642014-11-26T13:45:00.001+11:002014-11-26T13:45:21.454+11:00Namaste Byron Bay<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The Vanilla perfume has a name.<b><i> </i></b><br />
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<a href="http://www.perfumebynature.com.au/store/p29/Namaste%2C_an_ode_to_Vanilla.html" target="_blank"><b><i>"Namaste"</i></b></a>....I greet the God/dess within you.<br />
It's my personal gift to Byron Bay....a new perfume for my new home town. Embodying the spirit and the vibe of the place...<br />
There's a wooden sign on the road leading into town painted with peace symbols and flowers that says :"Slow down, chill out and relax!" and it really sums up the place.<br />
It's the New Age Hippie Mecca of Australia, a bit like San Fransico in the States in the 60's used to be. <br />
It's full of colourful people, amazing beaches with clean sand and blue water, shops selling tie dyed clothes and really expensive designer hippie gear. (Because all of the hippies from the 60's are now grey haired and some of them very well to do.)<br />
Anyway, it's also home to a plethora of workshops, meditation and yoga classes. And chanting OM and useing <b><i>"Namaste"</i></b> at the end of <br />
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each class is so normal that it's part of the local language.<br />
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My perfume <b><i>Namaste</i></b> is a scentual impression of Byron in all of it's neo hippie spiritual laid back glory. Vanilla and Sandalwood are the main notes, and here is why I chose them:<br />
Vanilla is sweet and soothing and comforting and relaxing and sexy and well, just downright NICE! on every level you can think of. Everyone loves Vanilla. It's one of those true feel good, happy scents that envokes good childhood memories, innocence, playfulness and just makes you feel like the world is a better place.<br />
The Vanilla in <a href="http://www.perfumebynature.com.au/store/p29/Namaste%2C_an_ode_to_Vanilla.html" target="_blank"><b><i>Namaste</i></b></a> comes in the form of organically grown gourmand Vanilla beans in the actual <br />
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bottle. Amplified by a Vanilla accord made from a combination of incense resins, from tolu balsam over tonka, labdanum and a variety of vanilla absolutes and CO2 extracts to give a real sophistication and a sexier, elegant take on the innocence of Vanilla itself.<br />
And it's held by a beautiful classic Sandalwood base. Sandalwood is one of the most spiritual scents in existance. Used for
thousands of years in spiritual ceremonies for healing and blessing. <br />
It
is also used in Aruveda to treat depression and anxiety, and has similar applications in modern Aromatherapy. The twist is that it's an Australian <br />
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Sandalwood, not Indian. Indian Sandalwood has been harvested almost into extinction, which makes it a really bad environmental choice. And I also wanted to make sure that <i><b><a href="http://www.perfumebynature.com.au/store/p29/Namaste%2C_an_ode_to_Vanilla.html" target="_blank">Namaste</a></b></i> had a real Australian grounding to it, since, after all, it's from Byron, and Oz and all. Australia is a very down to earth place. And Byron Bay, for all of it's spiritual side, is still an Australian version. So I've used a really wonderful Australian Sandalwood that actually reflects this perfectly. It's an amazing deep, musky, dry and elegant smelling Sandalwood grown in Western Australia on an eco-conscious environmentally sustainable plantation. <br />
And it's musky deep woody character enhances the elegant notes of the Vanilla and resin accord in the top and mid layers of the perfume.<br />
I made up the first batch a few weeks ago. And sold the whole lot within 5 days. So I guess there must be something right there :) So I've made up a bath and body oil to go with it too....just for Xmas! If you'd like to try some for yourself, <span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.perfumebynature.com.au/store/p29/Namaste%2C_an_ode_to_Vanilla.html" target="_blank">click here</a></span> to go to the <a href="http://www.perfumebynature.com.au/store/p29/Namaste%2C_an_ode_to_Vanilla.html" target="_blank">webshop</a>!</div>
Ambrosiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12560196932876503822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524475981607944689.post-78395003022848689132014-10-08T14:28:00.002+11:002014-10-08T14:29:28.932+11:00Vanilla, Vanilla and more Vanilla<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>One of the first questions people seem to ask is "Do you have anything with Vanilla?"</b><br />
And while some of my perfumes have Vanilla notes, ("Goddess" and "Craving" in particular)<br />
I've never made a straight Vanilla perfume.<br />
There's a number of reasons for this. <br />
For starters it's not one of my favourite notes. Vanilla in itself is a tad too sweet for my taste. And the commercial artificial Vanilla perfumes out there actually make me a tad nauseous. They tend to be so overwhelmingly sickly sweet and cloying that it made me a bit of a Vanilla Nazi.<br />
But after moving into my new bricks and mortar studio, and being asked, again and again whether I had a Vanilla Scent, I figured I should listen to my public and take another look at that ingredient.<br />
This brought me to the second reason Ive never brought out a Vanilla perfume before: Natural Vanilla is a pain in the a*** to work with.<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yiqe8XECp9A/VDStx34weOI/AAAAAAAAAzY/X1dAw7I-bKg/s1600/Vanilla%2Bingredients.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yiqe8XECp9A/VDStx34weOI/AAAAAAAAAzY/X1dAw7I-bKg/s1600/Vanilla%2Bingredients.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a>I have quite a collection of Vanilla extracts in my collection. Vanilla absolute from 4 different countries, CO2 extract forms, even food grade Vanilla essence!<br />
What they all have in common is that they don't willingly dissolve in either alcohol or oil bases.<br />
So I went back to the drawing board and ordered a large quantity of high quality natural Vanilla beans to experiment with too. <br />
I began the Vanilla project in June this year, and one of my shelves is literally stacked with with tinctures in a variety of bases, powdered Vanilla beans, bags of Madagascar Special pods, absolutes in alcohol and CO2 extracts in oil....all sitting there flatly refusing to bloody well dissolve! <br />
But in the end I remembered an old trick I had learned from an ancient apothecary text book many years ago and lo and behold, I got my Vanilla scent into an oil base! (And yes, I could tell you how I did it, but I think I might save that to include in the book I'm writing at the moment!)<br />
This does mean that for the moment, it will only available as a perfume oil, as the process simply doesn't work properly in alcohol....but the oil base seems to lend itself to the softness of the Vanilla scent anyway....<br />
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<b>So from there I sat down to come up with a Vanilla perfume that actually appealed to ME!</b><br />
As I said in the beginning, my biggest beef with Vanilla has always been it's sweetness.<br />
So I built my Vanilla perfume on a deep dry woody base with a lot of Australian Sandalwood in it. The Sandalwood I use has a particularly high Santalol content, similar to the Indian Mysore Sandalwood, but it is a lot drier and sharper than the Indian one, which in this perfume works perfectly.<br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_27VmvxBflQ/VDSuANSeYsI/AAAAAAAAAzg/yaxWzjVZiVA/s1600/Vanilla%2Bnotes.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_27VmvxBflQ/VDSuANSeYsI/AAAAAAAAAzg/yaxWzjVZiVA/s1600/Vanilla%2Bnotes.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a>I then experimented with a number of other resin extracts with complimentary notes to them to enhance the shy softness of the Vanilla itself. <br />
There's quite a number of them: Styrax, Benzoin, Labdanum, Tonka bean, Tolu and Peru Balsam being just a few I tried...<br />
each of them lent a different note to the perfume and it took quite a bit of fiddling to find just the right combination for the effect I was looking for.<br />
<b>But I got it.</b><br />
And made up a test batch.<br />
And sold the first bottle half an hour later, with no label, no name....<br />
And then posted on facebook and sold the rest of the batch in a week.<br />
Still with no name, no label, not even a proper website page.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ipFWwZSV0oA/VDSuRFVm-FI/AAAAAAAAAzo/3-Uin4MLtrU/s1600/004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ipFWwZSV0oA/VDSuRFVm-FI/AAAAAAAAAzo/3-Uin4MLtrU/s1600/004.JPG" height="320" width="277" /></a><br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yiqe8XECp9A/VDStx34weOI/AAAAAAAAAzY/X1dAw7I-bKg/s1600/Vanilla%2Bingredients.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>So I've just made up a second batch, and added a bath and body oil version...(of which Ive already sold the first 2 bottles here in the shop).<br />
And have added it to the new website.<br />
Still without a name, or proper label.<br />
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<a href="http://www.perfumebynature.com.au/store/p29/Vanilla_Wood_perfume.html" target="_blank">Vanilla Wood perfume oil</a><br />
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<a href="http://perfumebynature2.weebly.com/store/p31/Vanilla_Wood_bath_%26_body_oil.html" target="_blank">Vanilla Wood Bath & Body oil</a></div>
Ambrosiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12560196932876503822noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524475981607944689.post-66473984599670101342014-06-30T12:18:00.000+10:002014-06-30T12:18:19.737+10:00Adventures in Gardenia Enfleurage<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gardenia Macadamia oil Enfleurage</td></tr>
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One of my experimental projects this year was in the making of Gardenia Enfluerage. As some of you know, a few years back I managed to track down a small amount of real Gardenia absolute, and made a small batch of a perfume I called "My Gardenia". Which sold out. And to my horror, the supply I had for the absolute dried up and there has been no more to be found ever since!<br />
And I was living out in the bush in Nimbin, norther NSW Australia near a rather large crop of organic gardenias...<br />
So I thought I'd have a go at seeing if I could actually extract the scent myself.<br />
And not wanting to muck around with toxic solvents out in the bush, I decided to try "Enfleurage".<br />
