I am concerned about
recent negative news about perfume and
the movement to ban its use. The question whether perfume is toxic or not, or if so, how toxic, keeps rearing its head. A certain percentage of the population feels life would be better for them without perfume, and feels they have a legitimate request when they say they want perfume banned in the workplace, or in public spaces. I often feel they must be talking about a lot of the perfumes that are very commercial and made with materials that irritate even me. Issues of quality do matter, in perfume especially, just as they do in every other material thing to do with the body. Just as there is junk food and wine and great food and wine, perfume has a similar range, and everything in between. Similar also in what it does for your body and mind, how much you will truly enjoy it and how you can develop a taste for the subtleties and quality. Mass market anything can be pretty tough on a delicate system, though obviously many derive great enjoyment from these products, since their market is indeed massive.
Obviously, certain hand-made all natural perfumes are completely non-toxic, such as
Aftelier,
Roxana Illuminated Perfumes, or
Anya’s Garden. Other achingly beautiful perfumes that are made by the famously great French perfumers such as Ellena,
Duchaufour and
Ropion for
L’Artisan and
Frederic Malle and
Hermes and others most certainly must contain chemicals that would not be approved of by those who want to live an all-organic lifestyle. However, as we know, there is a vast difference between these artist's perfumes and mass market ones. The mass market perfume is often made to appeal to the very young, and so made as inexpensively as possible, or for the promotion of celebrity figures. In celebrity perfumes I think the resources are sometimes devoted mostly to the celebrity and their promotion rather than the quality of the fragrance, and therefore could be very heavy on the cheapest and possibly irritating ingredients.
There is
strong evidence that perfume chemicals are not actually allergens, but can act as physical irritants (along with many other things) to the respiratory system of sensitized individuals who have chronic conditions such as asthma and emphysema. Fragrances do not cause asthma or emphysema, but sometimes from the rhetoric of the anti-perfume lobby, you might think so. I am also beginning to think that as with noise, or heavy traffic, or unfamiliar sensations, certain individuals are more reactive to any sensory stimulus, especially if they get stressed or anxious and are in a state of heightened alert. It could be that chemicals in perfume are the least of their worries, as compared to car exhaust, oil spills, food additives, plastics, pesticides, and water pollution.
I personally would never want to cause anyone else distress through perfume. Obviously the whole purpose is then defeated. Fine perfume is very dear and precious because of the materials and artistry of the composition, and its purpose is to increase beauty, certainly not to increase stress.
I have family members who are sinusitis sufferers and asthmatic, so I am well aware of such sensitivities, and possibilities of desensitization from respiratory conditions. I myself find I can’t do more than a limited amount of trying different perfumes in the course of a few hours, or I will get a migraine and even lose my sense of smell temporarily. I know that my smell sensitivity and discernment changes dramatically from day to day, though scent for me is always a powerful mood elevator. The sheer beauty and evocation of sense memory afforded by beautiful perfumes has proved to be the most seductive of its qualities for me. Too much of anything will bother your system, even if you're healthy, such as food or alcohol or driving too fast or staying up too late too often. Too much perfume around can be bothersome, but I feel it is enough to ask people to be reasonable and not to overdo.
I began my interest in perfume by reading Mandy Aftel’s
Essence and Alchemy and through her info getting raw materials to try on my own, as based on the recommendations in the back of her book, from direct suppliers. Through the perfume blogs and
Sniffapalooza and generous perfumistas (especially Chayaruchama, the patron saint of perfume generosity) over time, I was exposed to many of the greats of the vintage perfumes and the classic European perfume houses, and the refined artists of L’Artisan, Goutal and Guerlain and many, many others. I was bowled over by their exquisite quality and evocative artistry, and thereby came to accept chemicals in fine fragrance as part of the process, and as necessary for the expanded palette and particular scent qualities they impart. I know as one who has done painting and printmaking and photography, that many mediums require the use of toxic chemicals that you would certainly not want to drink, but that you can indeed produce something utilizing certain chemical means that after stabilization and completion will not be harmful to the consumer.
