Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words, and a video is worth even more. Here is a short video clip of natural perfumer Mandy Aftel, of Aftelier Perfumes, that I thought you would enjoy. It’s a little confusing in that Mandy mentions Vetiver in the perfume formula she calls “Absolutely Audrey,” but the written recipe indicates Vanilla. Regardless, it’s a good clip:
Thanks to Anya, at Anya’s garden.com for the tip!
Sphere: Related ContentThis 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.
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The 35th Annual Fifi Awards (aka The Fragrance Oscars) were held Thursday night in the Winter Garden at the World Financial Center in New York. Hosted by the Fragrance Foundation, this gala’s celebrity presenters included Sean Combs, Paula Abdul, Daisy Fuentes, Zac Posen and Jane Seymour. Grammy winner John Legend played a musical number.
The winners of this year’s Fifi awards include:
Hall of Fame Award: Donna Karan
Fragrance Hall of Fame: Angel by Thierry Mugler — Clarins Fragrance Group
Women’s Luxe: Juicy Couture by Liz Claiborne Cosmetics
Men’s Luxe (tie): Terre d’Hermès — Hermès; Unforgivable by Sean John — Sean John Fragrances/Estée Lauder
Women’s Nouveau Niche: KenzoAmour — Kenzo Parfums
Men’s Nouveau Niche: Viktor & Rolf Antidote — L’Oréal USA
Women’s Private Label/Direct Sell: Dream Angels Desire — Victoria’s Secret Beauty
Men’s Private Label/Direct Sell: Banana Republic Black Walnut — Inter Parfums USA
Women’s Popular Appeal: American Beauty Wonderful Indulgence — BeautyBank Inc.
Men’s Popular Appeal: Antonio Antonio Banderas — Puig Beauty USA Inc.
Speaking of perfume and computers, I recently had a “What will they think of next?” moment. It seems that Calvin Klein has become the first global fragrance brand to launch in the virtual world of second life.
Second Life residents and visitors will be able to visit the CK IN2U site to pick up virtual bottles of the new IN2U fragrances for him and her. They will be able to spray virtual partners with virtual “fizzing fragrance bubbles” to initiate dialogue (via vnunet).
For those of us new to the whole Second Life phenom, have no fear. There are actually virtual-tour guidebooks available to help us along! Check out this springwise.com article for more info.
What will they think of next?!?
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The popular press has published several interesting articles about perfume in the past few weeks. London Times writer Vicci Bentley discusses the natural vs. synthetic issue of perfumery in last Sunday’s article, “Natural Selection.”
“Modern perfumery couldn’t exist without synthetic molecules,” says the perfumer Roja Dove.
“Synthetically enhanced scents are loud and tenacious; natural oils keep themselves to themselves,” (natural perfumer Mandy) Aftel says.
As always, there is plenty to say on both sides of this lively debate.
Also in the news, Time magazine (May 3, 2007) features an informative article about perfume titled, “The Smell of Competition,” by Jeremy Caplan. In the article, Jean-Pierre Subrenat, chairman of the World Perfumery Congress and former head of the American Society of Perfumers, had this to say about master perfumers:
The best scent specialists are so savvy that they can identify the most prominent three ‘notes’ in any commercial product with a smell, and can often guess who designed it.
It sounds like “Name that Tune” except with scent!
This issue has a related article describing how perfume gets made. It includes a terrific picture of the “smell camera” used to detect and absorb the molecules surrounding a plant to record its scent. You can see it here.
Both of the Time magazine articles can be read online here.
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