This technique was developed in France a century or so ago, and it involves covering glass plates with a solid oil or fat and laying the petals on them over and over again...each time waiting for up to 24 hours till the scent from the flowers has infused into the fat, and then replacing them with new flowers until the fat has become thoroughly saturated with scent.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">gardenia coconut enfleurage</td></tr>
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Now the problems I faced were many fold. For starters the Gardenia flowers needed to be picked at exactly the right time of day when the scent was strongest. I started off picking them in the morning, but quickly realized the scent was far stronger in the evening. Which meant making sure I was home at the right time to be able to pick them before it got too dark to see both the flowers and any stray snakes that might be slithering around (remember this was right out in the Australian bush). Then it rained and there was no point picking wet flowers as you need them to be as dry as possible while still young and fresh. Then I found out that the bushes were growing right over the nest of a particularly unfriendly form of jumping ant. But eventually, dressed in jeans tucked into sturdy hiking boots and a long sleeved shirt I managed to harvest enough flowers for the first run (with only a small number of ant bites).<br />
Back in the mountain chalet, I hit the next hurdles. Australia is hot in summer. Very hot. And where I was living there was no air conditioning. So any of the fats I tried simply melted off the glass within about 15 minutes.<br />
So I decided to simply immerse the flowers in the melted oil in jars...<br />
Which worked...but I discovered after the first 4 batches failed that I had to immensely careful about timing. If the flowers were left in the oil for too long, first the water content would begin to seep into the oil, and then the whole melange would begin to ferment in the heat. the french instructions of 24 hours were definitely too long!<br />
It was more like a couple of hours with the jars being left in a nice cool spot of the stone floor!<br />
The first batch I did was in coconut. Which worked...but the smell of the coconut was very strong and tended to over power the gentle delicate gardenia, and I was trying to get a strong pure gardenia note all of it's own for my perfume....<br />
So I ended up using a beautiful scentless locally produced macadamia oil which is light and beautiful, plus being environmentally friendly as it's produced in the same hills.<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OMVMD6kP_is/U7DGwhpNBjI/AAAAAAAAAyY/XQ0c-vsiKas/s1600/gardenia+enfleurage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OMVMD6kP_is/U7DGwhpNBjI/AAAAAAAAAyY/XQ0c-vsiKas/s1600/gardenia+enfleurage.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a>I ran into the same scent strength versus fermentation timing problem over and over....the oil would go from a lovely clear jar full of glowing white flowers dancing in suspension...to a cloudy yellow tinged mess with a distinct fruity smell overpowering the delicate floral gardenia. Which was particularly heart breaking if it was the 4th of 5th run of new petals in a jar.<br />
In the end I ended up with a mere half 500mls of perfect clear delicately scented Gardenia oil! About half of which I have decided to share with my perfumer friends...the other half will be further transformed into "My Gardenia" perfume oil.<br />
So if you'd like to have your own share in this olfactory adventure:<br />
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<span style="color: #38761d;"><a href="http://www.perfumebynature.com.au/gardenia-enfleurage-p-1614.html" target="_blank">click to buy some Gardenia Enfleurage</a></span><br />
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Ambrosiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12560196932876503822noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524475981607944689.post-11646271302809072802014-06-20T14:23:00.001+10:002014-06-20T14:28:33.925+10:00perfume questions on ABC radio<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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ABC radio rang me the other day to ask if I'd be willing to answer a few questions about perfumery on their afternoon random questions show...."can you bruise perfume by rubbing your wrists together?", "what are perfume notes", "which are the best places to wear perfume?",<br />
And nerve wracking it was too....there I was pacing up and down the courtyard in front of my shop trying to hold the mobile phone steady in my shaking hands...<br />
Hope you enjoy it!<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/qTAFNQLSPoM" width="480"></iframe></div>
Ambrosiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12560196932876503822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524475981607944689.post-89905764062726144152014-06-11T15:10:00.000+10:002014-06-11T15:10:45.969+10:00Very Vanilla<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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My latest project: A Vanilla perfume.<br />
I've been asked for one so many times over the years...but it's not an easy undertaking.<br />
You see I want it to be a real "pure" vanilla. Maybe with some woody musk ingredients to it, but nothing to mask it or take away from it's basic..well.. "vanilla-ness".<br />
So I'm working with gentle woods, and ambers, and musky smooth bases....<br />
And it's challenging. Vanilla is such a subtle scent...and almost anything seems to overpower it.<br />
Plus the bloody vanilla absolute I like best doesn't seem to dissolve in anything. Argh.<br />
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There's so many forms of Vanilla to play with...starting with the fermented vanilla pods themselves which I have incubating in oil and alcohol in bottles all over my shelves...then there's the aforementioned absolute (grr), CO2 extracts, and wonder of wonders, natural vanillin powder! Lovely and subtle to the EXTREME!!!!<br />
Then there's all the "vanilla-ish" other ingredients...benzoin, styrax, tolu balsam, labdanum, peru balsam...but all of them are strong and sweet with sharp overtones I dont really want in the mix.....<br />
So far I'm happiest with a really gentle wood/ musk base which doesn't take centre stage...but it still outshines the vanilla....<br />
We'll see. <br />
Any testers and bloggers out there who'd like a few of the advanced version to test sniff when I'm happy with them?<br />
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Ambrosiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12560196932876503822noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524475981607944689.post-14975530361539793582014-05-18T15:39:00.000+10:002014-05-18T15:47:44.521+10:00Jewelry<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Q9Mv2L0eRVI/U3hC-fYzJII/AAAAAAAAAww/lbmAn8jUVpY/s1600/IMG_2226.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Q9Mv2L0eRVI/U3hC-fYzJII/AAAAAAAAAww/lbmAn8jUVpY/s1600/IMG_2226.JPG" height="200" width="149" /></a>I've been sidetracked from perfume into making jewelry....beautiful glass and metal pendants with art nouveau paintings and delicate flowers....<br />
beautiful nature photos behind glass... the interplay of colour, metal and glass, plus the textural addition of silk and paper flowers is such fun to work with...<br />
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<span style="color: red;"><a href="http://www.perfumebynature.com.au/index.php" target="_blank">click here: Jewelry on the Website</a></span></h3>
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And a series of Victorian perfume lockets.<br />
These ones have material inside that can be soaked in perfume or essential oils to make them wearable perfume necklaces.<br />
They are based on old Victorian ones I found in a book and are just delightful.<br />
They are all decorated with delicate silk and paper flowers and come in 2 different sizes. <br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qjLSz8hIWnA/U3hDfkX1oxI/AAAAAAAAAxE/WDngHjpFokc/s1600/steampunk+locket+inserts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qjLSz8hIWnA/U3hDfkX1oxI/AAAAAAAAAxE/WDngHjpFokc/s1600/steampunk+locket+inserts.jpg" height="320" width="234" /></a><br />
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These beautiful filigree lockets come with replaceable perfume pads so
you can "wear" different" scents or essential oils that you don't want
to apply directly to your skin.<br />
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Ambrosiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12560196932876503822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524475981607944689.post-11038589946758930552014-03-12T15:51:00.000+11:002014-03-12T16:03:34.217+11:00teaching perfumery...and the natural perfume playset<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Well, the question has reared it's head again....Ive been asked so many times over the years to teach classes on natural perfumery...and I'm still torn.<br />
On one hand, I love teaching....and sharing my 30 years of perfume research and knowledge is a very tempting idea..<br />
On the other hand, I've worked so hard to gain the knowledge I have...and I'm not sure how I feel about sharing my secrets and bredding my own competition so to speak.<br />
Anyway, last week a lovely young woman walked into my shop and asked me to teach her. And I sort of got talked into it...<br />
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Ive been thinking about how I would do this for a long time. My methods and approach are a bit different to most of those I have seen out there. And beyond anything, I think you first of all need to educate your nose and learn how to "smell" really.<br />
Ive had this idea of putting together a sort of "playbox" of premixed scent ingredients, so that would be perfumers can have a go at putting together scents of their own. And providing a booklet with it to guide them through approaching their experiments in a way that will teach them the basics of perfume making as they go along.<br />
And I found these delightful little dropper bottles a while back which are just perfect (I'm such a sucker for pretty bottles!).<br />
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It's not easy deciding which oils to include in the set. I have so many favourites, but I don't want to make it too complex, because<br />
a) it makes it too confusing and<br />
b) too expensive<br />
So I've chosen 9 of the most important oils in perfumery. I've picked a collection of oils that will almost all work together harmoniously, so that you can actually make really lovely scents with them. And I've also added a few that will work with some, and not with others. This is on purpose, to give you an idea of how easily you can go from a lovely blend to a yucky muddy clashing nightmare, and most importantly, to teach you WHY this happens.<br />
