By Creezy Courtoy, IPF Founder and Chair, Perfume Historian and Anthropologist

In the West, the growing influence of the Church, preserving the Roman medical tradition could not provide the necessary elements for progress in the art of healing.
We had to wait for new ideas from the East to witness an upheaval in interior notions in the 11th century.
Arabian doctors influenced Pharmacy, botanical knowledge developed and aromatic substances from the East arrived in the West. Amber and musk in particular: the smoke of amber has long been used to prevent epileptic crisis.
At the same time, the use of the still allowed the preparation of essences of rosemary, cedar, bitter almonds...

The science of the Moors of Spain and the recipes of their doctors were the basis of the famous School of Salerno which had an enormous influence in the Middle Ages.
Jean de Milan in 1066, brought together under the title of “Aphorisines” all the precepts of the School. Certain aromatic plants had, in his eyes, incredible properties. This is the case of fragrant sage which received the name of Orvale, because it was worth gold.
This meeting between East and West was to allow the pharmacy to free itself from medical tutelage, by gradually abandoning empirical practices, to form a particularly active and important corporation. However, we will have to wait several centuries before the art of healing also becomes a science.

It is important here to mention the role of Perfume in Medicine.
The use of fumigations for preventive or curative purposes.
MAUGUET, in his “Treatise on the Plague”, describes the carnival costume that those who approached the plague victims had to wear:
“It is made in Moroccan Leather from the Levant, the mask and eyes of crystal and a long nose filled with perfumes. The beak-shaped nose has only two holes, one on each side of the place of the natural nose openings, but it can be enough for breathing, and it is to carry with the air we breathe the impression of the drugs contained further in the beak”

Pierre de SORDES, de Figéac wrote a treatise which he dedicated to Cardinal de Sourdis, Archbishop of Aquitaine, saying "that one preserved oneself from infection by avoiding fatigue, anger, intemperance... by perfuming one's clothes with laurel, marjoram, sage, fennel, juniper wood, myrrh, frankincense, etc.

As for Michel de NOSTRE-DAME, famous doctor-perfumer of the Renaissance (better known under the name of Nostradamus) who invented a scented powder “of perfect beauty and excellence” during the epidemic of the plague of Aix, of 1546.  

Here is the formula:
“Take sawdust of the greenest cypress, one ounce; 
  Of Florence iris, six ounces; 
  Of cloves, three drams; 
  Of calamus, three drams; 
  Of aloe wood, six drams; 
  Take three or four hundred ingrown red roses, all fresh picked before the   dew, 
  Pound the whole thing in a mortar;
  Make small pills and dry in the shade; 
  Add musk and amber according to your will and power”

I will not add the whole listing of remedies used here, but most of them used fragrances and olfaction.
In 1626 Jean PARÉ, apothecary of the Duchess of Lorraine, provided her with iris powder, rose oil, lavender soap...

PART 2
​Next Month: Perfumes considered as secret remedies from the end of the 17th century to the Law of Germinal

Consumers are looking for original, handmade luxury products and an incredible number of makers, craftspeople, and artisans are growing rapidly but often are invisible because a lot of their activities are happening out of the public eye, online or at markets.
While the New Luxury Code is making its way encouraging companies, as an experiential marketing tool, to become more transparent and give consumers answers to an increasing number of questions; more and more people are looking for new jobs, giving a renewal to craftsmanship and returning to the ancient savoir-faire and artisans creating authentic luxury products. It is very interesting to see how social media is empowering craftsmanship and handmade products worldwide to respond to consumer's increasing demands for authentic luxury products. 
 
When consumers started understanding that Climate Change and Covid19 are changing the way we do business by encouraging buying local products, their perception of luxury changed too.
Artisans are closer to consumers and can follow the New Luxury Code more easily and therefore have an advantage over multinational companies who need to restructure themselves and completely modify their time consuming processes to create luxury handmade products.
 
More and more visionaries are confirming the same point of view.
Independent media are showing and following what consumers are looking for: luxury handmade products.
 
When we asked this question to 100 people:
“Would you pay more for a luxury handmade product instead of buying a luxury industrial product?”
The answers were 40% yes and 60% no.
60% would prefer industrial luxury products as they think they cannot afford to purchase expensive luxury handmade products.
Some of them replied “For us luxury is affording to pay our rent and our food.”
Some of them have no time to think they just want to buy famous brands and just want to buy brands. 
 
The 40% already experimented with handmade luxury products and do not find them more expensive than famous brand luxury products.
In fact, as artisans have smaller structures, they have fewer costs and their products are often less expensive than the ones of the famous brands.
 
 Some of them appreciate finding a human voice to reply to their questions.
“Handmade products have a person to communicate with.”
“We can ask and have an immediate reply. We then know where their products came from, who made them and most of the time there is a story behind their products, not just the picture of the movie star representing the product. If you buy a product created by the person in front of you, this person can give you all the answers you need”

​"Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do." - Steve Jobs
 
The future of luxury is in the hands of men and women and handmade products, and it is important that parents will understand not to push their children in the opposite direction. Their hands and their creativity are worth more today than ever before.​
 
The future is handmade and in everybody's hands.
Everyone has skill, different perspectives and potential to re-discover.
Stop doing what you do, breathe, and think.
You have that power inside of you, you have this gift and there is something that belongs to you to be shared with this world.
 
