The Perfume Bee

CHERYL LU-LIEN TAN has written an informative article about organic cosmetics for the Wall Street Journal Online. It is titled, “Turning Your Skin Green: Cosmetic makers want in on the organic craze, but sorting out labels’ claims isn’t easy”:

It happened with milk, produce and clothing. Now the debate about organics is hitting cosmetics, too.

Some of the biggest names in skin-care are jumping into the organic market, which until recently was a niche product for specialty stores. Estée Lauder, for instance, has nine products in its new Origins Organics line. L’Occitane en Provence and fashion designer Stella McCartney are also expanding into organics.

But such products are already raising some questions. One is whether organic cosmetics provide health or beauty benefits compared to nonorganic products. And for consumers who decide they want to go green, shopping can be confusing since the labeling isn’t consistent. Whole Foods Market and some environmental groups have formed a task force and are now pushing the U.S. Department of Agriculture to adopt standards for organic skin care.

You can read the entire article here: WSJ online

As always, I am delighted when I see the mainstream media writing about organic personal care products. The labeling of organic skincare products and cosmetics has become very trendy, and public awareness and demand for accurate information is on the rise. But this is a trend I am all in favor of, and hopefully in the not-too-distant future choosing genuinely organic make-up will be as easy as selecting a carton of milk.

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Model Josie Maran has announced the launch of her new organic cosmetics line:

After years of strutting the catwalk and posing for Maybelline ads, Josie Maran is taking fresh faces to a whole new level.

This fall, the seasoned beauty veteran is getting her feet wet in the organic beauty business with the launch of her eponymous cosmetics brand. The natural, toxin-free line, Josie Maran Cosmetics, aims to brighten complexions with wearable color without losing sight of the environment….

To ensure that they used only the purest formulas, Maran and her team screened each product through the Environmental Working Group’s Web site, ewg.org. As a result, the final ingredients list reads almost like a baking recipe. Products contain various combinations of corn starch, cocoa butter, pomegranate oil, jojoba, avocado oil, olive oil, coconut and soybean, to name a few (via Womens Wear Daily at wwd.com).

For more info, please visit josiemarancosmetic.com

image source: wwd.com

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I recently tried a terrific moisturizer from the new organic luxury skin care collection, L’uvalla (from wellness company Yuvalla). It is called “Regenerating Age-Defying Day/Night Cream,” and it contains extracts of Calendula, Sage, Rosemary, Ylang Ylang flower, Thyme, Lavender and Lotus Extract. It also contains a variety of nutritious oils, such as hazel seed oil, sunflower seed oil, and wheatgerm oil.

In fact, the entire ingredient list is practically safe enough to eat. If you click here, you can see the list for yourself. I encourage you to check it out, because when you hover your cursor over an ingredient in the list, a pop-up will show you exactly what the ingredient is and what it is used for.

This rich cream goes on easily and is non-greasy; it’s almost matte in its finish. And it smells delicious! It has a lemony, rose geranium, slightly herbaceous scent that I found quite delightful.

This is a moisturizer which works extremely well and which you can feel good about using:

L’uvalla blends nourishing, chemical-free benefits of holistic skin treatment with the appeal of a premium skin care line. L’uvalla carries the stringent European Eco-cert organic certification and is natural vegan, cruelty-free, and formulated with active ingredients that are certified 100% organic.

Yuvalla, LLC, is dedicated to providing high-quality wellness products, services and information that empower people to create positive transformation in body, mind and spirit. Yuvalla is committed to the principles of integrative wellness, the use of renewable energy sources, sustainable and socially responsible business practice, the use of natural and organic products, and support of human and animal rights.

Evoking wellness on physical, emotional and spiritual levels is central to Yuvalla’s mission of providing high-quality tools for authentic living in mind, body and soul. In harmony with Yuvalla’s mission to aid in personal and social transformation and their wish to give back, ten percent of all proceeds will go to the Yuvalla Foundation which supports causes from the elimination of poverty to the protection of our environment and its wildlife (via press release).