It's a pretty versatile collection, allowing you to make everything from sweet musky florals to herbal men's colognes. Daniela will be the first person to receive one of these, so it will be interesting to see how she finds it!</div>
Ambrosiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12560196932876503822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524475981607944689.post-69528151400895529822014-03-07T14:53:00.003+11:002014-03-07T14:53:56.195+11:00Green Mandarin Friday<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Working on new bath and body oil bends...and today it's green mandarin that I'm playing with.<br />
This stuff has been begging me to play ever since I got it...<br />
And now I finally have time and space to do so....<br />
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It's such yummy stuff...the freshness of mandarin, without the fruity bite! It's so soft, and well, green!<br />
What you can see in the bottles are blue corn flowers... the colour backs up the fresh restfulness of the scent, but corn flowers are also some of the few safe flowers to use in infusions for skin too.... <br />
I'm combining it with mint in a few different forms....<br />
just lush and soft and fresh.....Suggestions anyone? <br />
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Ambrosiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12560196932876503822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524475981607944689.post-58781135072043467612014-03-01T15:49:00.000+11:002014-03-01T15:49:01.955+11:00Website Rebuilt<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.perfumebynature.com.au/" target="_blank">My new Webshop</a></td></tr>
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Well, after a few weeks of sleepless nights and tearing my hair out in frustration, my new website is finally up and running!<br />
I loved the look of my old website, but it was handmade by another programmer, and I simply didnt speak enough techie to be able to update it at all....<br />
So this one was built on a shopping platform by a friend of mine, Rowan from www.lifesytes.com and I can actually upload new products onto it myself, edit the shipping etc etc....<br />
There's still some bots which need fiddling with, but at least its working, and my customers can place orders through it!<br />
And best of all, it's finally got all the perfumes on it that weren't available through my old one! Things like "Avalon" and "Craving" and my beloved "Sense of Honour".<br />
I'll also be able to offer short runs of wierd and wonderful things I come up with now that I've got time and space in my new workshop!<br />
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<a href="http://www.perfumebynature.com.au/love-potion-bath-body-p-1601.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fEB4V-Mbh2A/UxFkcQV_mjI/AAAAAAAAAvU/PP5XhNEolN4/s1600/love+oil.jpg" height="200" width="186" /></a></div>
And the very first is a range of "Love Potion" Bath and Body oil!<br />
I used to sell this one years ago, and people have been asking for it...so here it is again! It makes a lovely after shower moisturizer too if you pour a small amount into your hands and rub it over your still damp skin! All over body scent.....</div>
Ambrosiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12560196932876503822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524475981607944689.post-51734997441179796062014-02-11T12:10:00.002+11:002014-02-11T12:14:29.156+11:00Valentine's Day Opening Party<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i><b>Opening Party February 14th</b></i><br />
<i><b>Shop9/ 18 Centennial Circuit</b></i><br />
<i><b>Byron Arts and Industry Estate</b></i><br />
<i><b>(from 2 pm) </b></i><br />
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Well, I'm officially opening the perfumery to the public on <b>Valentine's day</b>...and I'm all a panicking! The Northern Star came by the other day and took a stack of embarrassing photos of me holding perfume bottles...hopefully the bottles will come out ok, grin. Must find out what day the article is coming out!<br />
Theres still boxes all over the place, the beautiful handmade display tables and shelves from Nimbin wont be here for a week or so (when the guy has organized his new ute) ...I need to rewrite and print out backdrops and stories for each perfume and and and...<br />
The credit card machine wont be here till next week of course, so it will all have to be cash only on the day! Arrgghhh!!!!<br />
What do I need for an opening party?<br />
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I mean, my original workshop furniture has finally arrived from down south, so the perfumes are all out on display...I'm frantically bottling in our new snazzy mini sample atomizers and stocking up on "Love Potion" and "Death by Chocolate"...<br />
And I've got music via stereo, will lay on a supply of bubbly..and have friends and old customers coming to help me celebrate...<br />
Now if only I knew some local musos....<br />
I've also got a stack of beautiful new "Love Potion" Bath and Body oils in their gorgeous new bottles...with 3 different labels at this stage as I cant make up my mind which ones work best...maybe I should have a competition and let my customers choose?<br />
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Actually a competition sounds great... A "Which is the most romantic fragrance" competition...with a giveaway of a bottle of their favorite as a prize!<br />
But it is SOOOOO cool to finally have enough space to spread out and focus entirely on making perfume! To have a public space I can invite people in to share what I do, to see and smell what I work with so they can experience how different botanical perfumes are!<br />
Even before the official opening date passers by have been wandering in and they've all been fascinated and delighted! Its such a lovely thing to hear "I don't really like perfumes...but yours are so different! Wow!"<br />
Bringing Mother Nature's real scents back into peoples lives, grin! My new sock of Moroccan Rose Absolute arrived yesterday too....oh how beautiful it is! New stock of "Goddess" in progress...and it came with a few new goodies to try from my favorite distiller too! Amazing Oud CO2...and some awesome Vanilla....after the opening party I will definitely finally get to work on that Vanilla perfume everyone has been asking for for so long.....<br />
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Ambrosiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12560196932876503822noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524475981607944689.post-17955196894661072442014-02-06T13:53:00.000+11:002014-02-06T13:54:54.247+11:00Byron Bay Workshop..the adventure begins!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Well, I finally did it! A real public workshop! Found a beautiful small factory space in the Byron Arts and Industry Estate and am now in the process of fiddling with furniture, unpacking boxes and working out displays and workspaces. Its' so exciting to finally have space to really spread out my things again... dedicated workbenches that don't need to be cleared at the end of the day, lovely solid wooden shelves to put all my bottles and jars where I can see them instead of sorting through endless boxes trying to find what I need! Oh the bliss of coming to work and having a whole studio to play in!<br />
It's a wonderful space, with enough room to have <br />
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a proper public shop display as well as a large workspace for filling and blending. And as an added bonus, a lovely mezzanine that I'm going to set up as a proper consulting room for custom design, where I can sit with clients and show them samples and discuss projects in elegant peace and quiet!<br />
There's already been a few random walk in customers who came in to see what I was up to and sniff through the few perfume bottles I have on display so far in my half set up chaos....<br />
I've printed a whole stack of rack cards to distribute all over the place, and I'm having a <b>Grand Opening Party on Valentines Day afternoon</b> here 9Shop 9/ 18 Centennial Circuit, Byron Bay Arts and Industry Estate NSW 2481 Australia) with belly dancing, music, champagne and of course lot's of specials....including the new and lovely mini perfume sprays I've found to give people <br />
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a cheap way of buying and trying my wares before they invest in a full sized bottle...<br />
All up it's incredibly exciting! I'm so looking forward to being able to make small runs of special perfumes now...indulging in experimental runs of things I can only ever make say 10 bottles of because I can never get that particular ingredient again! Weird and wonderful things I can make and offer to the public without having to be able to keep them in stock as part of the regular range on the website...And now to get back to packaging "Love Potion" for next week!<br />
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Ambrosiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12560196932876503822noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524475981607944689.post-70467834056916025522013-10-28T17:58:00.001+11:002013-10-28T18:01:25.611+11:00Bush Perfuming<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">my workbench with bush views</td></tr>
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Well, I've finally escaped suburbia and moved up to the North Coast of
New South Wales where am currently living out in the bush with a
friend...It's such a relief to be back in the bush where I used to live 20 years ago...It's part of my plan to grow the perfumery to a proper professional public place, where
people can come in and sample perfumes, sit down and have relaxed
custom design consultations and maybe even hold classes! So many of you have asked to come and visit and see the perfumery in person over the years, and while it was always lovely sharing my workplace and home with visitors, I have long dreamt of having a large workshop where I can really play, with space for everything, so that you don't have to pack the tools of one project away just to attend to packaging the orders for the week....</div>
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It's beautiful and relaxing here, and I
have my workshop set up where I can sit and see out over the valley,
soft breezes wafting through the window and light filtering through
the trees to play on my collections of perfume bases and bottled
goodies...But it's small.