At the same time, there is the good example of
Christopher Brosius of
CB I Hate Perfume. He has a deep knowledge of man made musk molecules, and other chemical ingredients. He is making very modern and beautiful perfumes available at a relatively affordable price, partly because of the incorporation of such man-made scent molecules along with natural elements. If you know what you are doing, and care, you can make things that don't irritate people, even using such chemicals, to expand the range of effects available. The water carrier instead of alcohol gives it a gentler evaporation and a more wholesome immediate effect on initial application. CB writes on their site how he has personally been very irritated by certain musk molecules, emanating from perfumed students in his yoga class, and so became very understanding of the problems people have with perfume when it is not made with care to address these kinds of issues. I also think that the agent of evaporation, such as the alcohol in perfume, or the liquid in diffusers, or the smoke of incense has an effect and can be irritating in themselves. Those types of perfumes can be better used at home or among friends who are not suffering from respiratory illness.
There are many ways that scent can be worn in public or at work without it registering excessively on others, unless they get closer than a foot or so away. In my experience, once the top most evaporative notes have burnt off, the mid and base notes hold much closer to the body, and there isn't a problem. To be on the safe side you can apply about an hour ahead of time.
The true naturals are very subtle and don’t throw far, and I know
Mandy Aftel herself wears them on her face, because they are for her rather than anyone else, and because they are so expensive and subtle and fugitive. Perfumes that are not all naturals have different throw boundaries, which can be learned, and can be worn in smaller amounts, or applied an hour ahead to work past the top notes, or as perfumed soaps or lotions that cling to the skin very closely.
I find it alarming that through marketing and advertising, people are convinced that products that are very inexpensive such as BPAL or Body Shop are all naturals and therefore superior in some way to other perfumes. I would make a bet that there aren't any real naturals in BPAL at all, and if there are any in Body Shop they would be in an infinitesimally microscopic amount. If there were, they'd have to cost much much much more than they do. People also don't realize that in order for a product to be non scented, a lot of chemicals have been added in order to block the scent of the ingredients, whatever they may be, good or bad, from your nose. Everything has a scent, even water. The sense of smell also alerts to danger, so it's not safe to try to live an anosmic life, either.
Essential oils can be nice, but these are single notes and not compositions or perfumes, and a very different thing, more in the line of aromatherapy, if you know what you are doing. I recall that Ropion used head space technology to get the dominant single note of the tuberose for Carnal Flower, but then tweaked it to take out the cloying aspect, and intensified other aspects to get more green freshness, which is the work of an artist with a feel for his materials and the result is beyond nature, new, subtle and of intoxicating beauty.
I think it is important to answer people's concerns about perfume, and work more consistently and harder to counter a lot of the misinformation and distortion, because most people don't have much experience with the different kinds of perfume being made today, and tend to believe what they read if it is cloaked in concerns for safety.
There's also been
research to show that certain scents, such as vanilla, whether in natural or artificial form, cause a decrease of stress chemical levels in the body, and are soothing and mood elevating. I would expect the same could be said for many perfume elements, such as lavender, rose, jasmine, neroli, vetiver, labdanum, frankincense, and so many others. At this time, the lindens are on the verge of blooming and pouring out their fragrance into the Brooklyn streets, and it's one of the joys of life. I know it must bother some people, but I would not want to have trees cut down because they may cause allergies to flare.
Perfume is a very ancient art, and it would be a great loss to try to remove it from the modern world, especially now that it is turning into a true art form and a means of expression for so many talented individuals.
Peace sign above from
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wo, and also pansies in the darker shadowy areas beneath trees and at the foot of the buildings and in pots, with some older varieties of flowers such as lily of the valley, going vigorously strong and barely held back behind the crumbling wrought iron fences. We have tangles of honeysuckle taking hold both as planted and as rampant weeds in the parks, which scent the night air. We have neat and orderly annuals in the window boxes and the planters. We have blooming privet hedges, which are grown tall from age, and all this makes a soft scent margin at the edges of the sidewalks, right next to the chaos of the traffic.
utiful in their own way. But still, I am shocked at how much is in bloom this year, and how refreshing it is. I think over the time I've lived here, people have planted a lot more, and taken care of the trees very carefully, and it's really showing results this year.
eaviness of heat tiredness and heavy air. It's has the cleanliness of lavender and the subtle mentholated quality of white sage. I am taking a page from Mandy Aftel's book of tricks, and rubbing Vera into my temples, and a little onto the ends of my hair, because such refined hand-made organic and natural materials are so precious, and gentle, and beneficial. On my face it envelops me in a mild cloud of scent, and I claim such beauty for myself, first and most of all.
site for more information about the making of and inspiration for Vera, and soothing visual poetry and lore about natural perfume materials and bees...