You probably have a beautiful skill inside of you to be re-discovered and it is time for you to go deep inside of you to get to know you better. 
Remember what you said when you were a child, remember what you have done, what you have liked to do the best ...
Nothing is impossible..  
You need to go back and review this part of you and celebrate it. 
 
The Future is in your Hands and today the Future is Handmade 
Time is Now!
Take your own place in this world. 
Today, the Future of Luxury is Handmade.

For its first edition, The International Perfume Foundation's Perfume Celebration in Paris was a great success! 
We welcomed guests from China, Australia, India, Indonesia, USA, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Algeria, UK, Germany, Italy and Spain.
 
Homages were given to Jean Kerleo, Master Perfumer of Patou and founder of the Osmotheque and to Pierre Dinand, Master Perfume Bottle Designer.
 
The conferences were really interesting!
Jean-Marie Martin-Hattemberg, Perfume Bottles and Cosmetics Expert and Appraiser showed us the most beautiful packaging from the 1920’s followed by a round table about the future of packaging and the need to create beautiful collectible packaging before the industry could sustainably recycle packaging.  “To be recycled, all parts (plastic, glass, metal) should be separated, and it is not the case now but waiting for packaging to change brands could create beautiful collectible packaging” said Creezy Courtoy, IPF Founder and Chair.
 
Regarding the supply chain:    “We will need 30 years to relocalize “ said Ivan Borrego Valverde, General Manager at Beauty Cluster, the largest Spanish cluster on cosmetics and perfumes. Veronique Coty, President of the François Coty Association explained how she hardly found the last artisans to create her "Spoturno" perfume bottle. It was very informative as she had all the processes filmed and even learned how to create frosted glass stoppers with this ancient method not involving any plastic material.
Her conclusion is we need urgently to give more work to preserve these artisans, and help them to transmit their heritages to the next generations before they totally disappear.
 
Chen Li Morisset, President Rose Road Group and Founder of CABIO, the China Organic Beauty Association, confirmed the fact that Chinese are looking for Natural Perfume Brands. “An IPF China bureau in Beijing could support Natural Perfume Brands entering the Chinese Market, we have already signed agreements with the IPF Teacher’s Academy for teaching their curriculum in China”, she said. 

Terry Johnson, IPF Vice Chairman and Chairman of the International SEOS (Sustainable Essential Oils Standards) Committee explained the increasing demand for natural perfumes in the USA and 2 years of Committee work creating the SEOS standards for certifying the whole essential oil supply chain.
Regarding the cohabitation of synthetic-natural, Françoise Rapp explained the difference between working with naturals and working with synthetics “Most synthetic perfumers coming to my Natural Perfumery course have never touched naturals and have no idea what the differences are. They think it is impossible to work with natural while all perfumers in the past were only using natural,” she said.
After sharing views all parties decided to work hand in hand towards a positive future for the industry: the major issue concerning all perfumers: perfume should be removed from the Cosmetic Directive as every year there are some restriction in the use of natural, these modifications in perfume formula are changing the smell of perfumes: consumers don’t recognise their perfumes and brands are spending fortune recomposing and changing all their packaging and labelling.
As perfume is not a cosmetic, we smell perfume, we don’t have to put perfume on the skin and perfumers should be free to use lavender, rose…  “The lobby at the EU Commission in favour of the big lab is putting all farmers in danger” said Pascal Morabito. Rachel Binder explained that American Perfumers have much more freedom than European Perfumers and the Natural Market is growing fast. “We need more than this day to continue this discussion and we will do many more meetings and conferences trying to get all actors of this industry involved in the protection of the perfume heritage and the freedom to use natural in Europe ” said Creezy Courtoy, IPF Founder and Chair)

​Regarding the future of Selective Distribution, after a visit in the Metaverse, everyone explained the way they were distributing their perfumes. “We are handling our distribution ourselves” said Gilles Thevenin, owner House of Lubin. This is what more and more niche brands are doing and it is an issue for distributors who are losing part of the market. ​

The New Luxury Awards 2022 for Sustainable Perfumes
The Winners are:
In the Student Category
Rondo Sandyakala by William S. Wijaya from Indonesia, a fresh amber perfume.
In the Perfumer Category, Elixir of Heaven by Anuja François Raja from France with a myrrh, frankincense perfume.
In the Brand Category
Surinam by Françoise Rapp from France for Flowering Pharmacy USA, a powdery and woody chypre.
Special Prize given to White by Sri Kudaravalli from India for Xila Apothic
with a flowery jasmine perfume.
 
