The Perfume Bee

With Father’s Day just around the corner (June 17th), I wanted to share two of my recent finds for men. The first is Herban Cowboy “Dusk” Organic Cologne. To me, the name alone is worth the price! What a great play on the words “Urban Cowboy!”

With prominent notes of lavender and cedar, Dusk has a beautiful, sweet, woodsy dry-down and is very long-lasting. It also has/or is:

• Certified Organic Ingredients
• Recycled / Recyclable Packaging
• Soy Ink
• Sweatshop Free
• US Made
• Vegan / Cruelty Free

ORGANIC DUSK COLOGNE is currently on sale at herbancowboy.com regularly $30.00, sale $25.00 2.0 fl. oz.60 mL.

The second find is MyChelle for Men SPLASH! With notes of chamomile, vanilla, sandalwood, and patchouli, this toning cologne smells light and fresh with a warm, woody base. It also contains aloe vera, shea butter, ginseng and chamomile to tone and refresh the skin; and bisabol (myrrh-type gum resin obtained from Africa) and white willow bark as anti-inflammatories to soothe irritated skin.

MyChelle SPLASH! is:

• paraben-free
• non-toxic
• 100% natural
• eco-friendly
• cruelty-free

MyChelle is offering 15% off their Men’s Products during the month of June. SPLASH! was $15.99, now $13.60, 4.0 fl. oz./118 mL.

Both products are also available at Wholefoods Markets.

Share This

This month’s issue of Alternative Medicine Magazine (June 2007) features a nice article about Natural Perfumes. Written by Einav Keet, it is titled “Natural Radiance: From Simple to Sophisticated.” The article describes some of the safety concerns of modern perfumery, and presents lovely alternatives in the realm of natural perfumery.

While the main article is available online, I suggest reading the original hard copy if possible. The print-version contains a wonderful sidebar highlighting several natural perfumes, including photos, descriptions and website addresses.

Share This

As we await reports from the goings-on at the recent World Perfumery Congress in Cannes, I thought you might like to see this “sneak preview” in the May 2007 Perfumer&Flavorist online. In this article, P&F has an interesting talk with Dominique Coutière, founder and president of Biolandes, who was scheduled to speak at the WPC about the future of natural and organic essential oils. Biolandes is a leader in supplying natural raw materials to the perfume industry.

While speaking of new directions for the company, Coutière states:

The second direction has been the development of new botanical extraction technologies that have enabled us to improve productivity and to improve the environmental impact. Our extraction technologies make it possible to sharply reduce the volumes of solvents used and we process most of our own botanical wastes by composting. Our two biggest factories—in France and Spain—use distillation residues as their primary energy source. For our Provence factory in France we also are investing this year in a new clean water treatment technology based on purification using bamboo (read whole article here).

I find it heartening that a major botanical supplier is demonstrating such deep concern for the sustainability of its processes throughout the supply chain. I look forward to hearing how this topic was received at the World Perfumery Conference.

Share This

Vancouver, B.C.-based natural perfumer Ayala Moriel has created an exquisite fragrance in the complex, rich Razala. Released in the fall of 2006, this alluring perfume is perfect for a dressed-up night on the town.

Razala, which is Ayala’s Arabic nickname, is classified as oriental spicy/oriental woody. One of its most interesting notes is the very rare ambergris. Ambergris is a precious, beach-harvested natural product which is renowned for its fixative qualities. It contributes to the lovely lasting-power of this fragrance. Other notes include:

• Top notes: Blood Orange, Pink Pepper, Saffron Crocuses
• Heart notes: Rose, Jasmine, Orange Blossom, Magnolia
• Base notes: Ambergris, Myrrh, Patchouli, Oud

I was immediately struck by the elegance of this perfume. The warm, spicy top notes warmly meld with the beautiful rose and jasmine floral notes. The woody, resiny base notes, with the inimitable ambergris, lend it a remarkable depth of character. I found myself repeatedly smelling my wrist and inhaling deeply as the scent changed and deepened on my skin.

This is an evening fragrance, to be worn when you are looking for something seductive and exotic.

And you can feel good about wearing it. Perfumer Ayala describes her natural perfume philosophy (via Ayala Moriel Parfums):

We use only top quality essential oils, absolutes, CO2 extractions and concretes, all derived directly from their botanical origins. These precious botanical essences retain the original qualities of the plants they were extracted from. What remains is the true scent of the plant, as well as its therapeutic qualities and all the trace elements found in the living plant. This enables the authentic beauty of the natural plant to shine through in all of our perfumes, and adds depth and dimension to our perfume creations.

We do not use any synthetic chemical derivatives, nor do we use synthetic, petroleum based chemicals. We also banish animal-derived aromas, except for honey, beeswax and beach-harvested ambergris, and do not perform any sort of animal testing.

Razala can be purchased online at Ayala Moriel Parfums. It is available in parfum extrait, 9ml parfum flacon for $99.99; as a flacon + 15ml refill bottle for $179.99; perfumed pendant (creme parfum) $149.99; and as a 1-ml sample, $5.99.

Share This

Many thanks to all those who participated in the Beauty Blog Network’s Comments4aCure! It has been a wonderful experience, and my hat is off to all who commented and to all the participating bloggers of the Beauty Blog Network!