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Oh, the idea of finally having enough
space! And Shelves, whole walls full of shelves! And 3 large
workbenches, and a small shop out the front with my perfumes
displayed on some of the beautiful cast iron displays I've used at
shows over the years...</div>
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Fresh flowers, and beautiful large
mason jars full of herbs and resins...</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">my new granite dropper holders</td></tr>
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Basically being able to have all of my
wonderful fascinating weird and fragrant collection out where I can
look at them and share them with my customers!</div>
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And I'll be able to do short runs of
interesting stuff too!</div>
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Perfumes that are too complex and
special to mass produce, things like solid potpourri perfume for
putting in small lockets, maybe soaps and candles too!</div>
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I've got my eye on a perfect little
place in Byron Bay, and put an application in for it today!</div>
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It's a small workshop space in the arts and crafts part of the industrial estate, where I'd be surrounded by other small artisan businesses, and it comes with some business assistance and advice available from the council too, which is what I could certainly do with too!. The premises themselves are light and airy, with high
ceilings, a sky light and even a mezanine where I can sit with
clients on comfy chairs and talk about what they really want from
their perfumes...and share a cup of coffee in between smelling bouts!I'm so excited I'm terrified they may turn down my application, it's just too too perfect! I ran into an old friend who is making films nowadays, and we've already chatted about her and her partner making a small youtube video...or even a series of them to go with and advertise the new shop...me chatting about perfumery and showing how the scents are made...sounds like awesome fun and great advertising too....</div>
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The Dream is slowly coming together......I'll keep you posted as it grows!</div>
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Ambrosiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12560196932876503822noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524475981607944689.post-1450259883259982202012-09-10T11:06:00.001+10:002012-09-10T11:25:21.661+10:00The Travelling Perfume<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Today it finally arrived in my humble abode!<br />
The <a href="http://perfumepharmer.com/organic-perfume-skincare-remedies/index.php/2012/08/let-this-liquid-love-make-peace-the-traveling-perfume-the-fifth-sacred-thing-by-starhawk-and-the-element-perfumes-of-primordial-scents-2012/" target="_blank">Travelling Perfume Bottle</a> is the Mind Child of the wonderful Monica Miller of <a href="http://perfumepharmer.com/organic-perfume-skincare-remedies/" target="_blank">Perfume Pharmer</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-byRNB1gQdbY/UE0k9G4XbRI/AAAAAAAAAhw/weZei-iDQxA/s1600/003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-byRNB1gQdbY/UE0k9G4XbRI/AAAAAAAAAhw/weZei-iDQxA/s320/003.JPG" width="320" /></a><i>"I wanted to make a Perfume for PEACE</i></div>
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<i>I wanted to travel all around the world collecting ingredients...prayers for PEACE...things like....</i></div>
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<i>from the Zapatista people in Mexico...the FREEDOM that they crave ..if we put in the bottle the prayer for FREEDOM from people who so fervently pray for FREEDOM then that prayer is carried throughout the world in the bottle and becomes part of the homeopathic medicine....there is s song..."everything is everything" and there is a saying... that in everything is the seed of its apparent opposite</i></div>
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<i>I came to understand that I didnt have to travel all over the world collecting ingredients and I began to see it as not so much a personal project but a <b>co created</b> project</i><i>".</i><br />
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It started off with one of the Grandmother's of Natural Perfumery, the great <a href="http://www.jeannerose.net/" target="_blank"><b>Jeanne Rose</b></a><i>. </i>Her son is fighting in Aphganistan. And she tinctured one of his combat gloves. What a start for a perfume project for Peace?!!!</div>
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It has since travelled through many countries, and many perfumers, each adding a few drops of oil, special herbs or sacred waters...and it's quite an amazing thing...</div>
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As I open the bottle, it's like the impact of hundreds of different voices...so many scents, so many layers have been added as it travelled. It's dark brown, sticky and full of wierd bit's and bobs, like some kind of primordial ooze....There are flower scents, and herbs, and deep musky layers..like an over the top kaleidoscope of perfumes from many cultures...</div>
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I have to put the bottle down and take a deep breath as my head is spinning just from one sniff!</div>
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I take a few more carefull sniffs and then start thinking about what I can add to this....</div>
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I've just come back from working out in the Australian desert as a remote area nurse for a month...and what I have brought back with me is a deep sense of Peace...the wide open spaces, the ancient mountain ranges, impossibly blue skies and the glowing warm red sand....</div>
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Australia is an ancient country....and travelling out to the Outback, you begin to understand just how small and new us humans really are....ancient landscapes that have been here since long before humans started to create their "civilisation" and beging to squabble over territory and money....</div>
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So I am am adding that sense of ancient Peace:</div>
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<b>Australian Sandalwood</b> for it's deep healing properties. Oz sandalwood is drier than mysore...it carries with it that tang of the desert and the hot sun that forces you to relax, not matter how stressed you are. Sandalwood is one of those magic perfume ingredients that connects all other elements gently and warmly, giving them a base to work together.....which feel very fitting for this potion.</div>
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<b>Cinnamon</b> oriental magical ingredient to give warmth and life to everything. It's heat and sharp bring a touch of clarity to the many voices in the <b>Travelling Perfume</b>.</div>
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<b>Cardamon</b> and <b>Coriander</b> to add a touch of <b>Love</b> <b>and Passion</b>, because after all, these are what truly bring us together...</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LAopxQnwg1U/UE07juZ2foI/AAAAAAAAAjE/t0SsaYWy9mM/s1600/141.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LAopxQnwg1U/UE07juZ2foI/AAAAAAAAAjE/t0SsaYWy9mM/s320/141.JPG" width="320" /></a>One of the Creation Stories of the Anangu People of Central Australia, is that of the Great Mother Snake called <b>"Kunia"</b>. She was very pregnant, and travelled far and wide through the Land, looking for a safe place to lay her babies...she travelled all over the country, from the top end, to the bottom South, From East where the Sun rises, to the Western Coast where she go's to sleep, and she couldn't find a place that was safe and peaceful enough....and eventually she came to <b>Uluru</b>, the huge Sandstone Rock in the centre of the desert that calls so many tourists from all over the world nowadays....and here she came to rest. She laid her eggs, and her children were born. It is truly one of the strongest, most peaceful places in the world.</div>
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So this I give to the <b>Travelling Perfume of Peace</b>...a little touch of the Great Mother, protecter of her children from out in the Red Centre of Australia.</div>
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And a new word I learnt in Pitjanjara: <b>"Palya!"</b> All is Good!<br />
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Ambrosiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12560196932876503822noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524475981607944689.post-27655316933772046132012-06-24T10:18:00.002+10:002012-06-24T10:18:20.168+10:00Tackling the 5 Elements<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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My Quest for perfection is bogging me down.....<br />
I was supposed to be taking part in Monica Miller's wonderful perfume project around the 5th Sacred Thing...<a href="http://perfumepharmer.com/organic-perfume-skincare-remedies/index.php/primordial-scents-2012/" target="_blank">"Primordial Scents 2012"</a><br />
A Challenge to design perfumes around one or more of the 5 Elements, Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Spirit...<br />
A Project really close to my heart as a) I love and adore Starhawks book "The 5th Sacred Thing" and b) designing scents around the elements is what got me started in perfumery in the first place....<br />
but Life this year has been pretty....emotional. Upheavals, depression, relationship changes and other stuff have been either dragging me away from my workshop or making me too tired and confused to focus properly....<br />
Plus I was stupid enough to want to make a full set of scents, covering all the Elements.<br />
"Should be easy", I thought, after all I used to actually make and sell Magickal Oils along these lines...<br />
But when I actually sat down with my old recipes and starting looking at them properly, it dawned on me that my skills have come a long way since then...and that what may be a perfectly apt blend as say, a FIRE oil, does not translate as easily into a wonderful perfume! I mean, you gotta look for longevity, wearability, generlal wonderfulness and all there...<br />
So I began to rework the formulas...and the collections of little sample bottles for each element got larger and larger....<br />
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Whether it was the sheer magnitude of what I was trying to achieve, or the muddled self doubting mess in my head over the last few months, nothing seemed to be good enough. Time rolled on, the deadline grew closer and closer, and I became almost paralized with indecision. And finally gave up, took a job contract for 2 months to get away from the house and the dramas, and left behind my project bottles unfinished...<br />
Now I'm back, brain heart and soul refreshed from 2 months out in the desert, the project is rolling out, and I'm sitting in my workshop staring and sniffing my little bottles. And here is the big question:<br />
Do I just stop dithering, pick the best out of each lot and send 'em off to Monica? Or do I give in to my need to have them "just right" and thereby miss out on the project alltogether? <br />
