Business FAQ

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Sample before Ordering

Please select the samples you desire, or the set. Sampling will insure you get the perfume you love.

Orders

When orders are processed, the perfume will be shipped within 48-72 hours, excluding weekends or holidays.

Due to the nature of artisanal products, and supply on hand, there will be occasions when there will be a delay in shipping. You will be notified quickly, and have the option of having the item on back order or having your purchase price, including shipping, refunded.

Returns/Refunds

There is a no-return policy. Please sample before ordering. Any item damaged or lost in shipping shall be replaced immediately, dependant upon availability. If it is not available at that time, a full refund will be given after a USPS investigation is completed.

If you receive the incorrect item, return it in the original packaging, at Anya's Garden's expense, and the problem will be corrected immediately.

The deposits and tuition for the online perfumery class are non-refundable for any reason. Understanding that some issues may occur that make it impossible for a student to complete the course, they may enroll in the next session. Only one free reenrollment is allowed. If a student is unenrolled from the course at the teacher's discretion, due to disruptive or other discretionary reasons, they will not receive a refund. If a student voluntarily unenrolls, they will not receive a refund.

Shipping

Depending on where you live, or are having the perfume shipped, delivery times vary. Anya's Garden will not be responsible for any delays in shipping. Delayed delivery cannot give rise to any penalty or indemnity, and shall not be reason for canceling the order.

Prices

All prices are in US dollars. Tax will be charged where applicable. Prices are what is shown on the website at the time of ordering.

Contact:

Anya's Garden
P.O. Box 245
Miami Shores, FL. 33153

Email: Please use the secure Contact Form to avoid robots spamming your email address.

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.

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.

The perfumes are never tested on animals. Well, people are animals, so just my test subjects and myself, who are willing and able to consent to skin applications.

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.