False to say that the European Commission wants to ban Chanel 5

Posted by Robin on 24 November 2012 17 Comments

Responding to press reports, EU commission spokesman for health and consumer policy Frederic Vincent insisted it was "false to say that the European Commission wants to ban Chanel 5." [...] "We are still a long way from considering changes to the legislation," he said, adding that the EU had begun consultations with the industry and consumer groups in August on the findings and their potential impact.

— Read more at EU will not ban Chanel No. 5 over allergy findings at France 24. Hat tip to Van Morrison Fan!

Altering some of the world’s most iconic scents

Posted by Robin on 1 November 2012 30 Comments

Perfume-makers are urging the European Commission to back down from possible legislation they fear could kill top fragrances by restricting natural ingredients linked to allergies, industry sources say. Luxury brands fear the EU could force them to change formulas across the $24.3 billion premium fragrance industry, altering some of the world's most iconic scents, such as Chanel No. 5, created in 1921.

— Read more at Exclusive: Perfume-makers fear EU legal blow to industry at the Chicago Tribune.

No warning on that orange

Posted by Robin on 17 April 2012 27 Comments

We want to make safe fragrances. But at the same time we’re restricted on some of the materials we use such as, for example, orange oil. If we use a very small amount of that then it must be listed on the labels of the products it’s going into as a possible allergen. Now if you go into a supermarket and buy an orange, when you peel it you get covered in the same oil that we’re being stopped from using. But there’s no warning on that orange saying it contains these same materials.

— Tim Gage of the British Society of Perfumers talks about IFRA regulations and how they affect perfumers. Read more at Death by jasmine: why organic perfumery is under threat at The Ecologist.

Replace what’s been lost

Posted by Robin on 23 October 2011 7 Comments

But traditional ingredients like oakmoss still tied perfumery to its ancient past. Now that this link is being severed, the challenge for the industry is to use technology to replace what’s been lost—by developing new ingredients, both natural and synthetic, and using precise software-controlled machines to find new combinations that capture old essences. But with more ingredients getting restricted every year, the hunt for replacements has grown more complex, and perfumery is in danger of losing the scent.

— From Engineering Replacements for Essential Perfume Ingredients, a long consideration of the effect of IFRA regulations on modern perfumery, over at Wired.

A third force

Posted by Robin on 20 May 2011 8 Comments

In the past, changes were driven by Mother Nature—or accountants. One caused variations in the quality and availability of natural ingredients, the other substituted less costly ones... In recent years, there’s been a third force: industry efforts to cut back on allergy-causing ingredients, to avoid labelling requirements or outright ingredient bans.

— Kim Pittaway, writing in This ain’t my mama’s L’Air Du Temps at Maclean's.

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Now Smell This

a blog about perfume

False to say that the European Commission wants to ban Chanel 5

Altering some of the world’s most iconic scents

No warning on that orange

Replace what’s been lost

A third force