The New Luxury Awards 2022 for Sustainable Packaging
The Winner is:
Phantom by Pierre Dinand for Paco Rabanne
 
About the New Luxury Awards
The New Luxury Award is given each year to stimulate creativity in perfume and packaging in adopting the New Luxury Code as sustainability standards for Authenticity, Integrity and Transparency.
This competition also has the goal to create and empower upcoming brands, new perfumers, new designers and students in perfumery or packaging and make this industry a leader in sustainability!
To participate in the competition, perfumers should respect the New Luxury Code
and perfume should respect the standards of sustainability of the International Perfume Foundation for Certification:
-Formulating perfumes from 100% natural materials, using quality biodynamic and botanical ingredients that do not include GMO Plants and that have been sustainably and ethically sourced.
-Refraining to use animal musks, animal testing (by perfumers or their suppliers), synthetic compounds, parabens, phthalates (carcinogens and endocrine disruptors), isolates, phenoxyethanol, glycols, ethoxylated compounds.
-Creating a perfume with a soul and a story to tell.
This year the Awards were created by Murano Artists Muriel Balenci and Giovanni Nicola.
We would like to thank them and our partners for this first edition, Autur City, PCD show, Rose Road, Youlan, Beauty Cluster, Boroli Barolo, Mefex, IPF Teachers Academy, SEOS, Marquise Invest, BiopasticsNews and CosmeticObs. Our exhibitors: Wild Oils Australia, Anuja Aromatics, Flowering Pharmacy, Wild Coast Perfumery, Pomarestolen Perfumes, Maison William Sicher and Balenci. We also would like to thank all our New Luxury Awards Finalists, the Speakers, and Nataly Joubert for the press. 

Packaging is a really big issue if we desire to follow the New Luxury Code in protecting the environment, animal life and human health.  Many have asked me what "Sustainable Packaging" means. 
I always say:
​"To be sustainable, packaging should be refillable, reusable, recyclable or beautiful enough to be collectible." 

Refillable and Reusable
This is very complicated for perfume products as consumers are not always wearing the same perfume and if you consider perfume as a traditional gift for ceremonies, I don't think it is a real ecological solution. It will only work for hygiene or household products. 
​
Recyclable
To be recyclable all the materials used (metal, glass, plastic...) have to be separable,  not always possible for most of the perfume bottles sold on the market today. All materials used must also have the quality to be recyclable.

Collectible
In the meantime, you can create packaging that no one wants to throw away:  create beautiful and amazing bottles which will become collectible packaging!
If you receive a perfume like this beautiful Poiret's perfume bottle, would you throw it away? 

Is your Packaging Sustainable?
What are the guiding principles? What are the roads to avoid? Take the test! Question yourself with this template.

L'emballage est un très gros problème si nous voulons protéger l'environnement, la vie animale et la santé humaine. Vous avez été nombreux à me demander ce que signifie "Emballage Durable".

Je dis toujours:
"Pour être durable, un emballage doit être rechargeable, réutilisable,  recyclable ou doit devenir un objet de collection."

Rechargeable et Réutilisable
C'est compliqué pour les produits de parfumerie car les consommateurs ne portent pas toujours le même parfum et si l'on considère le parfum comme un cadeau traditionnel pour les cérémonies, je ne pense pas que ce soit une vraie solution écologique. Cela ne fonctionnera que pour les produits d'hygiène ou les produits ménagers.

Recyclable
Pour être recyclable l'ensemble des matériaux utilisés (métal, verre, plastique...) doivent être séparables, ce qui n'est pas le cas pour la plupart des flacons mis en vente actuellement. Tous les matériaux utilisés doivent aussi avoir la propriété d'être recyclables.
​
Objet de Collection
Mais en attendant, vous pouvez aussi créer des emballages que personne ne voudra jeter: des flacons à parfum de collection.
Si vous recevez un parfum comme ce magnifique flacon de parfum de Paul Poiret, le jetteriez-vous?

Votre emballage est-il durable?
Quel est le principe directeur? Quelle est la route à éviter? Faites le test. Interrogez-vous à l'aide de ce graphique.

In the past, there were strong bonds between nature and those who produced essential oils and perfumes from nature or used natural oils and perfumes.

Now, however, we find ourselves in a world that has separated most of the population from nature through the use of synthetic ingredients, rather than natural ones. There have been serious consequences for the world that have resulted from this separation, including the losses of many flower growers, the losses of jobs related to those growers, the disappearance of the flowers they once grew, and substantial threats to all the bees who depended on those flowers.

It is time we make the case to re-connect with nature and reverse this separation by focusing on the value of sustainable flower and plant growers and processors, fulfilling consumer demands for sustainable Natural Essences, and returning the flowers that are necessary for bees and other pollinators to survive and thrive.

As Director of IPF’s World Heritage Program (WHP), my responsibility is developing the overall strategy for the preservation and protection of the culture and heritage of plants, flowers and seeds, and the natural essences created from plants and flowers worldwide.

To achieve our objectives, I formed and chaired an International Committee of essential oil experts in early 2019. The Committee’s goal of sustainable standards for flower growers and processors was completed in June of 2020: Sustainable Essential Oil Standards (SEOS).

IPF can now certify flower and plant growers and processors using SEOS and we encourage everyone to support those essential oil providers who follow IPF’s SEOS standards whenever IPF/SEOS products are available.
​This support will not only enhance your business opportunities but will also be a key factor in supporting our bees, without which Natural Essences would not exist.

The most popular and international fragrance choice of any flower or herb is undoubtedly the Rose. Yet there is no definitive smell of rose for it has so many facets.  The rose because of its bittersweet paradox of smell, beauty and thorns has earned itself a special place in romance and mysticism.
Just as with its multi-faceted scent, the rose is more than one colour, and neither is it particularly European. Traces of rose wreaths have been found in ancient Egyptian tombs.  Unlike stone or metal dried plants life rarely survives time and the origin of rose usage is rare before the Classical period. The oldest painting of a rose was found in a wall fresco from the Minoan civilisation in Knossos created between 1900 and 1700 BCE. Traces of the original colours can be seen both a yellow tinge and a pink. 

