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. 
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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.
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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. 
​
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. 
​
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.
​
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. 
​

Without immediate action, a decline in natural Oud will become dramatic for GCC very soon.
Oud originates from Aquilaria trees found in India and Southeast Asia. The wood found inside these trees gets a particular mold, which gives it a unique fragrance. The initial scent of Oud is quite strong but over time it becomes subtler and is quite lasting.
Oud has more than 3000 years of history, and its use began in China, Japan, India and the Middle East. At that time, only kings, emperors and the wealthy could benefit from it and appreciate its virtues. 

Let's retrace chronologically the appearances of agarwood throughout history: 
 
During the time of the pyramids and the pharaohs, the Egyptians used it in their rituals to embalm the bodies of privileged families. 
 
Between 800 and 600 BC. Gaharu is mentioned in the Sushruta Samhita, which is a Sanskrit (ancient Hindu) text about the medicine and surgery of the time. It is also mentioned in the biography of an emperor of North India (Harshacharita) in 700 BC. J.-C. Around the same time (600 BC), Xuanzang, a Buddhist monk from China, described the use of aloe wood and its oil for writing sacred texts.  
 
In 600 BC, in Japan, the Chronicles of Japan called "Nihon Shoki", the second oldest book on the classical history of Japan, mentioned the existence of aloe wood, following the discovery of a piece of wood identified as originating from Pursat, Cambodia, due to its typical scent of aloe wood from that region. This piece of wood is still in existence today, and belongs to the National Museum of Nara. It is displayed to the public less than 10 times per century, to prevent damage.  
 
In 300 BC, in Ancient China, the chronicles of “Nan Zhou Yi WU Zhi” (“Strange Things from the South”) written by Wa Zhen of the Wu Dynasty mentions aloewood (agarwood). It was later discovered that wealthy families in Ancient China used calambac for creating the coffins of their deceased. Buddhists used aloewood for their mala (long bracelets or necklaces made of 108 wooden beads).  
 
In the year 800, the use of oud wood for its medicinal properties is also mentioned in the Hadith Qudsi (Sacred Words) of Sahîh Muslim.  
 
In France, King Louis XIV soaked his clothes in rose water, water that had been previously boiled with oud wood.
 
Historically, fragrances were oil-based.  There is an old distillation style predominant in India where materials are distilled into Sandalwood oil – better known as Attar-style distillation. 
 
In Muslim cultures, where alcohol is not used – there is a style of perfume compounding that is alcohol-free, and composed entirely of oil extracts, or Sandal or Oud oil as a base (rather than alcohol or carrier oil). 
These oils are generally referred to as Attar or Mukhallats.

Harvest and trade of agarwood include raw materials for distillation of essential agarwood oil, which is used for perfume throughout the Middle East, and unprocessed agarwood, which is used in medicinal, aromatic, ceremonial and religious preparations. 

The different kind of oud presentations
1. Oud Oil, pure, as perfume material.
2. Oud Chips, as burning incence particularly for Middle Eastern countries (In Arabic Bukhoor)
3. Agarwood base wooden accessories such wooden keychain, bracelet, liontin or pendant.
4. Oudh block or chunk for any purposes such as Buddha sculpture, wooden home decoration, vintage.
5. Agarwood tea

Without immediate action, a decline in natural Oud will become dramatic for GCC very soon.
 
The Middle East has a very important cultural heritage; it is urgent to protect and invest in the preservation of Oud. 
 
Ever since the chemical industry began creating and patenting synthetic scent molecules to replace natural oud perfumes by synthetic oud, aquilaria trees have been considered as endangered species. 
Vast forests of mature Aquilaria trees present in countries such as Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, Viet Nam, and India have been over harvested for the precious Agarwood raw materials to a point where some countries have actually forbidden companies to remove more mature Aquilaria trees.
 
As part of its World Heritage Program to protect fragrant flowers, plants and trees worldwide, The International Perfume Foundation is studying the situation of Aquilaria trees.             

The species is considered critically endangered. Intensive and destructive harvesting and reduction of habitat areas have led to international concern for the future of the species. This has resulted in listing of the genus Aquilaria on CITES Appendix II (CITES, 2005), and several species of Aquilaria are on the IUCN Red List (IUCN, 2007).     

​The Mission of The International Perfume Foundation is to protect this beautiful heritage of natural fragrance of Aquilaria trees in bringing alternatives to forest-based harvesting.
​We recognize the unsustainable Aquilaria harvesting in natural forests that resulted in the near extinction of this tree genus. In addition, both in the short and long-term, a natural resource base needs to be maintained to supply present and future Aquilaria plantations with genetic source material in order to prevent plant decease, maintain diversity, and possibly improve resin production.
Aquilaria crassna, a tree species on CITES Appen- dix II and categorized as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, is the main source of the highly valuable, fragrant and resinous agarwood that is extracted in forests in South- east Asia, exported to East Asian and Arab countries, and used for a range of medicinal, aromatic and religious products. 

