I'd like to write not so much a response , but my own opinion on a topic which has come up recently on two of my favourite blogs. Both writers have taken a different approach - Octavian at 1000fragrances and Alex @ Musicien des Odeurs (both blogs linked to the right) have recently discussed the new environment in which perfumers must work, namely the fact that many classical raw materials are now being restricted or banned. Last night while reading through Octavians post about our 2010 oakmoss doomsday, I became very disillusioned about my future in the perfume industry. My style of perfumery definitely leans towards the classical - while I love fragrances such as the never ending series of fun concept perfumes by CDG and CB IHP, the perfumes that have really spoken to me in my lifetime have been classical compositions, and perfumes which hold at their heart natural ingredients as opposed to a synthetic one. Perfumes such as Creed's Royal English Leather, Chanel's Coco / No.19, Desprez's Versailles Homme and Serge Luten's Ambre Sultan have shaped my perfume soul since I started down this journey in scent. I have always been fond of herbs, spices, woods and other natural materials since I read many stories in my childhood in which these had special properties. As I said earlier, while I find perfumes such as "bottled dry cleaning" a great and fun exercise, an unshakable part of me still feels that working with the traditional timeless raw materials is serious perfumery - for me, its where the magic lies.
So what do we do now in the wake of this inevitable paradigm shift in perfumery? Octavian first suggests stocking up on bottles (first thing I did was navigate to ebay after reading his article) while Alex suggests we must not fear the future but celebrate the restrictions, and see what new can come from the tools at our disposal. Personally, I am not as optimistic as Alex, but I think there are always ways we can overcome any situation and make the best of it. First of all, I will not stop working with any of the restricted ingredients, even if I do so only for myself, I will continue to work with them as if nothing ever happened. Fragrance is art, and if the regime demands that I stop writing my poetry I will continue to do it in secret. Second of all, once my career gets started I will make it my personal mission to seek out new naturals and put them to use. If the IFRA writes them off, then I go back in search for more - the world is a big place!
In conclusion, I must admit that I am very saddened, as this type of corporate destruction of the human experience is all around me, not only in the IFRA 43 restrictions. Our water, our air, and our food - especially here in North America - there is no longer any taste in it. It is very hard to feel alive during these times. However, many people in history have gone through worse and so the show must go on.
- Matt
1 comment:
I hope you will be very creative dearest!!
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