The classical mythology of Europe relates the story of the goddess Aphrodite and Adonis. Aphrodite was the goddess of love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion and fertility. She was an immortal, one of the Olympian gods. The origins of her worship preceded her Greek myth, for she was the Phoenician Ishtar, whose cult was based on the Sumerian cult of Inanna, Queen of heaven.
Aphrodite’s symbol became the red rose after her mortal lover Adonis, was gored in the groin by a wild boar so symbolising his loss of masculinity and his life.  Aphrodite ran to her lover but too late to save him for tripping upon a rose runner she pricked her foot on the thorns of a white rose and stained the flower with her blood; whereupon the rose turned red. The red rose became the symbol of passionate love.

Classical Greece was very well acquainted with the rose so clearly the rose with its fragrant uses must have predated the classical period. In the Iliad the story is told of Hector after his death at the hands of Achilles was anointed with rose oil. At the time only maceration of rose petals were known so many tons of roses had to be produced to make an effective rose scented oil. This implies a large agricultural industry.

According to the same Iliad Aphrodite washed her skin with rose oil by day and night! Rose cultivation must have been in vogue for the Greek historian Herodotus records King Midas of Phrygia having a cultivated rose of sixty petals. It was Sappho the Greek poetess writing in Lesbos in the 7th century BCE who termed the Rose ‘Queen of Flowers’ writing, ‘The rose each ravished sense beguiles’. It was the Romans however that could be called mad about the rose.

In ancient Rome roses were everywhere and so to support this demand Rose growing had to be extensive. Rose unguents and cosmetics were common, rose filled pillows, wreaths for all manner of occasions, raining rose petals upon guests, and Mark Antony’s fleet had its sails scented with rose water. Extravagance was the moment the emperor Nero spent over a one hundred and fifty thousand euro to cover the beach at Baiae near Naples.

As perfumers we might take notice of the varieties chosen and the places where the roses were grown and cultivated. We would look to modern Palestrina southeast of Rome and the Nile Delta as well as in North Africa modern Algeria and Morocco. What remains a mystery is how the rose petals coming by sea from North Africa, is how the flowers apparently remained fresh and unspoiled.
The most likely species of rose eventually providing the cultivars of the Greeks and Romans is from the wild Rosa Gallica. Once the Dark ages descended upon Europe it was not until the Crusaders returned that the finer things of life caught hold again. Thibault the IV, Count of Champagne and troubadour returned with the rose variety Gallica ‘officinalis’ that has given us the Gallica roses even providing rose varieties today. It was notable for its scent.

The town of Provins once the capital of the Counts of Champagne became the centre of the rose petal industry. Midsummer flowering these are the large, flattish double flowered roses loved by the Empress Josephine at Malmaison where 160 varieties were known.

If the crusade reinvigorated the interest in the beauty and the scent of roses it was from Persia that much of the rose romance originates. Persian carpets, paintings and poetry are suffused with roses. We should well remember that Avicenna the famed physician is described as the father of aromatherapy. Certainly the art of distillation was known and used to produce the famous rose water. As Islam took hold in Persian society the symbolism of the rose was maintained in the Muslim religion. The famous poet Omar Khayyám was reputed to have rose growing on his grave from which seed was collected and cultivated in the famous London Kew gardens and is still grown today.

This Persian rose we are now talking about Rosa damascene, the Damask rose or sometimes as Bulgarian rose or Turkish rose. The damascene is highly fragrant and was cultivated in mists of time. Unlike Gallica which has a single flowering period damascene has a secondary type called semperflorens which has a longer flowering period.  Iran, Bulgaria and Turkey are the most prolific producers of rose oil from the different cultivars of Rosa × damascene.
The rose variety Kazanlik, grown in Bulgaria in the Rose Valley region, produces the finest distilled otto or pure rose oil. Under the Ottoman Empire, and especially from the 19th century Bulgaria has become the world leader in manufacturing rose otto.  Whilst the emphasis might be upon the scent rose has a long history as an apothecary standby as an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant which makes it ideal for skincare benefits.

Modern genetics suggest that this prolific scented Damask rose has R.Gallica in its parentage combined with Rosa Moschata the Musk rose. The musk rose’s origins are a mystery. It has never been found in a truly natural state. Whilst R.Damascena is collected in early morning when its scent is best the Musk rose scent travels far and is most potent at dusk. The fragrance is not found in its petals but its stamens. In his work ‘Of Gardens’, the English philosopher Francis Bacon declared the musk rose second only to violets in yielding ‘the sweetest smell in the air’.

There are five classic roses that make up what is known as the eldest group of cultivated roses. They are Gallica, Damask, Alba, Centifolia, and Musks. R. Alba maintains the sweetness of aroma expected by these older roses and it became famous for its choice as the White Rose of the House of York during the English wars of the Roses for the English crown succession. The house of Lancaster sported the red rose., the R.Gallica officinalis.

Sometimes because the town of Provins sounds like the region of Provence the two names are confused. The Provence rose, is Rosa Centifolia, meaning the rose with a hundred petals. This rose is also known as the cabbage rose or Rose de Mai and familiar as the source of many rose absolutes. Its parentage includes R.Damascena hence the fragrance.