Price: 1.46 FL OZ. (3 Month Supply) - $51.50

L’uvalla products are available at luvalla.com and at natural retail stores.

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According to the American Academy of Dermatology, the average adult uses at least seven different skin care products each day. And yet only 11 percent of the 10,500 ingredients in personal care products documented by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have been assessed for safety by the cosmetic industry (according to the Environmental Working Group, Skin Deep, 2007).

As a result, many of us are choosing to use natural and organic skin care products. However, there are no federal or state regulatory requirements for organic or natural personal care products manufactured in the United States. It is incumbent upon us, the consumers, to analyze facts and labels try to make sense of what is safe for our bodies. I am always seeking useful information on this topic to share with you in hopes of making sense of this confusing world of labeling and natural skincare.

One handy resource I’d like to share with you is the collection of natural body care podcasts presented by Whole Foods Market. These informative, easy-to-listen-to podcasts cover a range of topics, from internal cleansing to Superfoods. The following 15-minute Natural Skin Care podcast provides a nice overview of natural skin care while drawing on the expertise of a 3 beauty experts: a nutritionist, an aesthetician, and a natural body care buyer.

 

 Natural Skin Care Options: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (184)

Disclaimer: Of course, The Perfume Bee accepts no advertising revenue from Whole Foods Market. I’m just passing along this information for you to use as you choose. For specific medical conditions, please consult your health care practitioner.

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Last Saturday night I attended a festive evening soiree and wanted to wear a suitably dressy fragrance. I chose “Whole Notes,” a floral oriental perfume from Canadian perfumer Lyn Ayre of Coeur d’Esprit Natural Perfume.

Whole Notes has notes of: Bergamot, Linden Blossom, Pink Lotus, Mimosa, Black Currant Bud, Oud, Clary Sage absolute, and Labdanum.

This beautiful fragrance turned out to be the perfect choice. Whole Notes is subtly elegant and does not overpower even on the sultriest of summer evenings. It opens with a light kiss of Linden Blossom and then deepens into the sweet, heady Mimosa and Pink Lotus notes. The woody, resinous labdanum pulls it together nicely, and contributes to a fairly long-lasting drydown (about 2 hours).

Whole notes is available online at ScentofNature.net.

Cost: 10 ml - $37.50; 33 ml - $65; 60 ml - $110.

image source: i-stockphoto.com, copyright Aleksey Telnov

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After reading yesterday’s post, you will be aware that phthalates in perfume and other fragranced products are toxic. Consumer Reports Winter 2007 describes some studies that support that statement:

In rodent studies, phthalates have caused testicular injury, liver injury, and liver cancer. We found no such clear hazards in human research.

But we did find studies suggesting that phthalates may be associated with other health issues, including the following four examples from one source alone, EHP [Environmental Health Perspectives], which is a leading journal published by the National Institutes of Health.

In 2000, EHP published a small study that said elevated blood levels of phthalates were associated with premature breast development in young girls.

Another report in 2003 found that men with higher concentrations of two phthalate breakdown products in their urine were more likely to have a low sperm count or low sperm motility.

A study published in 2005 said women with higher levels of four phthalate compounds in their urine during pregnancy were likelier to give birth to boys with smaller scrotums.

And a 2006 report cited low testosterone levels in male newborns exposed to higher levels of phthalates in breast milk.

This is just the tip of the iceberg of studies describing the ill effects of phthalates and other chemicals found in modern perfume and cosmetics. As a mother of two sons, I find these studies particularly disturbing. In the midst of compiling research to share with you, I came across a very cogent article written by the wise people at RealMama.org.