I have a pretty damm good <b>"Air"</b> that is like a fresh seaside breeze, with tads of seaweed and driftwood in the background...I have a very watery <b>"Water"</b> that I'd love to fiddle with to make it a wonderful perfume as well as a great representation of the element...my "Fire" again is very firey rather than perfumey...and I'm tempted to send in my "Love Potion" which is applied Fire incarnate and maybe PAN as the ultimate Earth elemental...but is it acceptable to add to older perfumes to the set?<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NGAo8BN-LO0/T-ZcSYqSoCI/AAAAAAAAAfU/K_VykO3EbPI/s1600/315.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NGAo8BN-LO0/T-ZcSYqSoCI/AAAAAAAAAfU/K_VykO3EbPI/s320/315.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
Both of these are great perfumes...whereas the Fire and Earth in my experiments are primordial rather than rounded perfumes....arrrggghhh!!!!!!!!!<br />
<br /></div>Ambrosiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12560196932876503822noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524475981607944689.post-86853733667480127622012-06-19T11:08:00.001+10:002012-06-19T11:36:36.191+10:00ECLIP<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Today I am writing about a fantastic innovation a couple of my collegues have come up with!<br />
One of the hardest battles us natural perfumers face, is that of information.<br />
You see the general public has little way of understanding the diference between what we do, and what the larger conventional perfume companies do.<br />
I mean, my neighbour tried to tell me the other day that Chanel No5 was made out of natural Ylang Ylang Flowers!<br />
Unluckily labeling legislation does little to help here..<br />
Basically, you can put anything in a perfume, and the label itself will say helpful things like :"contains: alc. denat., water, perfume."<br />
The big companies are also beginning to jump on the natural bandwagon and are selling a wide range of cosmetics and now even perfumes with lovely natural imaes and hints in their advertising that make people think they ARE actually natural.<br />
<br />
<br />
So it's time to fight back.<br />
And here's where ECLIP comes in:<br />
ECLIP stands for Complete Ethical List of Ingerdients in Perfume.<br />
Sounds pretty clear doesn't it?!<br />
The idea behind it is to simply start openly and clearly showing exactly what is in out perfumes useing a standardized format. The format we are useing is the ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation) standard for cosmetic ingredients, that can be found on the <a href="http://www.iso.org/iso/home.html" target="_blank">ISO website</a><br />
That way, consumers can make a clear and informed decision about what they are buying!<br />
Revolution through honesty, hows that for a cool idea?!<br />
<br />
And it may well work.<br />
The more of us who do this, the more pressure will mount for the bigger companies to do this too.<br />
<br />
I have posted the ECLIP list for my company below, and here is also a webpage which is the start of our true revolution:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.profumo.it/perfume/natural_perfumery_and_perfumers/natural_perfumery_perfumers.htm" target="_blank">Natural Perfumers who use ECLIP</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="sedicibordeauxnormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="sedicibordeauxnormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #660033; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 120%;">ECLIP of "Perfume by Nature"</span></span></b></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<b><b><span style="color: #2b3920; font-family: Verdana; font-size: xx-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 120%;">ETHYCAL COMPLETE LIST OF INGREDIENTS IN
PERFUMES </span></span></b></b><br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana;"></span></span><b><b><u><span style="color: #660033; font-family: Verdana; font-size: xx-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #660033; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 120%;">WHAT
I USE IN MY PERFUMES </span></span></u></b></b><i><span style="color: red; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></i><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; font-weight: bold;"><br />
<br />
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Absolute</span></span></b></b></span></span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana;"> as defined by<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"> </span></span></b></b>ISO
9235<br />
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Alcohol natural</span></span></b></b>
<br />
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Animal Extracts
and tinctures: </span></span></b></b>(Hyraceum, Honey, Beeswax).<br />
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Concrete</span></span></b></b>:
as defined by by<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">
</span></span></b></b>ISO 9235<br />
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Essential oils:
</span></span></b></b>as defined by<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"> </span></span></b></b>ISO. 9235 <br />
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Extracts: </span></span></b></b>as
defined by ISO 9235</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana;"><b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Natural
molecules isolates</span></span></b></b> <span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">obtained from essential oils</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana;"><b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Oil Vegetable</span></span></b></b></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana;"><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Resinoids</span></span></b></b></span></b>:
as defined by ISO 9235 <br />
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Tinctures</span></span></b></b>:
as defined by ISO 9235<br />
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span></b></b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana;"><b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span></b></b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana;"><b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span></span></b></b></span></span><i><span style="color: red; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana;"><b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Wax from
bees</span></span></b></b> (for solid perfumes)</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<b><b><u><span style="color: #660033; font-family: Verdana; font-size: xx-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #660033; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 120%;">WHAT
I DO NOT USE IN MY PERFUMES</span></span></u></b></b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; font-weight: bold;"><br />
<br />
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Alcohol</span></span></b></b></span></span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana;"> <b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">synthetic</span></span></b></b>
<br />
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Aroma chemicals
from chemical synthesis of petroleum derivatives.</span></span></b></b><br />
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Aroma chemicals
from chemical synthesis of natural raw materials </span></span></b></b><br />
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Denaturant for
alcohol</span></span></b></b><br />
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Natural
molecules (Isolates</span></span></b></b>) <b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">from bio technology</span></span></b></b> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Ogm ingredients</span></span></b></b><br />
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Oil MIneral
(paraffins)</span></span></b></b></span></b><br />
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Preservatives
(natural) </span></span></b></b>ex. wheat germ oil <br />
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Preservatives
(synthetic) </span></span></b></b>ex. vitamin C <br />
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Wax from
petroleum</span></span></b></b> (for solid perfumes) </span></span><i><span style="color: red; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></i><i><span style="color: red; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></i><br />
<br />
<br />
<div align="center" class="sedicibordeauxnormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><b><span style="color: #660033; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 120%;">Definition of the products listed on
ECLIP </span></span></b></b></div>
<i><span style="color: red; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: red; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; line-height: 120%;"><br /></span></span></i><i><span style="color: red; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; line-height: 120%;"></span></span></i><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><b><span style="color: #2b3920; font-family: Verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; line-height: 120%;">Absolute</span></span></b></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: small;">:</span> extracted with
ethanol from concrete or resinoides. Ethanol is then removed.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana;"></span></span><b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Alcohol</span></span></b></b>
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">natural</span></span></b></b>:
obtained from natural raw material source (grain, corn, cane) by fermentation
then distillation. </div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana;">
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Alcohol</span></span></b></b>
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">synthetic, </span></span></b></b>synthetic
ethanol is obtained by mixing ethylene (gas obtained from petroleum or fossil
gases) with steam at a temperature of 300° Celsius. <br />
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Animal Extracts
and tinctures: </span></span></b></b>obtained by treating animal raw
material with ethanol. To obtain the Extract the solvent is removed (es. civet,
Castoreum, Hyraceum, Ambergris, Honey bee).<br />
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Aroma chemicals</span></span></b></b>
from chemical synthesis of petroleum derivatives.<br />
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Aroma chemicals</span></span></b></b>
from natural raw materials (acetate vetyveryle, acetate cedryle ecc…):
Single molecules obtained from chemical reaction of natural raw materials with
acids to obtain acetates, cinnamates, brassylates etc.<br />
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Antioxidants
(natural) </span></span></b></b>es. wheat germ oil <br />
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Antioxidants
(synthetic) </span></span></b></b>es. vitamin C or E <br />
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Concrete</span></span></b></b>:
obtained from botanical raw material usually extracted with solvent (hexane,
supercritical CO2) then the solvent is removed.<br />
