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Natural Perfumery FAQ
What are the ingredients of Anya's Garden natural perfumes?
My perfumes are composed of raw materials that come from plants, the soil, the ocean and animals.
There are no synthetic or petrochemical ingredients. My natural perfumes are blended in the classic French style, yet have a modern twist. I blend with the French dictates, but put my own terroir and aesthetics on these exciting, different perfumes. They are blended in organic alcohol, and may also contain a small amount of vegetable glycerin.
Is this aromatherapy?
Not at all, but this is a very valid question, since so many believe this due to erroneous reports. Aromatherapy focuses on nice-smelling blends that are used for healing, and these can be found in health food stores. Natural perfume contains concretes, absolutes, resins, essential oils, tinctures and, typically, high-proof organic alcohol. You will find natural perfumes online, in spas, boutiques and specialty high-end department stores. Natural perfumes are made following the rules of Classic French perfumery, aromatherapy blends are not.
Sourcing the finest aromatics and ingredients.
You have read my biography on this site, and you know I have years of experience as an ethnobotanist and natural perfumer. My experience gives me the ability to sample and source the finest natural aromatics from around the world.
I make many tinctures of the exotic, rare plants in my home's botanic garden, extracting essences not found in the industry. They are nonexistent in the industry due to their rarity or the inability of the manufacturing industry to extract the scent on a profitable scale.
At the artisanal scale, this is possible, and you benefit from this with wonderfully fragrant perfumes unlike any others.
Cruelty-free perfume.
Anya's Garden perfumes are tested on people, not animals. I use cruelty-free animal products in the perfumes, including beach-harvested ambergris, beeswax, choya nakh from seashells, and goat hair from the the head of a billy goat.
Organic, wildcrafted, sustainable.
The world is full of wonderful, exotic, exquisite raw aromatics. My philosophy is that there is no need to use the endangered or at-risk plants in perfume, so there is no Mysore sandalwood, Brazilian rosewood, spikenard, etc. in our perfume.
Yes, it is challenging to find alternatives, but perfumery is all about creativity, and I just pretend they never were part of the perfumer's palette, and go from there.
Allergies, sensitization, irritation, patch tests.
Ever have to cough, or have your nasal passages and throat close up because someone has a very strong perfume on in your vicinity?
That won't happen with natural perfumes. Many field tests confirm that.
This isn't to say that you might not have an allergy to certain ingredients, perhaps an herb or flower that you already know about when it causes you to sneeze in its growing form, e.g., a rose. However, you won't have a dramatic reaction.
To check if a perfume is apt to cause you a problem, you should conduct a patch test.
Since you'll also be breathing in the perfume at the same time, this can be a respiratory system check, also.
Place some of the perfume on your inside elbow, cover with a Band-Aid and wait 24 hours. If not redness or irritation appears, and if you have no respiratory distress, it is fine to purchase and use. For this reason, we always recommend purchasing samples before a full bottle.
Batch-to-batch variation?
Since natural aromatics and the animal-based fixatives that they contain may vary slightly from season to season, and region to region much like vintage wines, there may be some variation in an Anya's Garden perfume purchased from different batches. I make every effort to modify each batch to compensate for this variation, and propose that the lover of my perfumes accept what might be a slight twist on their favorite scent. The finest of French winemakers have their loyal client base who accept the gentle year-to-year variations in the wine, and I hope that the natural perfume customer will, also.
Support small businesses worldwide - artisanal and global.
I feel a kinship with other small businesses worldwide. The internet has allowed all of us to source and sell our products globally, which maintains our community locally. I search for the finest aromatics, recycled packaging goods, green-friendly products and I encourage you to do so, too.
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