Titled, “Chemicals in Cosmetics,” the article does a masterful job of pulling together the latest scientific information on the health risks of chemicals in beauty products. It also contains a very useful list of links to the original scientific sources. Here is what the article says about endocrine-disruptors:

The endocrine system is a complex network of glands and hormones that regulates many of the body’s functions, including growth, development maturation, and reproduction. The endocrine glands release carefully-measured amounts of hormones into the bloodstream that act as natural chemical messengers, traveling to different parts of the body in order to control and adjust many life functions. The theory concludes that chemicals, or endocrine disruptors, when absorbed into the body either mimic or block the appropriate amount of hormones and disrupt the body’s normal function.

The entire article may be read at Realmama.org/archives. I encourage you to take a look — it’s a real eye-opener.

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Last week, the Environmental Working Group (ewg.org) released a report highlighting the prevalence of hormone-disrupting chemicals from common consumer products, including perfume, which are accumulating in San Francisco Bay. These chemicals pose environmental hazards to humans and marine life in the area:

Hormone-disrupting chemicals from a wide variety of consumer products are polluting San Francisco Bay, posing risks to marine life and challenges for consumers and utility districts. Tighter regulatory controls on consumer products containing these chemicals are necessary to protect human and environmental health.

…Chemicals such as phthalates, bisphenol A, and triclosan are introduced into everyday products like cosmetics, antibacterial soap, perfumes, food and beverage containers and plastic bottles, with little regulatory oversight. Fish exposed to hormone-disrupting chemicals can develop “intersex” characteristics, such as males with immature eggs in their testes.

The whole article can be read at yubanet.com.

The presence of phthalates in perfumes is one of the reasons The Perfume Bee went green. To see just how prevalent these hormone-disrupting phthalates are in perfume, I looked at a recent study released by Consumer Reports.

They submitted 8 perfumes to a scientific laboratory for analysis and came up with some disheartening results. Of the 8 perfumes tested, all 8 fragrances contained phthalates. Worse still, two of them (Aveda Love Pure-Fume Essence and Aubrey Organics Jade Spice Eau de Parfum), which are touted as natural and phthalate-free, contained at least two different phthalates. The eight perfumes tested included:

• Aveda Love Pure-Fume Essence
• Aubrey Organics Jade Spice Eau de Parfum
• Celine Dion Parfums Eau de Toilette Spray by Coty
• Christian Dior Poison Eau de Toilette Spray
• Clinique Happy Perfume Spray
• Elizabeth Taylor White Diamonds Eau de Parfum
• Estée Lauder Beautiful Eau de Parfum Spray
• Liz Claiborne Curve Eau de Toilette Spray

The report states:

All the fragrances we tested contained at least these two phthalates: Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), which is banned in cosmetics in Europe, and diethyl phthalate (DEP), which is not banned and was present in much larger amounts. Our findings seem counter to a fragrance-industry survey that reported DEHP use is down to zero. (Consumer Reports)

These products did not list phthalates on their labels, because by law they can list the word “fragrance” without citing any of its components, including phthalates.

What is one to do? Switching to natural perfumes is one very clear choice.

Consumer Reports has some other suggestions:

If you use perfume, consider skipping it every other day-or drop it altogether if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding.

Seek out deodorants, hair sprays, body lotions, and other products that don’t list in their ingredients the word “fragrance” (or “fragrance/parfum”), which might indicate phthalates.

Be aware that even if a product says “unscented” or “fragrance free” on the label, there’s no guarantee it’s phthalate-free. Some “fragrance free” products include a masking fragrance to cover up the chemical smell of the raw ingredients (Consumer Reports)

I also highly recommend the EWG’s Consumer Data Base. It lists over 750 men’s and women’s fragrances and gives each a relative safety score based on its ingredients.

Tomorrow, I will discuss “Why we need to be concerned about phthalates in perfume.”

image source: istockphoto.com; copyright: Samantha Grandy

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Please join me as I continue my Q and A with Alexandra Balahoutis, founder of Strange Invisible Perfumes. To read Part I of this interview, please click here.