The Perfume Bee has donated $80 to The National Brain Tumor Foundation.

Have a scentsational weekend!!!

Share This

As I delve more deeply into the world of natural perfumery, I am continually amazed by the richness, complexity and vibrancy of natural perfumes currently available. Today I’d like to share with you two lovely, natural fragrances from Jo Wood Organics, based in the U.K.

The first is called Amka. This fragrance is an orange-water based, energizing scent:

With a romantic heart of Iranian rose otto, Egyptian jasmine and bright fresh top notes of neroli and bergamot, Amka is a fragrance of energy and spontaneity. Green mandarin and sweet orange add a fresh, vibrant layer, and the whole combination is grounded in a soft, spicy base of cedarwood.

The second fragrance is Usiku:

A warm and sensual fragrance with a fresh, vibrant edge, Usiku combines top notes of rosemary and pineneedle with a spicy hit of cardamom and hot ginger. A complex heart of coriander, clove and clary sage give way to the woody aromas of Moroccan cedarwood, patchouli and vetiver. Earthy and sophisticated, this is a scent for men and women alike.

Both fragrances are available in a line of body care products, including organic body lotion, organic body soap, organic body dew, and natural soy wax candles. I tried the body dews and found both fragrances to be delightful and uplifting. Amka is bright and sparkling, with a light hesperidic twinkle. Usiku is warm and woodsy with a sense of comfort, like a favorite cashmere sweater. One could consider Amka to be the yin to Usiku’s yang!

Founder Jo Wood (who is married to Ronnie, the Rolling Stone) is passionate about organic living. These products reflect her passion for being “green.” I quote her words here because I find them inspirational and because they are proof that beautiful fragrances can also be part of a sustainable culture:

We have great respect for the incredible properties of nature so we’re committed to making the purest, most natural products possible using only the highest grade of essential oils and plant extracts.

Our range contains the highest possible percentage of organic ingredients and we make sure they’re from accredited and audited sources. We’re dedicated to finding organic alternatives for widely used natural ingredients, working with suppliers to boost the production of accredited organic crops.

Nothing but nature
We never use the following in any of our products: animal ingredients, artificial colours, artificial fragrances, GM ingredients, petroleum derivatives, mineral oil, sodium laureth sulphates, phthalates, parabens, chemically derived active ingredients. Everything in our range is suitable for vegetarians.

Our products comply with European and FDA safety regulations. They’re made in Devon in the UK, and of course they are not tested on animals.

We’ve used glass for our bottles because it’s naturally derived and is recyclable. Glass is the best material to protect the precious contents, but because we don’t use chemical sunscreens you should keep your products out of sunlight and use them within 9 months of opening.

Jo Wood Oganics are available at Jo Wood Organics.
In the US, they can be purchased at Bergdorf Goodman, C.O. Bigelow Chemists and beautyhabit.com.

Amka Organic Body Dew: £45.00 ($85) 100 ml 3.4 fl oz
Usiku Organic Body Dew: £45.00 ($85) 100 ml 3.4 fl oz

image source: Jo Wood Organics.

Share This

Rich Hippie Organic Perfume has launched a new fragrance called Brown Sugar. This romantic, oriental-floral perfume contains:

Top notes: Italian Bergamot, Tunisian Orange Blossom

Middle notes: Moroccan Verveine, French Lavender

Base notes: French Angelica, Croatian Vanilla Bean

Brown Sugar is available in 0.5 oz perfume for $325. For more information, please visit: www.rich-hippie.com.

To read my recent review of Rich Hippie, please click here.

image and info source: OsMoz.com

Share This

Thank you for those who have already posted a Comment4aCure. I love hearing from you!

In addition to posting a comment, you may also visit our Comment4aCure online-shop by clicking on this button:

Tomorrow is the final day to Comment4aCure.

Share This

The Natural Perfumers Guild celebrated the one-year anniversary of the reopening of the Guild on June 1, 2007. Formerly known as the Artisan Natural Perfumers Guild, this Guild is:

a consortium of international perfumers, associates, suppliers and enthusiasts dedicated to perfumes made with natural aromatics. Founded by Mandy Aftel, author of Essence and Alchemy, the Guild is now under the ownership of Anya McCoy of Anya’s Garden of Natural Perfume.

As a new member of the Natural Perfumers Guild, I am delighted to help celebrate its anniversary!

For those of you interested in Natural Perfumery, I highly recommend looking at the list of perfumers, associates and suppliers found here.

And to see frequently asked questions about Natural Perfumery, I suggest the wonderful Natural Perfumery site.

Share This

Today (Monday June 4th) is the first of three days in which The Perfume Bee will be participating in Comments4aCure. For every comment you make to this blog, I will donate $1 to The National Brain Tumor Foundation.

I encourage you to check out these wonderful participating blogs and make comments on them, too. The money raised by your comments goes to a good cause (finding a cure for cancer) and you get to see some terrific beauty websites.

To give you something to comment on, I offer you my first-ever podcast. So now, get comfortable, settle back, and enjoy your Perfume Minute!

Thanks for visiting!

To listen to The Perfume Minute podcast #1, click here.

WARNING: This podcast opens perfectly in Firefox and Safari, but opening it in Internet Explorer may cause a sudden shut-down of your internet connection. I have no idea why…and if anyone has an explanation, please let me know!

Share This