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.

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.

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. 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.

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 - 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.

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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