Bee: What advice do you have for natural perfumers just starting out?

Alexandra: Don’t do it! Just kidding. Beware of bad information. Beware of dishonest vendors or those who do not know what they are selling. Find a way to achieve the note that you want to include.

Don’t listen when people tell you that a natural perfume can never perform as well as one that contains synthetics. Chances are, they are selling synthetics or products that contain them. Remember that synthetics are less expensive and easier to work with. That is why many companies use them.

If you like synthetics, use them but don’t lie about it. Don’t believe the hype about what makes a “nose.” Do not pursue some fancy, esoteric identity. Just make beautiful compositions. Affectation spoils it.

Bee: What have you found most surprising about being a perfumer and/or boutique-owner?

Alexandra: How bad I am with remembering names.

Bee: Your current collection currently has over twenty perfumes. Do you have a personal favorite?

Alexandra: It changes hourly. They are like children. I have no favorites but I am more compatible with some than with others.

Bee: You have a fascinating way of developing custom perfumes. Could you please share what that involves?

Alexandra: I must become well acquainted with a person and ask them all kinds of questions. When we are finished with our conversation, I know everything about their sensory preferences and the concepts and places that excite them. I view each subject as a figure with a philosophy to impart as well as tastes to reveal. I learn a lot listening to people speak about their ideals and what delights their senses.

Bee: What is new and up-and-coming at Strange Invisible Perfumes?

Alexandra: Quite a bit. Eau de parfum, highly addictive body products of unbelievable purity, and the usual new releases. The first is a wild composition inspired by the tropics. All I can say is it’s so enticing and nectar-like that it takes considerable restraint not to drink it.

Bee: In addition to your LA Boutique and your on-line store, where else are your perfumes currently available?

Alexandra: Select Barneys New York locations, Turpan (Los Angeles) and Quartier 206 in Berlin.

Bee: As a company, can you tell us what steps you are taking towards being “green?”

Alexandra: My staff cares deeply about the environment. Like me, they are personally and professionally committed to being green. We make sure that our modus operandi honors this commitment: we use biodegradable peanuts instead of Styrofoam to ship our packages, recycle and reuse as much as possible, and insist on earth-friendly cleaners for our office, lab and boutique. We found these great biodegradable corn plastic cups and utensils, and always use them when hosting events at our boutique. We also cater our events with delicacies and organic produce from local suppliers.

Obviously, the biggest step is making sure that we put out a green product – one that is completely natural, strictly botanical and free from synthetic chemicals that are often toxic and non-biodegradable. I use 100% organic grape alcohol as a base in my perfumes and work with distillers who supply organic, wildcrafted or biodynamically grown ingredients.

I also felt it was essential to go the green route with product packaging for our new lines launching in the Fall. Being a botanical perfumery, deep appreciation and respect for nature is at the crux of our identity and we’re always looking for more ways to enact this devotion.

Bee: Do you have any closing thoughts?

Alexandra: It is so lovely that people are truly beginning to understand that there can be no exceptional products without exceptional ingredients.

Bee: Thank you, Alexandra! We wish you and everyone at Strange Invisible Perfumes all the best!

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After my recent review of Strange Invisible Perfumes, I wanted to know more about the perfumer behind these delightful creations. To do so, I had a nice email exchange of Q & A with Alexandra Balahoutis, the 32-year old founder and creator of Strange Invisible Perfumes.

Alexandra is passionate about natural perfume and has been creating fragrances professionally for the last seven years. She uses only organic, wild-crafted and/or biodynamic ingredients in her products. Strange Invisible Perfumes are available at the Strange Invisible Perfumes boutique in Venice, California, and online at SIPerfumes.com.

Join me as we chat with the talented and thoughtful perfumer, Alexandra Balahoutis.

Perfume Bee: Hi, Alexandra. At what age did you know you would become a professional perfumer?

Alexandra Balahoutis: At 21, I began to study. I started professionally at 25.

