The Perfume Bee

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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Times Online writer Carolyn Asome has provided a very helpful guide to holistic and organic beauty products which she tested over a six-week period. She examined products from Dr. Hauschka, Stella McCartney, Spiezia, Neil’s Yard Remedies, Jurlique, Organic Pharmacy, and Alexandra Soveral. Her top marks went to Spiezia and Alexandra Soveral. The entire article may be read here.

Of the seven brands she reviewed, I am most familiar with Dr. Hauschka. In fact, last month I had my first Dr. Hauschka facial. It was unlike any other facial I’ve ever received. It began with a grounding spruce-scented foot bath. This was followed by rhythmic touch, lymph stimulation, aromatherapy and gentle exfoliation, all with Dr. Hauschka’s pure botanical preparations. It ended with a facial massage using soft bristled brushes to stimulate the facial lymph glands. It was a very relaxing procedure, and the funny thing I noticed while driving home was an improvement in my vision! I’m convinced it had something to do with the rhythmic stimulation of accupressure points around my eyes. It was a very nice bonus.

I am in the process of reading Awakening Beauty: the Dr. Hauschka Way, by Susan West Kurz with Tom Monte. I recommend this beautiful book as a great introduction to living a holistic-beauty lifestyle. It emphasizes that true beauty is an inside job and offers practical, detailed advice for caring for one’s skin using simple, homemade products. The book also includes meditation techniques, meal plans, and delicious organic recipes.

It amazes me that Dr. Hauschka’s products have been around nearly as long as I have (they are celebrating their 40th anniversary) and I am only now just beginning to get to know them. It’s like the old saying, “When the student is ready, the teacher appears.” I’d love to hear of your experiences with this line or any of the other six mentioned in Carolyn Asome’s article.

photo source of Dr. Hauschka products: Times Online
photo source of book: amazon.com

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Organic Perfumery Rich Hippie has released a new perfume called Flower Child. This fragrance is described as:

Light, airy, sexy and sweet floral with Albanian Orris Root, Bulgarian Rose, Turkish Rose, Madagascan Rose Geranium and Croatian Lavender Flower.

I found this to be a very apt description. Flower Child is very sweet and light with a “walking on air” quality that I can only describe as “floaty.” The Madagascan Rose Geranium and Lavender notes lend it a slightly herbaceous edge, while the Rose heart notes balance delicately above the Orris Root base. The image it brings to my mind is that of soft white dandelion tufts dancing on unseen currents as they get carried along by the wind. Perhaps the lightest of the Rich Hippie scents I’ve tried, Flower Child is perfect to wear on a balmy, sunny day.

Flower Child is available at Rich Hippie. Cost: 1/2 ounce @ $285.

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The July 6, 2007 episode of WYNC’s The Leonard Lopate Show features a good interview with two prominent scientists in the world of scent. Dr. Luca Turin is an employee of Flexitral and author of The Secret of Scent: Adventures in Perfume and the Science of Smell. Dr. Charles Wysocki is a member of the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Side note: I remember Dr. Wysocki from my days working as a lab technician at Monell in the mid-1980s. Small world!)

The interview lasts about 35 minutes and provides some good scientific understanding of the sense of smell. I take issue, however, with one of Dr. Turin’s comments. A caller to the radio showed asked how much credence one should give to aromatherapy. Dr. Turin’s reply: “None.”

Later, Dr. Turin had a more positive opinion while discussing Egyptian perfumers of the distant past. He explained that the ancient Egyptians had complex perfume recipes which, when recreated today, are said to smell wonderful.

Here is the link to the interview:

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I was pushing my shopping cart to my car when I came upon this unexpected floral display in the parking lot of my local supermarket.

As always, flowers say it best:

Have a happy and safe Fourth of July!

I’ll be taking the rest of the week off for some vacation time at the beach with my family. Be back Monday!

Love,
Christine

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Trendhunter Magazine has uncovered these cool, handmade perfume rings from designer Johanna Jansson.
Yanko Design describes them:

Jewelry is never really meant to function in any purposeful way. People wear them to adorn and decorate. The perfume ring by Johanna Jansson flips that around and gives function to what otherwise would just be a bobble on our fingers.

Inspired by haute couture, the ring is created utilizing rapid prototyping in resin and old fashioned cutting and grinding. The layered glass effects create colors and special optical illusions, bending and refracting light. However the real gem here is the hollow structure with tap so you can apply a spritz of perfume anytime, anywhere.

What could be more convenient? I love this fun yet functional summertime jewelry!

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