Update
I just put Nostalgie samples on the site this evening. I will put bottles up in a few days, probably Wed or Thursday. Quite a few orders came in this weekend, so it’s been busy.
Someone let me know that I received a favorite indie perfumer of 2011 award on this Hungarian blog. It’s fun to see how fragrance lovers are united around the world by a common interest. Even though I can’t read the language (without Google translate anyway!), I recognize the other perfumes and brands in the list.
My copy of “Scent and Chemistry: The Molecular World of Odors” just arrived on Friday, and it looks like an excellent book. In addition to lots of information on aroma chemicals and essential oils, it also discusses percentages of various ingredients in many well-known scents, both niche and designer. I found it interesting to read the long list of scents that have massive doses of Galaxolide (including Kiehl’s Original Musk at 92.8%!), and massive doses of ISO E Super (like CdG Kyoto at 55% and CdG Jaisalmer at 51%). We’ve seen lists of scents with huge ISO E doses before, so this is no surprise. I think the ISO E trend has peaked though. Perfumers seem to have a tendency to go a little crazy with great new ingredients when they are first introduced, leading to a series of releases featuring the same ingredient.
I should have an update on a new project in a few days.
This book sounds very interesting! You know my feelings on iso e super – I don’t mind the smell, but it makes me queasy after a while. Also, the research on its health concerns isn’t good (a quote from an Environmental Health Network document):
“There has been focus on synthetic musk compounds because of bioaccumulation in tissue and in the environment. In reality, “musk” refers to the odor quality and not chemical structure or other chemical properties. Considering Iso E Super’s similar structure to AETT and AHTN, two polycyclic musk compounds with known concerns, it is likely that Iso E Super and other chemically similar materials would also bioaccumulate in human tissue, persist in the environment, and have health concerns. There are concerns related to AHTN causing liver toxicity and discoloration.”
Congratulations on the award!
There are some aroma chemicals that have been found to accumulate in the environment, like the older nitro musks and polycyclic musks, and regulations are being placed on them as they are discovered. Nitro musks are not used anymore, and the use of polycyclic musks has been mostly replaced by biodegradable macrocyclics and alicyclics. ISO E has some limits placed on it now too, though when I read percentages like those listed in this chemistry book it makes me wonder about that. Actually, even some of my kilos of naturals that ship to me from France have warning labels on them because some natural absolutes would be toxic to fish if dumped into the environment. It’s a complex topic. Elena at Perfume Shrine wrote a post on ISO E here:
http://perfumeshrine.blogspot.com/2009/03/iso-e-super-its-merits-its-faults-geza.html