If we guess that R.Moschata originated on the eastern end of the Himalayas we can look further east to China. China has its own set of cultivars and as we are discovering with roses their origins are obscure, not fully known.  Roses as we would understand them, are not pictured in China before the tenth century unlike the Chrysanthemum which is seen from earliest times. Roses do not feature in Chinese mythology and have no great prominence in herbals although cultivated for some centuries.

In Europe it appears that roses were mostly grown for their petals or as extracts in the form of maceration, distillations and waters. Fragrance and perfume then were the most prominent or desirable features. Whilst roses were in themselves beautiful, they were not cultivated in the same way as today which now emphasises colour and flower shape as most significant. This change came with the introduction of what came to be known as China roses.

China was a closed country to Europeans for many years. The Portuguese were the first to establish a trading post in Macao and later came the English East India Company who established a monopoly of trade from Macao and Canton. Foreigners were restricted from entering inland so no great plant hunters or botanical expeditions took place before 1870. Instead, a few different roses trickled through, mostly small flowered with little or no scent but with a perpetual flowering time. By the 19th century four stud types of China roses had been established including yellow rose and those with a scent of tea.  

In the modern world Hybrid Tea roses are the biggest and most popular group of roses commercially sold. As noted above shape or form colour and texture has taken over as pride of place in choice. Scent is secondary and not outstanding as with the older varieties. The question we could ask is what does a rose smell like?
There is no distinct rose smell. Rose not only has a variety of cultivars and species but also the same gamut of smells. Many odours can be found like the smell of green tea, honey, lemon or citrus, moss, fruit, or like other flower species such as violets, or clover even hay. The smell that majority of people associate with roses belongs to the Damask rose, R.Damascena, thought to be by some the most fragrant of rose species. The smell of the Damask rose is recognised as the standard in the fragrance industry for real or pure rose otto.

Spring flowers are messengers of renewal and you can see their beautiful shimmering colours of yellow, purple, or white brighten up gardens, meadows and the edge of the woods.
​These pretty spring flowers have rich, fresh, and delicate fragrances. From the green floral scent of narcissus to the sweet one of daffodils and the dizzying greener one of hyacinth, Nature deploys its olfactory treasures from spring onwards. This season is synonymous with a floral olfactory explosion that delights the senses during walks and also in the gardens: lily of the valley, violet, orange blossom, honeysuckle, magnolia, gardenia, tuberose to name the better known.
In this article, I invite you to discover not only each of these three flowers' natural fragrances but also their holistic virtues and how their voluptuous essences are extracted.

The Daffodil Heralds Spring : the Messenger
From March, the meadows are dotted with magnificent yellow flowers: daffodils. Narcissus (Narcissus spp.) or daffodils are perennial plants forming large bulbs, native to Europe and North Africa where they grow in meadows, woods and riverbanks. In fact, this pretty flower with such a shimmering color is a harbinger that spring is here. The daffodil is not only popular with gardeners; it is also one of perfumers and especially natural perfumers’ favorite, as its absolute delivers a soft, sweet, particularly floral smell. Its tenacity is quite powerful, which makes it a raw material of choice for an exclusive and exceptional perfume with an original olfactory identity.
 
Used in perfumery, daffodil absolute brings a soft and vaporous heart note to perfumes. Its extract is also an excellent fixer, it helps to deepen the base scents. Its essence is extracted by volatile solvent and an absolute is obtained.
 
The daffodil is interesting because using it in a perfume promotes self-esteem; it allows you to refocus and affirm your identity in the freedom to be yourself and follow your path. Besides, when this yellow flower appears, isn't it the first of the spring flowers that turns out to be bright yellow in color?

Narcissus: a Flower with Character
The narcissus appears almost at the same time as the daffodil. It comes from Central Europe, North Africa, and Asia. The main producing countries are France (in Auvergne), Morocco and Egypt. Known since Antiquity for its medicinal virtues, this flower has its name attached to mythology. It is a plant that illuminates the fields in Provence, from the Haut Var to the Verdon. It is very popular with perfumers and some varieties were even grown in the Grasse region. Currently, harvesting is done on the plateaus of Aubrac and in Auvergne.
 
The perfume of the narcissus is extracted by enfleurage or by CO2 extraction. There is indeed an olfactory difference between these two types of extractions. The absolute is a viscous product with a heady, tobacco, green jasmine scent. Narcissus Absolute is mainly used in luxury perfumes, to bring volume to floral and oriental accords. You can combine it with jasmine, tuberose, and solar accords with frangipani or ylang ylang Extra. The CO2 extract is a premium and rare raw material. Its olfactory portrait is green floral with a richer and more complex facet. It is closer to the complexity of the perfume of the fresh flower because many olfactory facets are present: from a spring green to honeyed and peppery opulence, between a creamy and tobacco facet.
​In aromacology, breathing its perfume allows you to find hope, to see the light at the end of the tunnel, to let joy shine.

The Uncompromising Flower: All or Nothing !
Another early spring flower that beautifully perfumes the undergrowth is the hyacinth. It is a bulbous plant of the Liliaceae family. Native to Western and Middle Eastern Asia: Turkey, Baghdad and Aleppo region, it grows from sea level up to 2,000 m altitude. It is found close to France in the south-west and south-east regions.
 