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Denaturant : </span></span></b></b>in
perfumery the combination of 2 chemical products is used to disable human
consumption. The chemicals used for denaturation are MEK (</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><a href="http://it.%20wikipedia.%20org/wiki/M%20etiletilch%20etone" target="_blank" title="http://it.%20wikipedia.%20org/wiki/M%20etiletilch%20etone"><span lang="EN-GB"><span title="http://it.%20wikipedia.%20org/wiki/M%20etiletilch%20etone"><span title="http://it.%20wikipedia.%20org/wiki/M%20etiletilch%20etone">methyl ethyl
ketone</span></span></span></a></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana;">), of </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><a href="http://www.google.it/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=0&oq=mek+health+risk&hl=it&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4SKPB_itIT379IT379&q=mek+health+risks" target="_blank" title="http://www.google.it/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=0&oq=mek+health+risk&hl=it&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4SKPB_itIT379IT379&q=mek+health+risks"><span lang="EN-GB"><span title="http://www.google.it/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=0&oq=mek+health+risk&hl=it&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4SKPB_itIT379IT379&q=mek+health+risks"><span title="http://www.google.it/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=0&oq=mek+health+risk&hl=it&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4SKPB_itIT379IT379&q=mek+health+risks">controversial
health impact</span></span></span></a></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana;"> and </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><a href="http://www.bitrex.com/" title="http://www.bitrex.com/"><span lang="EN-GB"><span title="http://www.bitrex.com/"><span title="http://www.bitrex.com/">Bitrex</span></span></span></a></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana;">.<br />
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Essential oils:
</span></span></b></b>obtained by steam distillation of natural raw
material or cold press in the case of citruses.<br />
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Essential oils </span></span></b></b>which
significantly change in composition (folded essential oils, fractioned
essential oils , x-less essential oil, molecular distillation). materials which
has been eliminated reduced by re-distillation <br />
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Extracts: </span></span></b></b>obtained
by treating natural raw material with volative solvent which is then removed or
non volatile solvent that is not removed at the end.<br />
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Natural
molecules (So called) or Isolates</span></span></b></b>, from bio
technology (patent secrecy on process and origin material) obtained from
microbiological synthesis. the problem is related to the secrecy that the
producers keeps on the origin material of these products with the excuse of
patent propriety and confidentiality.<br />
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Natural
molecules (isolates)</span></span></b></b> obtained from essential oils by
distillation. Mostly obtained from fractional distillation of natural essential
essential oils.<br />
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Ogm ingredients</span></span></b></b>
any ingredient from genetically modificated raw material <br />
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Oil mineral
(paraffins)</span></span></b></b> derived from petroleum. obtained from
crude distillation of the same.<br />
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Oils vegetable</span></span></b></b>
(jojoba, mandorle ecc) from natural source obtained from cold pression without
solvents<br />
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Preservatives
(natural) </span></span></b></b>ex. wheat germ oil, used to prevent the
deterioration by oxidation <br />
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Preservatives
(synthetic) </span></span></b></b>ex. vitamin C, used to prevent the deterioration
by oxidation <br />
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">PG and DPG </span></span></b></b>(Propylen
Glicole, Dipropylen Glicole) synthetic solvent from petroleum used to obtain
extracts from natural raw materials: <b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">PG</span></span></b></b> is used mainly to
obtain cocoa extract: the PG is NOT removed.<br />
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Resinoids</span></span></b></b>:
obtained from dry botanical raw material extracted usually with ethanol, that
is then removed.<br />
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Tinctures</span></span></b></b>:
obtained from ethanol maceration of raw material (also called infusion in
perfumery); the exhausted raw material is filtered off.<br />
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Water</span></span></b></b><br />
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Wax from
bees</span></span></b></b> (for solid perfumes)<br />
<b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Wax from
petroleum</span></span></b></b> (for solid perfumes)</span></span><br />
<b><b><span style="color: #2b3920; font-family: Verdana; font-size: xx-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 120%;">In all our
fragrances are present the 16 so called “</span></span></b></b><b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><a href="http://www.profumo.it/perfume/companies/natural_allergens.htm" title="http://www.profumo.it/perfume/companies/natural_allergens.htm"><span lang="EN-GB"><span title="http://www.profumo.it/perfume/companies/natural_allergens.htm">natural
allerg</span><span lang="EN-GB">e</span></span><span lang="EN-GB">ns</span></a></span></span></b></b><b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana;">” contained in
most essential oils, they are:</span></span></b></b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana;"></span></span><br />
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2b3920; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #2b3920; font-family: Verdana; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">cynnamic alcohol </span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2b3920; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #2b3920; font-family: Verdana; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">hexil cinnamal </span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2b3920; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #2b3920; font-family: Verdana; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">citral </span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2b3920; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #2b3920; font-family: Verdana; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">eugenol </span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2b3920; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #2b3920; font-family: Verdana; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">geraniol </span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2b3920; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #2b3920; font-family: Verdana; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">hydroxycitronellal </span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2b3920; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #2b3920; font-family: Verdana; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">isoeugenol </span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2b3920; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #2b3920; font-family: Verdana; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">anisic alcohol </span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2b3920; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #2b3920; font-family: Verdana; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">benzilbenzoate </span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2b3920; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #2b3920; font-family: Verdana; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">benzyl cinnamate </span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2b3920; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #2b3920; font-family: Verdana; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">citronellol </span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2b3920; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #2b3920; font-family: Verdana; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">d- limonene </span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2b3920; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #2b3920; font-family: Verdana; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">cynnamaldehyde </span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2b3920; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #2b3920; font-family: Verdana; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">farnesol </span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2b3920; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #2b3920; font-family: Verdana; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">linalool </span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2b3920; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #2b3920; font-family: Verdana; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">evernia prunastri extract </span></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span class="tredicijustify1"><span style="color: #2b3920;"></span></span></span></span><br />
<a href="http://www.profumo.it/perfume/natural_perfumery_and_perfumers/natural_perfumery_perfumers.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: #2b3920; font-family: Verdana; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 120%;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span title="http://www.profumo.it/natural_perfumery_and_perfumers/natural_perfumery_perfumers.htm">Naturalperfumers that use ECLIP</span></span></span></span></a><br />