Aquilaria crassna (Family Thymelaeaceae) is an upper understorey tree occurring in primary ever- green and semi-evergreen forests at altitudes from 600- 1,400 m. Agarwood or gaharu is a dark-coloured, fragrant resin that accumulates in roots, trunk and branches of the tree as nodules of varying age, shape, size and commercial quality. Agarwood is formed by the tree in response to injury if the primary mechanism, formation of phloem callus tissue, is inhibited.  The resinous agarwood acts as a chemical barrier to attacks by fungi and insects but under natural conditions it is not formed by all trees.

It is the ability of harvesters to determine if a tree is likely to contain agarwood in commercial qualities and quantities, and to decide with some confidence if a tree should be felled or not. For standing trees the presence of agarwood and its quality is assessed using several interrelated indicators: tree, stem and bark characteristics, phenology, wounding, presence of tree-boring insects, bore dust and ants, and various indicators that can be assessed after injuring the trees, e.g. black spots in the white sapwood. Trees with a Diameter at Breast Height (DBH) of more than 50 cm have a high likelihood of containing agarwood but even trees of 10 cm DBH may contain agarwood. 

​Experienced harvesters will tend to fell all trees encountered with DBH of more than 50 cm as well as fruit-bearing trees because size and fruiting are some of the external signs of agarwood formation. 
To fell a tree takes 0,5-4 hours and it is therefore possible to increase the daily net revenue considerably by harvesting trees that contain high quality agarwood. Potentially harvesters with good targeting ability will therefore leave trees without commercial qualities and quantities of agarwood untouched, leading to less impact on the population of Aquilaria while harvesters who have poor targeting ability will fell many trees.
​
High value/low quantity products are sold in regional, national and international markets, whereas low quality/ high quantity products are mainly sold in local markets. 
To increase revenue, highly skilled harvesters are compelled to fell only the small number of trees containing high quality agarwood. These products are sold in regional, national and international markets, explaining why degree of commercialization and targeting ability are closely related. It is likely, therefore, that harvesting by experienced and knowledgeable harvesters will leave populations relatively intact except for removal of a few, large trees. By contrast, inexperienced harvesters are likely to be indiscriminate in their harvesting, leaving only a few trees intact and spending considerable time felling and chopping up trees that do not yield agarwood. 
When agarwood-forming trees become increasingly harder to find, experienced, knowledgeable harvesters will abandon Aquilaria habitats and a dramatic decline in natural Oud will become dramatic for GCC very soon.

The International Perfume Foundation (IPF) is developing a program to protect Oud through a natural resource valuation approach for the benefit of local communities. 

Sustainable Growing and Processing Aquilaria Planting Programs:
​ 
To protect Oud and prove its sustainabilityIPF World Heritage Programand Teacher’s Academy implement best practices for processing aquilaria for Oud fragrance using Best Practices.

1. Help plant growers develop sustainable organic agricultural best practices for growing and harvesting trees for fragrance, insuring continuous sources of sustainable, high quality essential oud oils.
2. Helping farms recognize the advantages of waiting until aquilaria trees mature before harvesting them to keep quality at the highest levels.
3. Introducing effective agricultural methods allowing “cash” crops to be grown on the same parcel providing income while aquilaria trees are maturing.
4. Introducing other plants and flowers to be grown along for perfumers or the same industry, as well as developing their distillation practices.
5. Hire experienced harvesters to teach new harvesters and less experienced ones to secure the continuation of a sustainable supply chain.
6. Certify growers and harvesters.
7. Improve market access and increase value in trade to increase returns and employment opportunities, especially for poor and disadvantaged people.
8. Create opportunities for conservation of ecosystems and preservation of valuable species
9. Coordinating with WWF and other groups protecting Aquilaria worldwide to remove aquilaria trees from red lists.

If this subject interest you,  join us in Paris on February 22 at Tous Au Parfum, the First International Meeting of Perfume Professions.  

by Terry Johnson
​Vice Chairman IPF

The current combined total of the US market for perfumes and aromatherapy is about $24 billion, of which Natural Perfumery and Natural Aromatherapy represent less than 10% market share and this number has been shrinking every year.
This should not be a complete surprise, since most perfume sales mainly come from multi-billion dollar synthetic perfume brands supported by multi-billion dollar synthetic chemical company suppliers, and aromatherapy is dominated by two huge companies combining for 75% of aromatherapy’s market share.
​
How can individual Natural Perfumers and Natural Aromatherapists overcome these powerful forces and increase their market? Here are Five Keys to Your Market Success:

1. Conduct your business with a Beginner’s Mind
However long you have been in business (whether you are just starting out or have been working for 30 years) you need to constantly rethink or confirm the basic fundamentals of your business including your Mission Statement, Vision Statement and Value Proposition. These important business practices represent the value-based foundation upon which you can build your future successful business. 

