We’ve got to combat what is going on out there. There are people coming after the industry. [...] We need to evolve, because the rest of the environment is evolving. I don’t want us [the industry] to be a dinosaur. We don’t want to become extinct.
— IFRA president Demi Thoman, quoted in Fragrance Industry Organizations Realign for a Stronger Global Voice at Perfumer & Flavorist. Many thanks to Alyssa for the link!
I think I need a translation, an analysis… something!
Why does IFRA never make any sense to me?
(there are anti-fragrance NGOs?)
Yes, I know & I’m sorry. I’m torn between wanting to keep interested parties informed, and not wanting to post things that I don’t have the time or the knowledge to figure out and translate. I really wish some other blog would take this ball & run with it, because I can’t.
Denyse wrote about the general situation well in April 2009, Robin. The link is at the bottom of that page. She’s also addressed the issue recently on her blog Grain de Musc, and I imagine she’ll continue to run with this rather cumbersome ball. Kudos to her, I’d say.
Yes, she’s doing WAY more than I am, and those were great posts, thanks for the reminder. Here’s a link to the one at P&F:
http://www.perfumerflavorist.com/fragrance/regulatory/43874117.html
But I don’t think anybody has yet written a really wonderful “IFRA for dummies” article that sums up for a newcomer what has happened so far and why, or that independently evaluates the science behind the more recent restrictions (again, Cropwatch is trying to do that, but their articles are not geared towards general consumers — it can be hard to slog through them).
IFRA for Dummies would be great. It would take a genius to write it, though.
Cropwatch is the place to go for analysis, though I often feel like I need a translation of their prose, too. My understanding is that he’s referring to some legislation, like that in Halifax (and apparently California) banning fragrance from the workplace. I suppose it’s possible that there are anti-frag NGO’s, but I think it’s more likely that there are environmental watchdog groups that target fragrance as one “pollutant” among many (the clean indoor air people) or are suspicious of it as an allergen (it and many other cosmetics and cleaning agents and so on).
We dont need to evolve by creating bans and restrictions. We need to evolve by planting as many trees as we are cutting down. Or as many flowers as we are digging up. Get off your asses IFRA execs and go dig a hole, and either put some seeds in there, or throw yourself in.
I’m not sure that addresses their concern in any way — they don’t want outsiders regulating the fragrance industry.
uh-huh….but I still think Rictor’s idea has a cetain appeal….
Oops — pressed the button too soon. Coming back to say that my interest in this move–essentially turning IFRA into a consortium of the major flavor and frag industry corporations (with some additional votes left over for everyone else)–seems to indicate the same kind of dissention in the ranks that recent public comments from LVMH employed perfumers pointed towards. While the president of IFRA is obviously as paranoid as ever, it does give me some hope that the folks actually making the stuff might start to balk at these ridiculous regs and have the power to vote them down. We’ll see.
A, although it’s clear they’re reorganizing, they already were, in many respects, a consortium of the major F&F houses. That’s where there money comes from & always has been — so they already ARE the people making the stuff. The pres. of IFRA works at Givaudan.
Notably, those recent public comments were all from noses outside the major F&F houses.
Good points, all, R. But I cling to the idea that they are fighting amongst themselves…
Oh, I think there is no doubt that many individual perfumers find the IFRA regulations stifling…there have been little public hints from time to time, even from a few names at the big F&F companies. But not sure that is ever going to translate into action on a corporate level.
If this is the future, I think i prefer to stay in the past.
It looks like the bad news doesn’t stop coming. Who would thought that Serge Lutens would discontinue four fragrances? To me, this is a symbol that something is very, very wrong. I pray that something wonderful happens, because they way the things go soon we’ll have niche celebrity fragrances O.o
Gosh, but the Serge Lutens line is HUGE. I don’t see it as a sign of the apocalypse that they’re discontinuing a few that don’t sell well…they’re a business, like anybody else. And the market is glutted with niche, just as it is with mainstream.
And we already do have niche celebrity fragrances! Daphne Guinness, Etat Libre d’Orange Rossy de Palma, Cumming The Fragrance, to name a few.
Oh! I forgot about hese niche one. Cumming looks very interesting.
What surprised me most was the discontinuation of the Douce Amere. It didn’t look that this one didn’t sell well. And It scares me because who knows what Lutens will be discontinued next?
I know many people think of Serge Lutens as being on some higher plane than other perfume houses, but that just doesn’t resonate with me. It’s a business. He makes some great scents, but he isn’t, so far as I know, safe from the same sorts of concerns that affect other perfume houses, and he releases perfumes at a pretty rapid pace — often 2-3 per year. I can’t think of any company that releases that many over a long period of time and then never has to discontinue any of them. Maybe there is one I’m not thinking of?
I have no idea if Douce Amere sold. If it did, I can’t see why it would get axed unless there were other issues (ingredients that can no longer be used, etc). Either way, the line will still be huge even after losing 4.
But that’s not to say I’m not sorry to see them go! And yes, will be sad if they axe ISM or TC.
The problem with these fragrance companies is, they are their own worst enemies! They have spent several decades stinking the place up with ghastly chemical concoctions, that really are offensive. I can hardly bear to walk down that supermarket aisle with those dreadful stinky home fragrance things all tricked up to look as if they are ‘natural’ with flowers, etc. The stuff that comes out of their chemical vats has caused way more allergy and offense than the palette of naturals that used to underpin ‘fine fragrance’. IFRA looking after the fragrance industry is simply a big combined vested interest trying to make sure it gets more of its artificial flavours and fragrances into the market. All these bans on naturals are spurious ploys that ‘look’ as if they care about the environment or health. Yes I do understand that everything is a chemical of some kind whether made by nature or man, yes I am a greenie farmer who uses various chemicals in a small way compared to the factory farms etc. As far as human allergy goes, we seem to have created an unholy alliance between an environment drenched in the products of Chemco and an obsession with hygiene, etc.
Ok off soapbox, but I find as a fragrance lover, all this hypocrisy in the name of the public good quite infuriating. A pity some of the do-gooders wouldn’t ban bad breath, or insist that babies be breastfed to build a decent immune system, or something!
I know many people suspect that IFRA is out to ban naturals so they can replace them w/ synthetics, but I just don’t buy that at all. I think their concern is really pretty close to what they say: they’re scared to death that outside concerns will try to regulate their activities, so they want to be as proactive as possible to prevent that happening.
I can’t help but think of the indi film industry of the 90’s vs. Hollywood when I think of niche houses or even some of the more mainstream ones vs. IFRA. Only as a director, if you’ve got the financial backing, you can pretty much make what you like if you’re willing to run the risk of your film not being rated, and the consequence of not being advertised as a result of not submitting your piece for that rating.
Fragrances don’t even have the luxury to do that, I believe. At least most that have been forced to reformulate. I just bought a backup of Chantecaille Frangipane since there’s a rumor going around that it won’t be releaced again until 2011. Of course the news instantly smacked of reformulation, and I can’t think of a single note there that requires it. But then again, I haven’t studied up on the latest materials to be banned or dramatically reduced.
It just isn’t as much fun to buy perfume in the fashion of stocking an emergency bunker rather than picking up one bottle to enjoy. I still like shopping for fragrances. I just get a bit irritated that if I go back to buy the same fragrance in a couple years, it might be something completely different. Organza Indecence illustrates this point so well.
“Studying up” on the latest materials is no small matter. It’s a pretty long list. Agree, it is all less fun.