Farewell to Summer Newsletter + Oppose SCA Call for Action
For those of you not on my mailing list, you can read my newsletter that was sent out today here, or just scroll below for the SmellyBlog edition...
News from the Nose
Farewell to Summer...
Dear Fragrant Friends,
Blessings for the upcoming Jewish New Year! May the coming year be a good year of health, love and peace and may it be filled with sweet scents :-)
Hope you all had a wonderful summer! Here at the studio things have been in high gear for the entire summer (except for my daily evening swim in the Pacific ocean) – which is why I haven’t sent any newsletters in a while… There are lots of things I want to tell you about that kept me so busy the past 3 months!
So, if you live in the USA or are a USA citizen, please do all that is in your power to stop this bill from passing. Read on for suggestions about how you can change the future and ensure that we can all continue enjoying natural cosmetics, body products and perfume.
In this newsletter:
- Oppose SCA!
- What I Did This Summer
- New: Sugar Scrubs
- New: Anointing Body Oils
- Dream Apparel - New Retail Locations in Gastown & Granville Island
- The Velvet Room Boutique in Kerrisdale
- Gentille Alouette: New Boutique & Private Label Perfume
- Upcoming Markets & Trade Shows
- Harvest Festival Tea Party October 17th
- Study Perfumery: Intensive Week September 20-24
1. Oppose SCA!
Renown aromatherapist Robert Tisserand, who is an expert on the issue of safety of essential oils and understand the threat of this act better than I do, wrote an excellent article which will shed more light on the matter. Here's an exerpt:
"The thinking behind the wording of SCA 2010 is naive because there is an
assumption that substances are either “safe” or “toxic”, and that if we
simply eliminate the toxic ones from personal care products, the world
will be a better place. It may seem like an excellent idea, but once
you start talking about parts per million or lower, it is unnecessary
and unrealistic. Not even foods are regulated to that degree, and our
exposure to foods is far greater than our exposure to cosmetics".
Read the rest of Robert Tisserand's article, and if you live in the USA, please please please act on it and Sign the Oppose SCA Petition, write Congress, write Your Senator, vote "Oppose" on Open Congress, and see your representatives & senators in person during Summer Recess August 9 - September 12. If you are on Twitter, please follow the #OpposeSCA hashtag.
to oppose this bill, which is draconian and ridiculous and will only
ensure that we will all be only using synthetics that are manufactured
by large corporations and are supposedly safe, rather than plants and
oils that were used for thousands of years. It will do nothing for
improving safety in cosmetics.
Other relevant links:
Oppose SCA
Indie Business Blog
Essential U
Personal Care Truth
2.What I Did This Summer
Aside from that, the summer went by uneventful and I was mostly buried in my den, with the skylight closed to protect my precious oils from the British Columbian Sun, and was concocting my new line of body products (which I will tell you about shortly). I also hosted a Midsummer Tea Party on August 8th, in which I revealed my body product line for the first time.
3. New: Sugar Scrubs!
I was also very fortunate to get some help and feedback with the development of the line from my intern from Switzerland: Olivier Biedermann is a cosmetic chemist who now studies for his masters at ISIPCA in Versailles and has a wealth of experience with working with natural raw materials for cosmetics.
You are all familiar with the bath salts. They now also will be available in larger sizes. The new batches will also be improved in a few other ways – by using special salts, including an ancient Canadian sea salt – these are natural sea minerals mined from 3000 feet beneath the great plains in Saskatchewan and will be used in the Spruce bath salts, and also the new Vetiver bath salts, which I have finally blended yesterday and will be soaking in my tub this evening for a relaxing bath…
But the real news belongs to two new types of products that I’m particularly proud of:
Sugar Scrubs and Anointing Body Oils.
Sugar Scrubs are a simple, effective and all natural way to improve the health and the appearance of your skin: the sugar granules scrub away dead skin cells, leaving the skin naturally glowing and the living cells happier because they can breathe better. I created two formulas, in two different fragrances. Both also have the benefits of moisturizing and nourishing the skin because the sugar is carried in a base of vegetable glycerin and very nourishing natural oils such as shea and virgin coconut oil.
Guilt Sugar Scrubs have ground cacao beans for more exfoliation, and more importantly – their delicious scent! And than there is orange blossom, sweet orange peel and juice essences to make it even more addictive.
Finjan Sugar Scrubs have ground espresso beans and cardamom pods, and also have floral notes from rose geranium and jasmine, and a sparkling citrus burst of grapefruit. The grapefruit as well as the caffeine help to smooth and even out cellulite, so there is that extra bonus to using this scrub, besides making your whole bathing experience smell delicious!
4.New:Anointing Body Oils
The base oil for these anointing oils is slightly different from scent to scent, but they all contain Fractionated Coconut Oil for a non-greasy fast absorbing application. They also have nourishing Jojoba Oil, Avocado Oil or Shea Oil, anti-oxidant Tea Seed Oil, and skin-cell-regenerating Squalane Oil (olive derived) and Vitamin E. The scents for the formulae were chosen for the skin-benefits that some of the essential oils in the original perfume contains.
I’ve created 4 scents and formulations:
Song of Songs Anointing Body Oils with Saffron & Rose, which contains avocado, tea seed and squalane oils.
Megumi Anointing Body Oil with Vetiver & Jasmine, which contains Rice Bran Oil
Tamya Tropical Body Oil with Ylang Ylang & Yuzu, which contains coconut oil and shea oil, and is the lightest – in fact I like spraying it on like a dry oil!
5. Dream Apparel - New Retail Locations in Gastown & Granville Island
Dream Apparel in Gastown
311 Cordova Street West (between Homer & Cambie)
Vancouver, BC V6B 1E5
(604) 683-7326
This location carries Bon Zai, Ayalitta and Tamya.