2. Recognize and support the high value essential oil distribution chain community
The International Perfume Foundation is organizing this community through certification of the complete supply chain from growers, producers, schools, Natural Perfumers, Natural Aromatherapists and Perfumotherapists. Only by uniting our community with common values and standards can we hope to successfully compete with these market giants.

3. Keep updating and educating yourself 
The world has been and will be continuing to change, which necessitates keeping up-to-date about the latest information on Olfaction, Natural Perfumery, Natural Aromatherapy, Perfumotherapy and Business.

4. Incorporate information and stories from sourcing into your marketing messaging that builds the value of products and services that you provide consumers
Proper sourcing doesn’t just involve finding a dependable supplier of great essential oils. Those things are important, however as important is finding out transparently who grew or processed your sources, how were they grown or processed, and with what sustainable methods?  These are questions consumers are asking from other high value industries. Those who incorporate the same values into their products and services within our high value community will increasingly attract educated and informed consumers who demand more but are willing to pay more for value.

5. Increase the engagement within your communities by recognizing what they want
A substantial number of consumers want greater value in the products they purchase. For natural essences this would be the highest value products possible with freedom from GMO, freedom from synthetics and natural and sustainable sources.
How many consumers are out there who recognize value and are willing to pay more for it?
Consider before Starbucks there was no sustainable brewed coffee.
Starbucks created the sustainable brewed coffee market and was able to charge 4 times what brewed coffee sold for at that time. Sustainable brewed coffee is now a $25 billion market in the US and represents 50% market share!
We have the same, if not even greater opportunity in today’s world for significant market share growth in our community!

​There are several raw materials used in perfumery that are extracted from roots of plants. They usually give depth, character and dimension to the fragrance as well as serve as fixatives. We can say that they are the roots of perfumery. 
 
The new extraction methods, botanical discoveries, the search for new unusual raw materials helps to expand the perfumer's palette. In the past, the number of natural extracts was limited, but today progress and research offer us many more. Perhaps, the task of a natural perfumer could also be to discover and rediscover new or forgotten raw materials. Not being tied to the dictates of the market, we have the opportunity to experiment and experience returning to the roots of perfumery. And it is precisely the roots, rhizomes, tubers that are one of the building blocks of the art of perfumery: vetiver, iris, ginger, angelica, valerian, costus, calamus, nard and many others.

I love to experiment and search for new olfactory nuances even if, I must confess that, not all the extracts I prepare are used in a final composition. In my research, I like to browse old herbal or medicine books and be inspired by a smell found in nature.
​In my garden, I have a small pond where I grow water lilies. At the beginning of spring, a few years ago, I decided to empty it and clean it. The rhizomes of the water lilies had grown out of all proportion, intertwining with each other. While I was trying to take them off some of them broke. I was immediately struck by their particular smell: damp, muddy, to a certain extent aquatic with green and woody facets. At that precise moment, the idea was born. I left them to dry and try to do an extraction with alcohol. The result was surprising: the dried rhizome conveyed that earthy and humid scent, of mud or clay, of wet earth together with a mixture of woody, dry and vaguely spicy notes.
​
Another experiment was born by chance during a bonsai workshop.
Some participants were transplanting maples and had to cut some of the roots of the plants. The scent of these maple roots made me smile because it reminded me of freshly dug up carrots. Again, the final tincture was surprising. 
Usually, the first attempt to extract a raw material is that of the tincture. I find it also the simplest one to do at home. The roots or rhizomes are cleaned and washed of earth residues, left to dry in the dark place or with the help of a fruit dryer machine and then placed in the previously sterilized glass jars. The amount of raw material is weighed and submerged by alcohol. After a few days, I check the procedure, smell the extract thus obtained and decide whether the exhausted material should be replaced or left to infuse for a longer period.

There are some plants that we do not immediately consider usable in perfumery but that we often use in the kitchen but which at the same time have their own “scented” potential.
​In addition to ginger, calamus, angelica you can use turnips, carrots, radishes, celery, asparagus not to forget truffles. From natural cosmetics, on the other hand, the rhizomes of peony, arrowroot, Hedychium spp, liquorice, burdock can be used. From popular and herbal medicine: burdock, Althea, Angelica, Inula racemosa, Geranium Robetianum, Polygonatum spp, Rheum spp, Bergenia Ligulata etc.
The list of plants would be very long but I would like to challenge you to find new ones, stimulate your creativity and inventiveness to create something new and why not also be innovative.
​Pick up old herbaria, take a walk, let yourself be guided and inspired by your nose. Sniff out the treasures that Nature has to offer, be the “truffle dog” of the Natural Perfumery.

If you are interested in Learning Raw Material Extraction Methods, enrol for an 8 weeks online certified course with Andrej Babicky at the perfumefoundation.academy