The term “Natural Perfume” was relatively obscure more than five years ago.
Many people, myself included, say we have been natural perfumers for years. But
really, we were mostly amateurs, happily mixing simple blends, often cribbed
from aromatherapy books, with our own preferences dropped in. Then there was a
change in consciousness, and many decided that they really wanted to learn how
to blend, and they wanted to define themselves as separate from mainstream
perfumery, the stuff of department store choking clouds and allergic reactions.
So, the term Natural Perfumery, like a synchronistic “click” in many
scent-lovers heads, became the way in which we define what we do.
In the 1800’s, before the discovery of synthetics that would change perfumery
forever, natural perfumery did exist; it just wasn’t called that. The
perfumers were just perfumers. The 20th Century saw the growth of
Mainstream Perfumery and the increasing use of synthetic chemicals replacing the
natural aromatics. Now, in the 21st Century, Natural Perfumery is the
logical next step along the fragrant path for many aromatherapists. It is the
road back through history that we are now finding, and it is wonderful.
Aromatherapists are already used to blending several essential oils to evoke a
mood, or bring about a desired physical change, and so this new trend, the
natural progression of blending perfumes came into being. Aromatherapists, and
others, suffering from chemical overloads, allergies and sensitivity to these
synthetics, and perhaps just a gut reaction to the harsh and fake smells of
these synthetics, moved towards a return to the perfumery of old, Natural
Perfumery.
Natural Perfumery existed for centuries before aromatherapy was conceived by
Gattefosse in the early part of the 20th Century, and now many modern
aromatherapists discovering that they want to refine their art and create
“real” perfumes, sometimes, but not always, with a healing goal in mind.
They are delving into the world of sensual pleasure and grand experimentation.
One roadblock: very few of them have training as a perfumer, a requisite for
understanding the complexities of blending the raw materials. One way past
that roadblock? Classes, peer groups, and home study.
Some aromatherapy books contain some basic, rather primitive, perfume blending
tips. Usually using no more than five or six essential oils, these simple
perfumes smelled nice, and performed their aromachology job, but didn’t
approach “real” perfumery. Chrissie Wildwood’s seminal Create Your Own
Aromatherapy Perfumes: Enchanting Blends for Body and Home (Piatkus
Press, 1995) is now a collector’s item, selling for ten times its original
price on Internet sites. This is due perhaps because of the recognition that she
was the first aromatherapist to publish a comprehensive, industry-based book on
blending from an aromatherapists’ palette. Still, she limited the choices to
essential oils, only.