Should I tell no “Jasmine” or “Lily of the Valley” was harmed in the making of their perfume?….
Every now and then, I get someone stumble into the store and look at my perfume shelf and a conversation would entail about perfumes and perfumers and who they love and what they are using right now….Mind you by this time, I would have mentioned that all of this is made of 100% natural ingredients, some very costly aromatics that I acquired through using my lifetime savings, cruelty free, hand-blended in micro batches here in Melbourne.
So I can manage the expectation….maybe they are not into perfumes by unknown brands made locally.
In fact, one actually told me upfront that she would only use Channel No 5 and anything else is unthinkable. Its ok with me. That’s her prerogative and brand loyalty. Feel free to spritz and sniff anyway.
But today, I had someone innocently tell me a particular perfume and an international brand that she is loyal to and because its sold in department stores, so real jasmine and lily of the valley must have gone into every single bottle. Surely, a perfume house of that calibre would never think of using anything synthetic….hmmm…
Perhaps she has not heard of petrochemicals that make up the bulk of the perfumes by high end brands sold in department stores? I thought to myself.
Yes even the niche perfume brands that come from very prestigious perfume houses.
Modern perfumes come with a good story, beautiful, exquisite bottles, expansive packaging and a dose of celebrity endorsement ….everything except maybe the flowers.
Think about it – its impossible for nature to give you the consistency to be mass produced, the economics involved in bottling and transportation so its an international, global product.
Synthetics gave birth to modern perfumery!,
