My first tinctures of Spring ....Mahonia or Bluebells?

Mahonia Japonica
Originally uploaded by norwichrocks

Very hard decision. I threw open my windows to fresh air this afternoon, after receiving the first real welcomed warmth of spring sunshine. The most delicious perfume greeted and beckoned and drew me like a sirens song outside. Its creamy and honeyiest perfume is both alluring and beautiful..... I felt I wanted to tincture this .... which I shall asap.

My first priority was also to start the bluebells.... the sun had brought them out also under the canope of the woodland and the first of many thousands of the bluest flowers are beginning to open. My instincts are to begin in earnest and carry on from whence I experimented from last year....

I really was torn though and need some more jars so that I can do both... and I will...... Oh I love spring.

people see right through

Istanbul Market
Originally uploaded by ! ! JJJJJJJ

It is astounding how quickly the market turns on a dime.

It seems like yesterday that Natural Perfumery was endeavoring to make the Art of creating Natural Perfume known, reaching out to make itself heard. Now, before we know it, we have every Tom, Dick and Harry marketing themselves under this new banner, without any due care and attention, jumping on the band wagon and looking for the easy buck .

True artisans and gifted perfumers will quietly ride out the hoo hah and continue on the path knowing at some point the market will shift and change onto the next 'new' thing.

Natural Perfumery of course deserves the attention, as the artisan perfumers who are creating them .... but I giggle at business people whose hearts are not pure and just in it for the money.... they are just so transparent. ...people see right through.

no longer in the backwater

Originally uploaded by samuelbradley

I have just been musing on this last year. So much has happened in my world of natural perfumery.

When I first joined the group it was moving upwards to being a thousand members after five years I think One short year later and we are now fifteen hundred plus strong.

Same as the Guild when I was invited to join last year there were a few and since then so many illustrious fellowes have come together to help put Natural Perfumery on the Global map.

Natural Perfumery is no longer in the backwater it is being taken seriously accross the globe. I am delighted to be part of it .. at the start of it all those years ago here in the UK thinking I was one of the only people .... then along came Anya McCoy with the Guild and founder Mandy Aftel who have both contributed much in lifting the cobwebs of this most precious of Arts....

I am moving forward .... continue to source excellent ingredients and busy putting my new website together ... my old one is still up http://www.hayspace.co.uk/
and will be there until I go live with the new one. I will not be rushed as I have many committments at present and it will be finished when it is done... I am eager to get it out to you but at the same time I cannot just throw it together...

Of course the next really exciting news is that The Guild has joined the Blogging and is out there which is fantastic.....here is the url for anyone who wishes to go and take a look at all the wonderful things that the members will be getting up to now and it will be constantly updated by Anya's assistant Gisele.

http://naturalperfumersguild.blogspot.com/

the word 'natural'

Antique Essential Oil Bottles
Originally uploaded by mollycakes

With all the focus on organic and natural products which is getting enormous press and the boom that has surrounded it, legislation has decided that they want to analise the word 'natural' and omit substances like concretes and absolutes as they have small amounts of hexane left after distillation. This is a tiny tiny infinatesimal proportion.

If this went ahead it could cause considerable difficulties to many natural perfumers who like to separate themselves from other perfumers who use synthetic molecules in their pallette, by using 'natural' preceding perfumer, as well as marketing their perfumes in the same way again to separate and identify themselves in a large marketplace.

Both Anya and Steve Earl have been astute in jumping in to communication and energetically trying to resolve this potentially sticky situation. Tony Burfield from Cropwatch is also active in this.
To see Anya's blog on this just click here
http://www.anyasgarden.blogspot.com/2008/04/defining-word-natural.html

Also this morning browsing through I came accross this with some thoughts on this subject... click here.

http://www.perfumerflavorist.com/newsletter/17198966.html

Natural to me signifies botanical essences that are derived, not from man, but found naturally in the world about us.... the residue from the hexane in concretes and absolutes is infinatesimal. It would be good to come to an appropriate workable solution to this query.

Natural has come along way.