In Greek mythology, Apollo, God of the sun, and Zephyr, god of the west wind, compete for the affection of a young boy. At one point, Apollo teaches Hyakinthos how to throw the disc and Zephyr becomes so angry that he blows in Apollo's direction, thus sending the disc violently back towards Hyakinthos, which hits him and kills him. Heartbroken, Apollo notices a flower sprouting from the spilled blood and names it hyacinth in honor of the boy. Its starry flowers are gathered in a dense and very fragrant cluster; their scents differ according to the color of the flower. Hyacinth is highly prized by perfumers. The extraction is done by enfleurage and this absolute remains a rare and precious product (which is worth it!). Flower composed of multiple flowers and in various colors, it is almost unclassifiable. Its absolute is rare and precious. It's that or nothing! That's why you won't find this holy grail easily. Otherwise, it is a composition of odorous molecules such as indole, phenylethyl alcohol, hydroxycitronellal among others. Please note that only its bulb is toxic when used internally.
 
In aromacology, its fragrance harmonizes body and soul. It promotes creativity and self-expression with courage and determination.
 
Other flowers reveal their beautiful scents to us in Nature, in the garden to better delight our compositions, but these three are truly exceptional flowers that offer an extraordinary richness and olfactory complexity. If you want to learn how to compose, structure, and invent beautiful natural perfumes and know how to master noble ingredients, register for the spring session of French Natural Perfumery which opens its doors on April 4th. 

In 1838, Sir William Perkin was trying to develop a new drug, Quinine, for the treatment of Malaria, he failed. Although it was a failure to develop an expensive new medicine, his experiment led to the first synthesis of an organic dye, mauveine or mauve. This led me wonder: “Was the chemical structure of Quinine very similar to the colour that he synthesized?” and “What is the relationship between color and medicine?”
I have dyed natural fibres with plant dyes for over 15 years and almost all of the natural dyes that I use are medicinal plants.
Different plants grow in different seasons and their unique features, such as scents and colors, are developed through millions of years of adaptations and adjustments to survive. I strongly believe we need to use their ‘surviving’ features for our own survival. Some of the names of color phytonutrients are familiar to us.

The following are some of the examples:

Red: Carotenoid lycopene which is a scavenger of free radicals in our body and protects heart and lung disease. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), red foods are also known to nourish and protect the heart. In fact, red rose tea is well known to calm the heart, reduce stress and promote good sleep.

Orange/Yellow: Beta cryptothanxin, a carotenoid pigment that helps to repair damage to our DNA. It is also converted to Vitamin A in our body. Vitamin A is crucial for healthy eyes. It supports communication between cells. In TCM, yellow/orange foods are also anti-inflammatory and soothing to cells and tissues. In skincare, I often extract from yellow plants for making soothing and anti-itch creams.

Blue/Purple: Anthocyanins, a powerful antioxidant which is known to delay aging and benefit the brain and immune system. It is also beneficial for heart health. In TCM, it is categorized as the dark or black pigment and also believes foods that are blue/black/purple nourish the brain, prevent aging and boost immunity and bone health.

White/Tan: Flavonoids and allicin are strong anti-oxidants. These compounds are usually found in onions, garlics and mushrooms. These foods are known to boost our immune system against infections, such as colds and flu. Interestingly, in TCM, white foods nourish the respiratory system to keep our lungs healthy.

Green: Indole, isocyanate and sulforaphane are cancer blocking nutrients. They protect us from compounds that cause cancer. In TCM, these foods are the first and most important foods that we eat in a year, spring. Traditionally, green foods such as spinach and lettuce, help the liver to remove toxins and build-up over the winter months to allow the organ to function smoothly.

Spring is approaching. Let us start the year fresh by learning, balancing and connecting our well-being to the presence of the botanical world.

Nature choreographs the life cycles of flowers to continue their species.
The choreography seems complicated but magical. When flowers are young and not ready to pollinate, they do not release much scents. However, when the flowers are ready to pollinate, they produce the maximum amount of scent output. The purposes of the scents are to attract birds, bees, butterflies, and other pollination helpers. These helpers are rewarded with food sources. Flowers pollinated by bees and butterflies (day-time shift staff) tend to produce “sweet” scents versus flowers pollinated by beetles, that tend to produce “musty, spicy or fruity” scents. Some flowers prefer to be pollinate by bats or moths (evening shift staff) release scents at nighttime. The scented oils of flowers eventually heavily accumulate at the petals before they fall off. Once the fragrant petals fall off, nature's helpers are less likely to visit to pollinate.
Just before flowers lose their scented petals is where we can lengthen the magical beauty of nature and be part of nature’s choreography.

We have the abilities, experiences and knowledge of processing plants to extract scents naturally.
We learned from our ancestors and now with technology, we can learn from ancestral knowledge from many other cultures. Different plants have different properties for different purposes. We learned that the scents have medicinal and therapeutic properties for our mental and physical health. We use the scents to produce natural perfumes, essential oils and skin care products. 
However, when we detach ourselves from the natural world, we try to simulate scents from plants using chemicals. It takes from 50 to 300 chemicals to simulate and produce one perfume/fragrance. Most of these chemicals used are toxic, not only to our health, but also to the environment. These chemicals can easily enter our body through inhalation, skin, and ingestion. These products even contain ingredients that assist the chemicals (e.g.: phthalates) in fragrances to penetrate through the skin or the body. Some of these familiar chemicals are urea, fatty acids (oil), ethanol (alcohol) and glycol. These are familiar ingredients in the everyday use of these products.
Most of the toxic chemicals in fragrances are excreted from our body in about 2 days. However, if we use the products every day, we accumulate these toxic molecules and risk having them permanently in our bodies. 

