On the Road to Natural Perfumery

How it began.

My study of perfume began over a decade ago when I journeyed to Australia and discovered essential oils.  Before then, I thought all perfume gave me a headache.  I disliked the cloying cloud that hung over people who wore perfume.   I shied away from department store spritzer people, and held my breath in elevators.  I later learned that most of the perfume in the U.S. is synthetic.  Lab created imitations smell totally different than the real thing (i.e., essential oils) and can give you major headaches and allergies. 

Wise Woman Jurlique EO Blend

In Australia, essential oils were very popular.  I remember going into a store called Jurlique and being fascinated by all the different essential oils, things like Cedarwood, and Calendula, each scent with its own personality.   Jurlique was as common as Bath and Bodyworks here in the U.S.   (Incidentally, a Jurlique opened here at our local mall but closed after only a few years.  Does this make you wonder if Australians are more progressive?  Or do Americans just love their prestige brands too much?)

The first bottle of essential oil I ever bought was called Wise Woman by Jurlique and had lavender, rosewood, patchouli, rose, and basil.  When that ran out, while I would have loved to return to the great Outback for a refill, it was cheaper to purchase the essential oils and blend my own Wise Woman.  As my collection grew, so did my curiosity on how I might blend them into natural perfumes.

Here are my favorite aromatics to work with.  Not only do they smell good, they sugar what's gone sour:

yuzu, clary sage, jasmine sambac, fir absolute, frankincense, lime

The EO’s I find most challenging:

basil, blue lotus, rosewood (if an EO had a face, rosewood would be that long skirt wearing woman with a squint and an arm full of chains), geranium (I like it most days but I swear it can turn on you), cedarwood (reminds me of cherry cough syrup), Indian frankincense (smells very sharp), and oakmoss, which smells and looks like the bottom sticky residue of the Chinese medicine herb pot.  

The magic happens when you get one of the challenging EO's to play well with others.  

To browse our selection of natural perfumes, please visit Mermaid Lane Perfumes

Smells Like Easter!

You can identify the holiday by the smells.  Today I smell marshmallows, sugar, bubbles, grass, wet dirt, vinegar, chocolate, jellybeans, and since I happen to be baking banana bread, bananas.  It's Easter!  

Sugared chickadees from Paris

Realist Mermaid's panoramic Easter eggs

Our personalized eggs

Panoramic easter eggs are a tradition in our family.   The ones I had as a kid looked better than they tasted.  I had one as a child that lasted at least ten years and had tiny bite marks where I tried to nibble it through the years.   The eggs haven't changed but now you can get ones made with organic sugar and vegetable based food dyes, so at least your nibbles can be somewhat more healthful.  The ones I chose this year were made by the amazing baker and candymaker, Realist Mermaid.  Her creations are organic, unprocessed and thoroughly unique.  I can personally attest to the deliciousness of her chocolate covered marshmallows.  


A girlfriend just brought back some of these adorable sugared chicks from Paris.  Yes, I ate one of them as well.  These are what Peeps aspire to be.  The other goodies are a chocolate bar dusted with lavender buds and fleur de sel.  At least if I can't go to Paris, at least I can have friends who there, no?  

Much love, fun, and spiritual reflection on your Easter weekend!  

Why Don't Natural Perfumes Last Longer? Three words: phthalates, parabens, petrols.

The number one complaint I get about natural perfumes is: why don’t they last longer?  Natural perfumes, made with non-synthetic actual plant essences, do not contain phthalates, parabens, or petroleum.   Phthalates are plasticizers used to soften vinyl plastic.  They are added to synthetic fragrance to help extend the scent.  Besides being hard to pronounce, phthalates are also suspected carcinogens and hormone disrupters.  A recent study linked them to early onset of menses in young girls.  The amount of phthalates we are exposed to on a daily basis is staggering; from soft vinyl toys, food packaging, industrial lubricants, flooring, carpeting, and every product that contains fragrance like dishwasher detergent and shampoo.

Then we have the parabens, a class of chemicals used as preservatives.  Parabens are also suspected endocrine disruptors.  Synthetic perfumes require a preservative to prevent rancidity.  Natural perfumes do not require preservatives, as most plant essences actually improve with age. 

In addition to the phthalates, 95% of chemicals used in fragrances are synthetic derivatives of petroleum, including toxins known to cause cancer, birth defects, and central nervous system disorders and allergies.  The perfume industry is self-regulating, meaning perfume manufacturers are not required to provide formulations or safety information to the FDA. 

A tiny snapshot of our natural perfume "lab". 

With so much icky stuff in synthetic perfumes, a better question to ask is why one would continue to use them on one's skin?   Natural perfumes don't last as long as synthetics precisely because they don't have these chemicals.  Plus, with natural perfumes, you get to smell the real thing, not some synthetic imitation.  Bbefore the advent of synthetics, natural perfumes were the norm.  It’s nice to get back to our roots – and leaves and flowers, if you will – even if that means a less persistent aroma.  

To browse our selection of natural perfumes, please visit Mermaid Lane Perfumes.

Musings on Buying Essential Oils for Natural Perfumes

I’ve just finished a few custom blends and am ready to start replenishing my supplies.  I need to order more essences.  This can be a hit or miss process since the oils scents can change even among the same suppliers depending on the season, the weather, the alignment of the planets, the wiggle of the earthworms. . .  what I’m saying is shopping for essential oils is not an exact science. 

It pays to shop around.  Different suppliers can have vastly different prices for the same oils.   Reputation matters in this business, since adulteration of essential oils is a big problem, particularly when spectrometers aren’t exactly a household appliance (save for the one on your face).  My favorite suppliers are Mountain Rose Herbs (Eugene, Oregon) and Eden Botanicals (Hyampon, California).  Mountain Rose aims to keep prices reasonable and has a good selection of herbs, teas, and spices in addition to oils.  Eden Botanical’s website provides detailed descriptions of its oils and always includes samples in your order.

I’ve also bought from Essential Oil University–  I am expecting a second order from them next week.  The wonderful natural perfumer Charna from Providence Perfume didn’t love the yuzu she ordered from Essential Oil University – but I found the sample I received to be quite zesty and alive.  Perhaps I was lucky to have received a fresher sample?  Citrus oils lose their quality more easily than others.  Or maybe EOU improved their quality after reading Charna's article?  We’ll see if I still like the yuzu when the full product comes next week.

One product that has been reliable is the frankincense (boswellia frereana) from Edens Garden (different than Eden Botanicals).  It's rich, woodsy aroma doesn't have the sharp edges other frankincenses can have and isn't medicinal smelling.  

If you are thinking of buying from Ebay, make sure you fully question the seller about their oils.  Sellers who purport to sell “essential oils” often sell “fragrance oils” side by side to their EO’s without making a clear distinction.  Let cost be your guide: if a deal’s too good to be true, it is.

Japanese honeysuckle makes a cooling tea, and hopefully a fragrant tincture.

Finally, don’t underestimate the benefits of tincturing your own plants.  Sure, it’s a long wait.  You have to shake the bottle regularly.   You have to find a good source of high proof alcohol, which can be expensive.  But it’s rewarding.  I was at my local Chinese grocery store yesterday and found all sorts of interesting things that screamed to be tinctured.  Dried honeysuckle.  Green jasmine tea.  Star anise.  Dried shiso leaves.  Not sure if they’ll all be successful but the experimentation is part of the fun.  

Yuzu is one of the more expensive citrus oils.

Maybe I can even tincture some yuzu.