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<span style="color: #2b3920; font-family: Verdana; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 120%;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span title="http://www.profumo.it/natural_perfumery_and_perfumers/natural_perfumery_perfumers.htm">The list of "natural allergens" is a biot more controversial.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #2b3920; font-family: Verdana; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 120%;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span title="http://www.profumo.it/natural_perfumery_and_perfumers/natural_perfumery_perfumers.htm">It's one that was basically set up by IFRA, the international perfume association. And defines ingredients that they have decided can cause allergies in some people, and sets standards for the amount in which these can be used in perfumes, as well as demanding that these be declared on labels.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #2b3920; font-family: Verdana; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 120%;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span title="http://www.profumo.it/natural_perfumery_and_perfumers/natural_perfumery_perfumers.htm">Perfonally I think it's a load of rubbish, as it doesnt incude the many many artificial perfume ingredients that can cause nasty reactions in so many people...and also doesn't take into account that essential oils are complex synergies that contain these chemicals in small amounts...which is a totally different thing to the way the perfume industry uses them.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #2b3920; font-family: Verdana; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 120%;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span title="http://www.profumo.it/natural_perfumery_and_perfumers/natural_perfumery_perfumers.htm"><br /></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #2b3920; font-family: Verdana; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 120%;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span title="http://www.profumo.it/natural_perfumery_and_perfumers/natural_perfumery_perfumers.htm">However, IFRA is such a powerful mover and shaker in the business world that many individual countries have started to legislate useing their standards.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #2b3920; font-family: Verdana; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 120%;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span title="http://www.profumo.it/natural_perfumery_and_perfumers/natural_perfumery_perfumers.htm">And to be able to sell perfumes legally in most European Countries, we now have to include that list, to warn people that our perfumes contain these dangerous natural chemicals as part of the essential oils we use!</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #2b3920; font-family: Verdana; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 120%;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span title="http://www.profumo.it/natural_perfumery_and_perfumers/natural_perfumery_perfumers.htm">But thats another story alltogether..</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #2b3920; font-family: Verdana; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 120%;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span title="http://www.profumo.it/natural_perfumery_and_perfumers/natural_perfumery_perfumers.htm">Anyway, here's to a new revolution in honesty in business!</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #2b3920; font-family: Verdana; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 120%;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span title="http://www.profumo.it/natural_perfumery_and_perfumers/natural_perfumery_perfumers.htm">I'll be including this list on a whole page of it's own on my website, as soon as I can find a new webtechie to fix up my official website!</span></span></span></span><br />
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</div>Ambrosiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12560196932876503822noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524475981607944689.post-63106128803981866682012-06-02T14:49:00.000+10:002012-06-03T08:27:07.948+10:00My First Love<p class='bloggerplus_text_section' align='left' style='clear:both;'>My first essential oil Love, was Australian Eukalyptus oil!<br />
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My mother is an Ozzie, who grew up on a farm out in the bush some hours from Sydney and one of my earliest childhood memories is her drizzling eukalyptus oil onto my pillow when i was sick as a dog during one of the typical grey wet and miserable English winters.<br />
the effect was immediate... the strong clean nip of the oil began to cut through the foggy muck in my nose and chest, and I began to breath more easily...it also cooled my aching head, and cleared my fevered brain a bit too...<br />
from that point on, eucalyptus oil equalled healing and memories of being soothed and looked after by my mother for me....<br />
It's what my grandfather used to do for her as a kid too, and the scent followed me through my childhood.<br />
When I eventually came back to Australia in my late teens, the scent wafting from the eucalyptus trees at the airport welcomed me like a long lost daughter, and I felt immediately at home.....<br />
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Eucalyptus trees cover the whole Australian landscape. They grow pretty much everywhere in this vast country, from tropical rain forests in the north to the dry arid desert areas in the centre where I'm currently writing from.<br />
The leaves from the many varieties of eucalyptus have been used by the indigenous people for many centuries...they use them for healing colds and coughs by inhaling the vapors from the leaves both simply crushed and also steamed in hot water.<br />
but they also use them in spiritual "smoking ceremonies" in a similar way to the use of white sage and cedarwood in American Indian "Smudging".<br />
This is done in conjunction with many kinds of ceremonies, to cleanse the body and spirit of "bad energies". I went to a women's conference here a few days ago, and the local elders made everyone walk through thick clouds of smoke before entering the building and beginning the conference. it is used as part of "welcome to country" greeting ceremonies nowadays before many kinds of official meetings, opening new buildings etc, to acknowledge local traditional ownership and out of respect to the ancestors....<br />
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The energy and effect of Eucalyptus is cleansing...the oil is antiseptic, dissolves mucous in clogged up airways and is also cooling...<br />
the scent is clear and astringent, with similar notes to mint, rosemary and pine.<br />
It's one of the most useful and commonly used of all essential oils in the average household out here. All supermarkets stock it, and it is used for everything from the traditional few drops on your pillow for colds and flu, to dissolving that annoying leftover bit of glue from labels on wine glasses. <br />
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Australians love to suck on eucalyptus lollies during winter to clear their noses and soothe sore throats...but like many essential oils, apart from the tiny amounts used in lollies, it's better inhaled than swallowed. Taken internally, it can drop blood pressure dangerously, esp in small children, so be sure to keep it out of kids reach!<br />
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My favorite eucalyptus is from a lemon scented gum, that has a tangy citrus overtone to the cooling menthol clarity....<br />
I often combine it with things like lavender, pine and lemon oil, and add a few drops to the water I use to wash down benches or mop the floor with.<br />
It seems to impart a lovely clarity to the air of a room, as well as being a marvelous natural disinfectant.<br />
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Wonderful stuff!<br />
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The photos below are <br />
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a) two beautiful gum trees growing in the dry creek bed of the Todd river in Alice springs and<br />
b) a small ghost gum at Kunjurra, near Tennant Creek<br />
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Both in Central Australia<br />
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Below is the list of Guild members taking part in the My First Love project, Do check out their sites for more first love stories!<br />
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Sophia: http://africanaromatics.com/int/my-first-love/<br />
Anya: http://anyasgarden.blogspot.com/2012/06/my-first-love-sixth-anniversary-of.html<br />
Charna: http://www.providenceperfume.com/blogs/news/6108854-my-first-love-jasmine<br />
Christi: http://www.matriarch.biz/blog/2012/6/My_First_Love<br />
Elise: http://bellyflowers.blogspot.com/2012/06/my-first-love-vetiver.html<br />
Emily: http://www.roseenbos.com/my-first-love<br />
Isabelle: http://lesparfumsdisabelle.wordpress.com/2012/06/01/iris-root-powder-my-first-love/<br />
JoAnne: http://joannebassett.com/natural_perfumes/2012/06/01/my-first-love/<br />
Liz: http://oneseedperfumes.wordpress.com/2012/06/01/when-i-fell-in-love-a-npg-blogging-event/<br />
Noelle: http://ellenoire.blogspot.ca/2012/06/my-first-love-sixth-anniversary-of.html<br />
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</p><p class='bloggerplus_image_section'><div class='bloggerplus_image_section' align='left' style='clear:both;'><img src='https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-ZyVGRDw5EQQ/T8mliqKZcjI/AAAAAAAAAdQ/ZxFEDV9_Nd4/E9F52B3F-4ECE-4496-9014-9F3859B6B1C8.jpg'></div></p><p class='bloggerplus_image_section'><div class='bloggerplus_image_section' align='right' style='clear:both;'><img src='https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-1ejfVlLRs5M/T8mllBQPEJI/AAAAAAAAAdY/m0dd3jcSsWg/57AF35A2-AD65-4854-91C7-F097630FF76C.jpg'></div></p>Ambrosiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12560196932876503822noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524475981607944689.post-26794213165226454802012-01-16T08:30:00.000+11:002012-01-16T08:30:01.260+11:00Joy in January<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4RAVTaFo_ss/TxI9E9OLzNI/AAAAAAAAAVw/wW3rhZR01Xo/s1600/Joy-In-January-lores.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" kba="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4RAVTaFo_ss/TxI9E9OLzNI/AAAAAAAAAVw/wW3rhZR01Xo/s320/Joy-In-January-lores.jpg" width="162" /></a>The Natural Perfumers Guild is hosting a blogathon esp. for the porr suffering people of the northern hemisphere who are currently dealing with the long, cold and grey miserable months of winter. Aprt from being cold and grey, the long nights and lack of decent sun and daylight also mean long months of misery and depression for many people. S.A. D or "Seasonal Affective Disorder" is the technical term for these winter blues, and affects most people to some degree or another. It is thought to be related to serontonin production, a neurotransmitter which our body produces in conjunction with exposure to sunlight. So obviously, no sun, no serontonin equals SAD. So the Natural Perfumers guild thought it might be a nice idea to tap into the collective knowledge of their perfumers on how this can be combatted with the help of perfume. And this is my post on the subject. We all know that nice smells make us feel batter, but Aromatherapy can help us take this concept a few steps further...and those of use who work exclusively with naturals of course work with the essential oils used in Aromatherapy...and many of us (including yours truly) actually come from an Aromatherapy background......</div>
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One of the very first perfumes I ever made was based on an essential oil blend I used to use in Germany to stop myself from wanting to slit my wrists during the long dark miserable winters.</div>
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I used to suffer terribly from what they now call "SAD" or Seasonal Affective Disorder, and the winters in Berlin were particularly long and grey.</div>
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Each year, as soon as the days became shorter, my mood would start to darken too, and I would only begin to pick up as the days lengthened and the sun came back out of her hiding place below the equator.</div>