By Jan KUSMIREK, IPF UK Chair and Sustainability Expert

What Do We Want? The word sustainability is on everyone’s lips. The first question we should ask is ‘what are we trying to sustain, what is our clear objective’ ? This is the key question.
Sustainability according to the definition by the Cambridge English dictionary is
‘the quality of being able to continue over a period of time’.
The earth has been here for millennia with different climates and geology, so has proven to be self-sustaining, self-perpetuating. Does it really need our help?
Essentially we must ask what we perfumers and therapists are trying to sustain before we deal with how we carry out this sustaining effect. If we want to use only natural materials we should have clear ideas why and the purpose of our choice. 
In the present century the term sustainability is most often applied to our Environment, so the Cambridge Dictionary goes further and adds:  
‘the quality of causing little or no damage to the environment and therefore able to continue for a long time’. 

What exactly is our environment?
The ‘our’ in the definition means us, humans, mankind. The environments for mankind which we inhabit differ around the planet earth. The soil quality, the water quality, even the air and climate depend upon locality. Largely the earth wide environment which most people know and experience is manmade, perhaps a city, a rural village, a home, an office but in only exceptional circumstances is it a wilderness which is not where people choose to live as a community. What I natural is judged as much by experience as knowledge.
Modern living and lifestyle are the desire of most of the world’s population witnessed by the ever demand for economic growth and migration.  The desirable model is the US, EU and now China and Japan.
Most of the world’s population consider themselves poor economically. Poverty is entirely relative. A small number are considered rich. Population growth particularly in Black Africa will continue to heighten the disparity between financially poor and rich. Contentment with economic circumstances is a very rare thing in the developed world. This cannot be ignored or pushed aside with platitudes for the reality is a world thus divided by the desire for more. 
There are huge differences in income between the richest and the poorest. Referring to this difference as a gap in income gives the impression that there are only extremely rich or extremely poor people. In reality, the majority of the world population, the global environment we create and live in, lies in between. It is a matter then of perception and in which, media and advertising play a major role in forming our view.
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We could ask at this point where do people who use fragrance and its related industries fit into this scenario. Is fragrance an unnecessary luxury? Is it something of cultural value? Does odour have medical, wellness or health benefits?
As we are built as biological receptors of odour and as these odours colour our emotions we can be sure they at least have a role as sustenance for what we might call the soul.   
Turning to nature as evolved or created, fragrance is clearly part of our natural world and its presence overall, our planet could best be described as a fragrant earth. The sense of smell is closely related to reproduction and food sources in all loving beings. 
The world is what we live in and create, the planet, the earth beneath our feet, is what we live upon. Resultantly our environment, our world our planet is a political issue. Economic or wealth equality is no more than a utopian dream. It is the ‘moment’ that most people wish to maintain in wealthy communities, and an opportunity to join that wealth by the less wealthy. It is a dynamic and one that a majority of population wishes to maintain and sustain. This is the reality.
How then do we arrive at the present current fashion for ‘environmental studies’ and ‘sustainability’ pertaining to the viability of the planet we live upon and its ability to sustain growth and share wealth more equably? Our industry sits at the heart of a complex value chain, generating Value Added, jobs and consumer satisfaction around the world. Fragrance & Flavours is said to generate value of 32 billion US$ world wide but contributing heavily to the cosmetics industry worth 400 billion US$.

Agriculture or Biotech?
We are all children of the sun, the result of biosynthesis from the ability of plant life to create itself with simple sugars to edible, sustainable food.
Whether vegan, vegetarian or carnivore all this life was dependant upon sunlight. 
It appears mankind moved from hunting a gathering to agriculture about 12,000 years agon. The Agricultural Revolution or Neolithic Revolution, the shift to agriculture from hunting and gathering changed humanity forever. Essentially humans had to stay in one place and not move around. As the population increased mankind was forced to choose between limiting population or trying to increase food production and agricultural practice was chosen.
Today we face the same dilemma as those far off times. We are still going to put our way of life and creature comfort over the needs of others and other life forms ahead of any other sustainable issues. History has shown us that such to be true by consecutive wars and revolutions.

