All natural Perfume

Several years ago, my family got the terrible news of my brother's death from either a form of Marfan Syndrome or Ehler's Danlos Syndrome.

I do not seem to have the deadly form of this genetic connective tissue disorder.

I do however have another form that viciously affects my skin, muscles, tendons... so I wanted to find all-natural organic products for me and my family to use to ease our skin issues and that would not pollute us or the earth.

So I started to make my own all natural soaps, bath teas, sachets, eye masks, neck pillows, lip balms, soothing skin balms-salves, and most recently - Luxury solid Perfumes.

I had a few perfumes in the works (my latest products) and almost completed when my Mom got the diagnosis that her cancer came back with a vengence - after 11 years.

She loves to look nice and smell good so I am creating perfumes and other products for her to use.

She doesn't like flower scents as they give her a headache and can affect her breathing due to allergies and the cancer - so I am working on a more fruity-earthy perfume blend for her.

You can read the details and my progress on her perfume among other topics at my main websites' blog.

I have dried some of my own organically grown peaches and I will use them to become the anchor scent in my Mom's signature perfume.
It will still be a few weeks before it is ready for her to try.

*UPDATE = I have finished it, gotten Mom's approval and have listed it in my BiSi online store.
It is called Especially for Mom - Blossoms & Fruit Luxury solid Perfume

The search for products that can not only help us, but also just as importantly, NOT hurt our planet is almost getting to be a mainstream obsession.

Yes, it is vital that we are more careful about not only what we put IN our bodies (organic food and pure water...), but also about what are putting ON our bodies too.

I make solid perfumes using ONLY organically grown chemical free infused flowers/herbs/resins... in oil and then adding a little unprocessed beeswax to it when it has infused for several weeks.
I sometimes will add a tiny bit of pure essential oils too, but I do NOT use absolutes, concretes or any fragrance oils.

The scent of real perfume is soft and wonderful.
I had almost given up on perfumes because the store bought stuff is so strong that it is overpowering and the fake ingredients gave me terrible headaches.

One day, On a whim, I decided to try to make some all natural perfume and I just fell in love with the process and the results too.

I have always loved making things, especially natural things as I explain
here in my FAQ page

Note:
There are Organic certifications that a maker can get for his/her products, BUT smaller sized All-natural businesses like mine simply cannot afford to get these "Organic" certifications.

I can say that I am an Organic gardener (I even give organic gardening tips on my main website) and that I use my homegrown herbs and flowers in my handmade products, BUT I am not able to call my products "Organic" because I am not rich nor can my smaller home-based business afford to pay for such a thing.

Sometimes the organic certification isn't all it is cracked up to be anyhow as some folks make so-called "Organic" perfumes using absolutes or other forms of a flower that were obtained with alcohol or hexane. This is a more natural perfume than a purely synthetic perfume, and the hexane is reportedly "washed off", but I am taking no chances with my family's health OR yours.
These substances are considered a lesser evil than fake fragrances and are marketed as almost "Organic" in some circles, but not mine.
I have heard of a few suppliers who are working on chemical free absolutes and concretes, but I am not convinced - yet.

For my perfumes, I use my homegrown flowers and herbs... (I do have to order organic vanilla beans... that I cannot grow myself).
I then infuse these - SLOWLY over several weeks or most likely months - into all natural oils to extract the scents and make my perfume by adding unprocessed beeswax to the newly made scented oil.
Diana
;)

I just bottled a blend of wild plum/magnolia/peach blossom infused oil.
This little bottle holds a little over one cup. I started this blend at the end of April and I just finished it on 9-1-08. This took 4 months - so you see why my perfumes are indeed a Luxury item.
Still though, I charge less for my perfumes than many others out there and I do not use absolutes or concretes... .
I coax the scents - the very essence itself out of my flowers/fruits/spices/herbs... slowly and patiently to get a pure infused oil with no chemicals used and no additives either except a little vitamin E to keep the oil from going rancid.
I will use some of this and some of at least one other of my infused oils in a special blend for my Mom.
Doesn't it look so pretty ?
And the fact that it is all-natural and lovingly handmade by me will make it even more special.

