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Question:
Hi Kate,
I'm beginning a search for some natural beauty products (specifically perfume and an exfoliating body scrub) for my wedding. I've found a bunch of great websites and looked at products through your site, but I don't want to buy a perfume without being able to smell it in person. Could you recommend any common stores that carry all-natural beauty products? Do any national chains such as Sephora or Origins have anything decent?
Thanks so much!
Regan
Answer:
Hi Regan,
Thank you so much for writing. Many perfumes contain nasty ingredients so I think it is great you are trying to find a natural alternative.
I agree with you that perfumes have to be tried in person! Almost everything I try turns sickeningly sweet on me after five minutes so I am very picky.
To answer your question, there are no chain stores that I know of that have a robust selection. I know origins (as a company) has a good environmental reputation and now carries an organic line of skin care products, but I am not sure what is in their perfumes. It is certainly worth a trip to their store to find out if there is one near you. The same goes for Sephora.
Personally, I am fond of Pacifica Perfumes -they have rich spicy scents and you can use their store locator to find a store near you.
However, my favorite natural perfumery is Aftelier. They are NOT cheap, but they have amazing floral solid perfumes which are sold in a refillable compact. Aftelier allows you to order samples online -which, if used sparingly, can last a long time and are much more affordable.
I am sorry I can't offer more advice. I am posting your question here with the hope some of the other readers will chime in with suggestions.
When you do find something you love I hope you will come back and share!
All the best,
Kate
P.s. On the exfoliant question my favorite (after lots of testing) is the JASON Apricot Scrubble
1 comment:
Hello!
My name is Laurie Stern and I am the perfumer/owner of Velvet & Sweet Pea's Purrfumery. www.purrfumery.com is my online boutique, offering a signature line of luxury, artisanal botanical perfumes for the socially aware consumer. Blending perfume's legendary opulence with an enlightened focus on organics and without animal fixatives, the perfumery transforms rare, exotic floral and natural scents into distinctive perfumes, colognes, body oils and bath salts.
My work as the perfumer of Velvet and Sweet Pea’s is a culmination of all my artistic passions, but it’s also an expression of my values and ethics. One of my main goals is to help educate people about what goes into the creation of perfume so they will be able to make informed choices, and with that in mind I’ve actually created my website to be an extensive educational resource about perfume, where people can learn about natural perfumery and all the elements that go into this art form.
I choose to make natural perfume – perfumes which contain no synthetic ingredients – for the health of people and the planet, and I try to source all my materials from organic, sustainable, and wildcrafted sources. Liquid perfumes are in a base of organic grape alcohol and creme perfumes are made using beeswax from my own hives.
My use of the word “botanical” for my perfume is also key to one of the core principles of the Purrfumery. Some natural perfumers use animal products (such as civet cat musk or beaver castoreum) in their perfumes. It’s not currently well-known that the way these are harvested from the animals is terribly cruel, and in some cases species-endangering, but as an avid lover of animals I find this a completely unacceptable trade-off for the scent and staying power of these musks and other products. Fortunately, after some experimenting, I have found plenty of botanical base note accords that allow me to create long-lasting perfume.
Please check out the "Weddings" page on my site, as I previously was a wedding florist in the Bay area!
Thank you,
Laurie Stern
Velvet & Sweet Pea's Purrfumery
www.purrfumery.com
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