Food production has been boosted by a variety of ‘inventions’ notably the introduction of synthetic fertilisers, herbicides and biocides especially since the 2ndworld War.
​Mechanisation too has led to the reduction of manual labourers and an increase in urbanisation and restructuring of society. Now we refer to Industrial Agriculture as the main means of food production.  
This major change had quite foreseeable consequences such as soil compaction, soil erosion, and declines in overall soil fertility, along with health concerns about toxic chemicals entering the food supply. Biodiversity also came to the fore as such agricultural changes also brought about a decline in wildlife from mammals to the insect world. 
The seeming solution was the introduction of Genetic Engineering.  According to the World Health Organization (WHO), genetically modified organisms (GMOs) can be defined as organisms (i.e. plants, animals or microorganisms) in which the genetic material (DNA) has been altered in a way that does not occur naturally by mating and/or natural recombination. The technology is often called “modern biotechnology” or “gene technology,” sometimes also “recombinant DNA technology” or “genetic engineering.”
For some time the public were against the idea of such technologies and GM food in particular. Little thought was given to non-food applications. The EU has been opposed to the introduction of GM crops. Nevertheless, GM food is widely available More than 93 percent of the corn and soy planted in the United States is genetically modified in some way. Most of that ends up as animal feed, ethanol, or corn syrup — and corn syrup gets into lots of food as well as cosmetic oils. Cotton, sugar beets, and canola are also common genetically modified crops. Roughly 60 to 70 percent of processed foods in grocery stores contain at least some genetically modified ingredients.
It seems to me that in our perfumery and cosmetic world the term GM has been modified, softened by using the alternative Biotech phrase. Somehow this phrase has not been subject to as much scrutiny or concern by consumers as GM. 
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Biotech is the big go to now, in making green claims for sustainability.
For over ten years, designer microbes have been used on an industrial scale to produce ingredients. The sustainable argument put forward is - clean technology and less reliance on petrochemicals and cultivated fields as food sources and no wildcrafting. 
Biotech ingredients are made by gene editing and splicing bacteria, algae or yeasts and moulds. In 2019, Europe emerged as the leading market for biotech ingredients in cosmetics and fragrances, accounting for around 37.46% share in the active ingredients market.  
One Spanish company advertises its products as ‘high added value natural active ingredients on an industrial scale through an innovative and unique process in the biotechnology field which obtains the real power of nature.’
​The real power of nature – I wonder what that is? As a vitalist myself it would normally refer to an energy force that diffuses all living things.
Consumer confidence in Organic growing methods have been concurrently growing based upon the idea of soil fertility and what seems to be a natural way of farming i.e., cultivating a living , microbe rich soil. Organic farming is widely considered to be a far more sustainable alternative when it comes to food production. The lack of pesticides and wider variety of plants enhances biodiversity and results in better soil quality and reduced pollution from fertilizer or pesticide run-off.
Enter the Carbon question. For years now Science has been proposing that climate changes in recent centuries has been brought about by man. To save the planet (see my opening paragraphs) we need to reduce carbon entering our atmosphere.

We need to change our way of life is the mantra!
​If we use more land for food, we have less land for carbon sequestration. The total greenhouse gas impact from organic farming is higher than conventional farming’ so runs the argument.
It is estimated that by 2050, the demand for food is going to increase by 59 to 98 percent due to the ever-increasing global population. A major challenge for the agriculture business (Agribusiness) is not only trying to figure out how to feed a growing population, but also doing so while adapting to climate change and coming up with adequate mitigation measures. So the question arises should we use land for luxury goods like fragrance.
The solution and direction of travel clearly is heading toward biotech. The cosmetic and fragrance industries has led the direction toward what might be termed a denaturalisation of ingredients for economic reasons. Interestingly the developed world, through technology, can foresee itself as fed and relatively unaffected by the resultant social structure changes. What will become of the 60% of the population currently engaged in agriculture when everything from vitamins to food comes from a laboratory in a developed country. 
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Big players in the ingredient market, are well known to be leading the way into novel ingredients never seen in nature.
​To add to the biotech story we now add the phrase fermentation which is rightly described as a natural process. But is the end result natural, especially if the original microbe was itself biotech derived? At the sales end of the scale, face to face, fermentation is misused hiding the word biotech. Fermentation can be described as natural as in the case of wine or cheese but Covid might yet well prove to have its origin in a bit of biotech splicing and gene editing!
Aldous Huxley, in his sequel Brave New World Revisited wrote:   

Readers would relate strongly with his words.
When making a choice of natural materials in a perfume or aromatherapy blend or treatment a stand for what is natural in biology should be made. This choice runs contrary to the line of travel science has taken in its desire to preserve or sustain a world wherein nature is evidently sick by mismanagement and agribusiness. The solution for sustainability and social or political stability is currently sought and found in increasing regulations that disadvantage natural material producers. 
Tacitus wrote “In a state where corruption abounds, laws must be very numerous.” Thinking that through it gives rise to totalitarianism through a backdoor of regulation seeking a parity and uniformity.
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How easy it is for the hidden persuaders to convince that one can save the planet by synthesising materials.
​The fact that biotech saves valuable space, and all its other benefits ignores the profit motive and the loss of jobs and culture for those current producers. The pursuit of novelty in fragrance materials is all consuming and it is not aimed at sustainability which can simply become just a peripheral advantage for advertisement. 
The perfumers palette may have up to 1500 standard synthetic materials, another 500 or so naturally derived (under IS0 16128), 400 odd naturals (ISO 9235) and Cosmos naturals around 400 and Cosmos organic 300. There is no clear number list for biotech or contrived ferments.
It is certainly a big subject with many conundrums and personal choices to be made. Perhaps we all have an intuition as to what is obviously natural and what is not. Contradictions exist and compromises made. What we all need to avoid is being greenwashed into accepting contrived materials as natural by the imposition of regulations which favour synthesis as an advance to help sustainability when the truth lies nearer to the bottom line. 
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