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When I discovered aromatherapy, I of course started to research which esential oils were good for depression, and discovered that Patchouli was one the the best and longest used for this in India. It is used in Ayurvedic medicine to treat everything from melancholy to outright mania, and it's deep, earthy scent seems to have the immediate effect of making you feel safe and grounded...</div>
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So I started burning it in my little oil burner and to my joy found that I felt much more peaceful and even started to smile again....I experimented all that first aromatic winter with blends of different things, and found my best blend was a simple combination of patchouli with bright clear lemon!</div>
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Some years later when I started to make actual perfumes, I took a break from the complex floral formulas I was experiementing with, and started to think: Why shouldn't it be possible to combine Aromatherapy with Perfumery and create Perfumes that actually have therapeutic effects as well as smelling beautiful?</div>
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I dug out my notes on my favourite aromatherapy blends and rememberd how happy the patchouli and lemon mix had made me....the combination of the two is somehow so warm and friendlyas a scent, the lemon doing something really remarkable to patchoulis dark duskiness and the patchouli giving the short lived lemon a depth and warmth that is just yummy....but they didn't quite work together as an actual "perfume", so I decided to experieiment a bit more. After delving back into my herb books, I decided that an obvious choice would be Sandalwood, beloved the world over for it's soothing comforting effects, as well as one of the smoothest and most beautiful of all perfumery ingredients! Like Patchouli, it has a long history of being used in traditional Auyuveda for treating depression. It also happens to work seamlessly with both patchouli and lemon, and added an elegance and gentleness to the perfume which was just what was needed! I also added a touch of Tahitian lime to give it an extra twist and a few other ingredients to round off the scent, and <strong><span style="font-size: large;">"Happiness"</span></strong> was born.</div>
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<a href="http://www.perfumebynature.com.au/images/happy_lg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" rea="true" src="http://www.perfumebynature.com.au/images/happy_lg.jpg" width="400" /></a>I started taking it with me to the various trade fairs and cosmetics shows had stalls at, and was delighted to find that my customers liked it just as much as I did! It seemed to have an incredible unisex appeal, men and women both liked it and wore it, and you could see from the happy grin after the first sniff just how direct an effect it had on peoples moods!</div>
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People bought it, and came back and bought more, telling me they found it to be a great pick me up scent...they wore it to help them get going in the morning, as a pick me up after work, and one guy even told me it was the best cure for a hangover he had ever found, grin!</div>
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After nearly 20 years, it is still one of my most popular perfumes. It's simple yet elegant scent is refreshing, uplifting and just incredibly friendly! It's a true inisex scent, and one of those you can wear to the office without ever worrying about offending anyone...</div>
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But best of all, it simply works. Wearing it makes you feel better. <br />
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And what I am particularly proud of is that for me, <strong><span style="font-size: large;">"Happiness"</span></strong> proved once and for all what I have been saying for years: You CAN combine Aromatherapy and modern Perfumery. And create Perfumes that have a therapeutic effect, and are also GREAT perfumes!</div>
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<strong><span style="color: black;">If you'd like to try "Happiness", I'm giving away samples to the 3 most interesting or enthusiastic Australian and 2 Overseas customers who post a comment here!</span></strong><br />
<strong>(Winners will be chosen and announced on friday!)</strong></div>
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<strong>Otherwise you can also order samples and full size bottles of "Happiness" directly from my webstore!</strong></div>
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<strong><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.perfumebynature.com.au/happiness.htm" target="_blank">Get yourself some "Happiness"!</a></span></strong></div>
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<strong> <span style="font-size: large;">Or post a comment below to win a sample!</span></strong></div>
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Other Blogs writing about Joy in January:</div>
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<a href="http://sororiaorganics.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"> <td>Sororia Organics</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.joannebassett.com/natural_perfumes" target="_blank">Joanne Basset</a></div>
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<a href="http://bellyflowers.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Belly Flowers</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.matriarch.biz/blog.html" target="_blank">Christi Meshel</a></div>
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<a href="http://anyasgarden.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Anya McCoy</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.providenceperfume.com/blogs/news" target="_blank">Charna Ethier</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.aromahead.com/blog/" target="_blank">Andrea Butje</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.dameclemence.com/" target="_blank">Barbier Clemence</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.roseenbos.com/category/blog" target="_blank">Emily Pienaar</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.aromaticsinternational.com/blog/" target="_blank">Karen Williams</a></div>
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<a href="http://oneseedperfumes.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Liz Cook of "One Seed"</a></div>
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<a href="http://ellenoire.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Noelle Smith</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.stephanieknaturals.com/blog/" target="_blank">Staphanie K Naturals</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.aromatherapycontessa.com/" target="_blank">Arlys Naturals</a></div>
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</div>Ambrosiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12560196932876503822noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524475981607944689.post-1158473333273283502011-10-01T11:50:00.000+10:002011-10-02T16:33:17.186+11:00Avalon...an adventure in mystical apples<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y2FBL_DIKME/ToZvo-e4YHI/AAAAAAAAAUU/9AsRq_RHhLk/s1600/053.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y2FBL_DIKME/ToZvo-e4YHI/AAAAAAAAAUU/9AsRq_RHhLk/s320/053.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
A few years ago, I went back to England and visited the area where
the mystical Isle of Avalon is supposed to be...the coastal area around
Tintagel and Glastonbury....the birth place of King Arthur, and the
legendary Merlin, Vivianne, the lady of the lake and Morgainne,
priestess of Avalon...<br />
It was late summer and there entire area is
full of apple orchards...ancient gnarled trees full of wisdom and a
sense of antiquity...sourounded by the lush scent of ripe apples,
hanging heavily from overladen boughs.....<br />
<br />
I
climbed Glastonbury Tor one evening...and as the soft haze settled over
the valley beneath me, you could almost hear the chants of the
preistesses drifting over from the Magical Isle of Avalon....mystical
incense, herbs and the wafting deep and fresh scent of ripe apples from
the ancient trees......<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qm6av37KTzw/ToZu9gM-JJI/AAAAAAAAAUM/8YDo-mgXFcQ/s1600/090.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qm6av37KTzw/ToZu9gM-JJI/AAAAAAAAAUM/8YDo-mgXFcQ/s320/090.JPG" width="320" /></a>When I got back to Australia, I sat down
to try and capture this picture in a perfume. Fruit notes are
particularly hard to capture with natural ingredients, as fruit (apart
from citrus) simply doesn't lend its scent to extraction the way flowers
do...Some years before I had scored a tiny bottle of apple essential
oil, distilled from whole granny smith apples in South Afrika by a rogue
distiller...it had the sharp apple topnote to it, but totally lacked
the sweet depth of an actual apple, the way many essential oils do...and
of course this tiny bottle wasn't going to be enough to actually make
any quantity of perfume....<br />
So I set out to find a way to create a scented picture of the real thing.<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Scczupn-6bg/ToZlPG5gYGI/AAAAAAAAAT4/1sqYqLsAV4Q/s1600/Avalonvista.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Scczupn-6bg/ToZlPG5gYGI/AAAAAAAAAT4/1sqYqLsAV4Q/s320/Avalonvista.png" width="178" /></a>I
found a number of different apple CO2 extracts used in the food
industry, that gave a sense of the fresh sharp topnotes in apples even
if it lacked the juicy lushness I was looking for, but at least it gave
me a starting point. together with a few drops of my precious apple EO, I
had an apple topnote for my perfume. To this I added Rose ...the most english of flowers, and a perfect partner to the sharp apple tang. I chose to use a particularly delicate Rose du Mai, as it adds an fairy like quality to the blend, a flower blossom touch....<br />
Neroli
adds further floral beauty, while I found a touch of mandarin added in
the fruity sweetness needed to give a sense of ripeness to the apple top
note....the perfume began to take form....The heart and base are
a blend of hay, fresh mown hay lying out in the fields, drying for the
winter feed... fir balsam from the trees of the forest around the
orchards...and labdanum incense resin from the isle of Crete, used by
the preistesses in Delphi, which seemed rather appropriate...labdanum is
also such a soft, ambery sweet scent in itself, that blended perfectly
with the floral fruity mid and topnotes.....re creating that sense of
orchard and forest I had in my vision...priestesses burning incense in
the temple of the apple isle on a late summers eve.......<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><i>"Avalon"</i></b></span><br />
<u><b>Scent family</b></u>: <b> </b>fruity floral<br />
<br />
<u><b>Notes</b></u><b> top: </b><i>apple CO2 and distillate, neroli</i><br />
<b> midnotes:</b> <i>rose du mai, green mandarin, apple blossom accord</i><br />
<b> base:</b> <i>labdanum, hay, fir balsam, amber accord</i><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jBPO1epn1vY/ToZuDIaZjAI/AAAAAAAAAUE/TI6WFHuCsmw/s1600/Avalon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jBPO1epn1vY/ToZuDIaZjAI/AAAAAAAAAUE/TI6WFHuCsmw/s320/Avalon.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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Ambrosiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12560196932876503822noreply@blogger.com2