130-1666 Johnston Street
Vancouver, BC V6H 3S2
(604) 683-6930
This location carries ArbitRary, Film Noir and White Potion.
Dream showcases local designers of fashion, accessories and jewelry (by the way - the lovely white leather bag in the window is made by my dear and talented friend JolaV). I'm really excited about this new collaboration and having my fragrances in the same space as so many favourite designers whose lovely wares accompanies me on a daily basis. Thank you, Dream, for the first to be realizing my retail dreams in Vancouver, at last!!!
6. The Velvet Room: Boutique in Kerrisdale
2248 West 41st Ave Vancouver (Kerrisdale) 604-264-8664
Mon-Sat 10:30 am-5:30 pm and Sunday 12-4pm
The boutique carries Bon Zai, Roses et Chocolat and Tamya.
The Velvet Room exclusively showcases Canadian designers. All products are designed AND manufactured in Canada!
7.Gentille Alouette: Boutique + Private Label Perfume
boutique (227 Carrall street @ Cordova in Gastown, Vancouver). The
perfumes offered at Gentille Alouette are Rainforest, Song of Songs and Zohar.
The boutique, with an intimate setting reminiscent of your grandmother's
closet, carries indie designers, wearable art and unique jewelry pieces,
and is owned and operated by fashion designer and die-hard perfumista
Eliza Lau.
Eliza's life-long dream has been to create her own
custom scent, and she has picked me of all perfumers to help her realize
this fantasy. Every Thursday I will be at her shop until we complete the process
of hand-picking the most gorgeous essences to scent the feather of this
gentle sparrow...
8. Upcoming Markets & Trade Shows
My summer hiatus from markets and shows has come to an end, and I’m excited to come back to my first Portobello West Art +Fashion Market this season on Sunday, September 26th, 12-6pm at the Rocky Mountaineer Station as usual!
For those of you who missed my Midsummer Tea Party, this will be your first opportunity to try my new body products I mentioned before. And of course, I will be also rolling some special truffles after a long break from these addictive melt-in-your-mouth treats…
Portobello West Art + Fashion Market happens once a month year-around. The market is open 12-6pm on the last Sunday of every month, at the Rocky Mountaineer Station (1755 Cottrell Street @ Terminal Avenue), Vancouver, BC. Mark your calendar for the following
dates:
- Sep 26th, 2010
- Oct 31st, 2010
- Nov 27th & 28th, 2010
- Dec 4th & 5th, 2010
I am also very proud to announce our participation in the One Of A Kind Show and Sale
Vancouver at the new convention centre, December 9-12, 2010.
9. Harvest Festival Tea Party October 17th
Mark your calendars: October 17th is my next tea party, and the theme this time is celebrating the harvest season with the abundance of locally grown fresh and fragrant food!
This time, I will be hosting Pedro Villalon of Dao Tea, and together we will be doing a presentation about how scents and aromas in tea and perfume evoke memories and emotions.
Complete menu and program for the afternoon will be emailed in my next newsletter, as well as on my event page on Facebook, but for now you can drool over the Midsummer Tea Party menu I hosted August 8th to get an idea of what the raves are all about...
Spaces are limited to 25 people only for this event, and RSVP's are on a first-come first-serve basis.
Teas:
Tea Tasting with Dao Tea’s Freshly Harvested TeasImmortelle l’Amour
Homemade Chai
Earl Gray Cream
Cranberry & Hibiscus Iced Tisane
Tier 1: Savoury Appetizers & Canapés
Roasted Beets ****Mushroom Mini Quiches
Tortilla Cones w/ Guacamole & Black Beans ****
Tier 2: Tea Sandwiches:
Brie & Pear Tea SandwichesCarrot & Ginger Tea Sandwiches
Fennel & Tarragon Tea Sandwiches
Tier 3: Scones
Concord Grape + Blue Cheese Scones, served w/ Devonshire Cream & Chardonnay Wine JellyCornbread, served w/ Whipped Butter & honey
Tier 4: Desserts
Pumpkin CupcakesHazelnut Brownies **
Seed Cake Madeleines
Torta di Mele Ampezzana (Apple Cake from Cortina d’Ampezzo)
Tier 5: Truffles & Petitfours
Chai Truffles**Earl Gray Truffles**
Marzipan & Apricot Pettitfours ****
* Dairy Free (contains eggs)
** Gluten Free
*** Dairy & Gluten Free
**** Vegan & Gluten Free
It will charge you $2 online plus $8 at the checkout for "shipping". You will be reimbursed for the $10 if you
make a purchase at the studio for $10 or more.
10. Study Perfumery: Intensive Week September 20-24
There is still one space left in our intensive week of perfumer studying, September 20-25th. This weeklong course is open to all levels, and will cover the topic of the Oriental fragrance family. More details about the course can be found online.
11. Don't Forget to Oppose SCA!
If you have read so far, you may have forgotten all the important talk at the beginning about opposing the SCA (Safe Cosmetics Act) in the USA, which will pretty much guarnatee I won't be making any perfumes for you ever again. If you want to be able to choose which cosmetics you can use, and have access to natural botanical ingreidents such as essential oils and pure nourishing plant-based oils and extracts, please do at least one of the following 7 simple actions:
1) Educate yourself - Read the rest of 2) If you live in the USA, please please please act on it and
2) Sign the Oppose SCA Petition
4) write Your Senator
5) vote "Oppose" on Open Congress
7) If you are on Twitter, please follow the #OpposeSCA hashtag
to oppose this bill
9) Educate yourself, by reading the following relevant links:
Oppose SCA
Indie Business Blog
Essential U
Personal Care Truth
Robert Tisserand's article
1 Comments:
This is all wonderful. Well done!
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