Join in the discussion here : What does All Natural mean to you ?

I had so many people ask me to make an "Old-Fashioned Lavender" perfume - that I made one.

It is chemical-free lavender flowers freshly dried and then slowly infused into oil to pull out the scent into the oil.
I then added a tiny bit of lavender Essential oil to round it off and to strengthen it.
Then I added a little pure beeswax to thicken it and add a hint of an extra "something" to the scent.

It is getting Ohhhhhhh's and Ahhhhhhhh's from almost everyone.

I even have folks putting it on right before they go to bed because they like the soothing scent to fall asleep to.

My youngest loves to put a little on her forehead and wrists and says it really helps her to relax and sleep better too.

* During the April 16th 2009 TODAY show, Dr. Nancy Snyderman was discussing ways to take care of yourself in these stressful times and she mentioned using Aromatherapy - in particular using lavender - for stress.

She, my youngest, just had a busy two days.
She was chosen to sing to represent her school at a huge concert which was March 13th.
Then on March 14th, she was a first place winner from her grade in an essay contest. She had to read it aloud and was given a trophy and a few prizes too - as did the other winners.
The photos of the winners will be in the Sharon Herald.
For both of these events, she got very nervous so I applied a little of my lavender perfume on her wrist for her to sniff. After a few minutes, she was fine.

I have such a short window of time when I can harvest all of the flowers in my organic gardens and yard to dry and save for making my all natural perfumes and soaps... .

My Lilac products are very popular, but I don't get to make a big supply because it takes Sooooooooooooo long to pick the lilac flowers and they do not bloom for very long. They must be picked at the perfect peak of bloom to get the best scent from them.
I then carefully dry them and then infuse them into oil to extract the scent.

It takes about a bushel basket of blossoms (picked by hand off of the stems to be sure the basket contains ONLY the blossoms) to make about 1 cup of infused oil.

If I had to pay for the labor to have someone else to do just the picking of the lilac blossoms at minamum wage, it would cost a few hundred dollars.
Not to mention what the drying and infusing labor cost might be.

It is a GOOD thing that I love what I do because it is not cost effective that's for sure - LOL

Thank you taking the time to contact me about my all natural perfumes.

I infuse my own flowers/herbs... into oils to obtain most of my scents. I do use real essential oils sometimess too.

I formulated a perfume for my Mom who also cannot be around flowery and strong scents.

In that one, I infused my own peaches and plums and apple/peach/plum/magnolia blossoms and other things too and she loves it.

I should be making some more this Spring. I harvested and dried the fruits and blossoms that I grew this year and I have them slowly infusing in the oil now. The oils should be ready to turn into perfume this Spring.

As for a "splash" perfume, I do not work with alcohol - I choose to work with oils only.

I make solid perfumes and perfume oils that are rubbed into the skin and on the ends of the hair.

So far, I have only shipped my solid perfumes because I was nervous about sending a liquid oil perfume in the mail, but after some research this past Summer/Fall I should be listing those in my store this Spring (2010) too.

As for lasting scent, an all natural scent will not last very long - maybe an hour or so on the skin and a few hours on the hair.

It is the chemicals in store-bought perfumes that make the scent last - it is also the chemicals that do damage to the lungs of some people. When I am around that stuff, my eyes water and my throat gets itchy and I lose my voice... .

Organically Yours,

Diana

One of my Gather articles

If you would like more information about natural perfume or a little of the process of natural perfumery, this article (and all of my comments at the bottom of the article in response to the comments of my readers) may shed a little more light on the subject.

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There is a seller called ~ Gypsy Queen Media ~ that is great to work with and she has some really unusual titles as well as some common ones too.

Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Good Food Book: Live Better and Longer with Nature's Best Foods
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Deliverance [VHS]

Dr. Seuss - Un pez, dos peces, pez rojo, pez azul (One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish) [VHS]

Eat Fish, Live Better: How to Put More Fish and Omega-3 Fish Oils into Your Diet for a Longer, Healthier Life
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