Bee: What led you to this decision?

Alexandra: I cared so much about advancing my knowledge and skill. I could see a very clear future as a perfumer from the very first day I started my education. There was an unstoppable drive to master the art and business of perfumery. I hadn’t experienced that level of clarity or drive with any of my other interests.

Bee: Can you describe your background and training in perfumery?

Alexandra: I am self-taught for the most part. However, botanical perfumer John Steele is my mentor. He studied mainly in India. He is also an anthropologist and archaeologist. His guidance and teachings have been invaluable to me. He is a true aromatic visionary.

Bee: What are your guiding principles in making perfume?

Alexandra: Sincere inspiration, precious botanical ingredients, and diligence in formulating are what lead me to what I call ‘authentic perfumery.’ No synthetics. Only premium ingredients.

Bee: What is the process like for you when creating a new fragrance?

Alexandra: I listen to my intuition and embrace whim and romance, but I work hard and I question my work intensely. I am not easily satisfied with myself. There is a standard and people have expectations, myself included.

It isn’t simply about worshiping essential oils and throwing them together. Botanical perfumery is hard work. Discovering new ways to achieve much loved notes without using synthetics is a lot of work.

Bee: If you had to describe your perfume-creating process, would you consider yourself to be a) a mad scientist! b) a dreamy dreamer or c) none of the above.

Alexandra: A mad dreamer. My vision is delicate but my process is intense. I pull very elusive energies and impressions from the ether into the physical world and then into a very new market place.

Bee: You use 100% natural and botanical ingredients in your perfumes. Was this an easy or difficult choice for you?

Alexandra: The choice was easy. My convictions had become so strong without even my own consent. I knew that I couldn’t leave violet, gardenia, leather, lily of the valley, et cetera out of my compositions but I couldn’t use their synthetic representatives.

I worked day and night to crack these codes by combining essences and aromas, not by manipulating them. Reaching the standard with such criteria has been a challenging route but a very rewarding one.

Bee: Do you find any limitations when using botanicals?

Alexandra: There are some but I don’t accept them and it has always worked out for me. I hit a wall and then at some point, I make an incredible discovery. Achieving notes this way is so much more exciting.

A perfumer should interpret aromas and their impressions, not merely deliver their industrial profiles yet again to the public. A perfumer must have a point of view.

Bee: You favor the hydrodistillation of essential oils. Please tell us about that.

Alexandra: I love this method because it captures many of the delicate, energetic top notes that often escape the distillation process. Hydro-distillations also have a very distinctive, crystalline quality that I love. But I also use essences that result from different methods of extraction with the exception of Co2 extractions.

…coming next, Part II: Alexandra shares advice for new perfumers, discusses what is on the horizon for Strange Invisible Perfumes, and describes what it takes to be a green company…

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I am a self-avowed Orange Blossom fan, so when it was time to choose one of Natural Perfumer JoAnne Bassett’s beautiful fragrances to review, it was on obvious choice: Petit Trianon. Part of the Royal Collection, Petit Trianon contains notes of Orange Blossom absolute, Ambrette, Lavender vera, Black Spruce and others.

This well-blended and elegant fragrance is a delight to the senses. The Orange Blossom top note gives it a warm, sunshiney beginning. I detect a mysterious cinnamon note in the middle, and then it dries down to a very soft, delicious classic floral perfume. I found myself repeatedly sniffing my wrist on this one — it’s truly a happy and beautiful fragrance. Two thumbs up, JoAnne!

To read more about JoAnne Bassett and her line of natural perfumes, please check out this wonderful interview by Joyce on Noteworthy Fragrances.blogspot.com.

Petit Trianon is available online at JoAnneBassett.com.
Cost: Petit Trianon, 1/4-oz. parfum, $145; 1-oz. EDP, $75.

Orange blossom and oranges, Photo by Ellen Levy Finch, freely licensed under Wikimedia Commons.

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