Magickal Realism

There have been a few times when I’ve mentioned using an absolute in some perfume-based conversation, to have the listener tell me later that it was assumed I was talking about tinctures. “Like you were using Absolut vodka or something.”

Aside from my lack of enthusiasm for vodka - not to mention some complications involved with using tinctures¹ - there is my tendency to stick with essential oils and direct herbal infusions.

That said, I do still use absolutes although some are environmentally dubious and suppliers aren’t required to tell me what solvent they used to extract the scent. Absolutes aren’t classified as essential oils because of the way they’re extracted: solvent. Yes, these are really what we’re talking about when we speak of solvent-extracted essential oils. They’re not really essential oils, exactly - usually, they’re thicker, stickier, and they evaporate much more slowly. If you left a bottle of jasmine absolute open and a bottle of lemon essential oil, the lemon would disappear into the air much more quickly.² Not all of them use hexane, which I spoke about before. Some use ethanol, an alcohol solvent based in corn rather than in petroleum.

The theory behind absolute extraction is that it gets out materials that the plant otherwise might not give up - because of delicacy, possibly, since it’s used a lot with florals.

While I would certainly prefer my absolutes to be extracted with ethanol over hexane, it’s not an ideal situation and given time and adequate space I will probably replace everything with C02 extracts or resort to enfleurage.

1. there are some who argue that tincturing an herb could create chemicals with unpredictable consequences, which, while quite possible, I think after a few hundred years of such practice someone would have noticed long-term ill effects [↩]
2. Kids, don’t do this at home because it’s EXPENSIVE [↩]

While researching greenwashing for a future post, I found a tidbit relevant to a post made prior this week about chemicals and how a great deal if misinformation about what chemicals are is being spread. A marketing agency called TerraChoice printed a pamphlet about the “Six Sins of Greenwashing.”

Under the Sin of Vagueness, I thought this point particularly important given the conversation that triggered the post earlier this week:

” ‘Chemical Free.’ In fact nothing is chemical-free. Water is a chemical. All plants, animals, and humans are made of chemicals as are all of our products.”

Further down the list under the same sin is ” ‘All Natural.’ Aresenic is natural. So are uranium, mercury, and formaldehyde. All are poisonous.” As I’ve said before, natural does not mean safe.

If wishes were horses, I’d have an Arabian farm. Seriously, I have no idea how that particular figure of speech is supposed to end. In any case, a common wish that people come to me with is that I make perfume or some other product that’s “hypoallergenic.”

I am the woman who breaks out from use of a hypoallergenic fabric softener. I’m among the first in line to tell you that there ain’t no such thing as “hypoallergenic.” Your body can decide it’s allergic to anything it wants to at any time - there are even people with allergies to water (usually skin only which is still deeply uncomfortable.)

I don’t know how the term hypoallergenic came about, but I know that the US government doesn’t see it as having meaning. From the FDA, “There are no Federal standards or definitions that govern the use of the term “hypoallergenic.” The term means whatever a particular company wants it to mean. Manufacturers of cosmetics labeled as hypoallergenic are not required to submit substantiation of their hypoallergenicity claims to FDA.”

I would LOVE to claim that my goodies are hypoallergenic. I might contemplate even trading an eyeball for it if I didn’t enjoy depth perception so much . But I can’t. I have customers tell me that they don’t react as harshly to my perfumes as they do to over-the-counter synthetics, but I just don’t have the means to gather the data to prove that mine are less allergenic than theirs - and sadly, the chemicals that produce synthetics know this.

All I’ve got is customer testimony to an absence of allergic response from much too small of a data sample. So still, use with caution. You never know when your body might turn on you.

I’ve admitted before I was a disaster of hazmat proportions at high school chemistry. Even now as a perfumer, I’m not too enthused about linalools and santalols, and forget all about the citronellols. But since my days as a rash 16 year old creating peanut brittles that Should Not Be (TM) I’ve learned a few things, and I’ve come to witness some assumptions that just make trouble for us all in the long run.

The first is that no one under the age of 30 seems to know how to crack a damn book anymore. Seriously, people, quit using the damn computer for your sole source of information and learn how to use a print index - reference books like encyclopedias at least have fact checkers for a starting point. The reason misinformation about naturals and natural materials spreads is because no one checks with a source, but just rips off of websites and repeats. I bring this up first because of a very nasty email I received from the author of DIY Naturally blog. Let’s say that the author favors her politics over dissemination of accurate information - or basic fact checking. I weep for generation Y; the Internet has done you no favors in teaching you to take criticism or engage in intelligent exchange.¹

Second, this whole fuss about the the words chemical and natural. Both words should have meaning, and both words have been reduced to nothing more than pseudo-political buzzwords. It’s annoying, as a lot of people are going to get seriously hurt and likely have been seriously hurt by operating on the following incorrect assumptions:

1. If it’s chemical, it’s “bad.”

2. If it’s natural, it’s “safe.”

On point 1, EVERYTHING is a chemical. If you don’t want to check it in a sourebook or use your library card to look it up online, then check out the definition on about.com. Why do I trust this source? They tend to read the resumes of their writers before they hire and select people with qualifications on the given topic.

On point 2, I can tell you from the number of times and ways I’ve managed to hurt myself working with perfumery materials that natural does NOT automatically mean “safe.” Natural also does not always mean - paradoxical as this may sound - “environmentally friendly.” Cinnamon oil can burn you until you dilute it enough. Plenty of plants carry poison, and well, let’s say mercury was found in nature long before fish started eating it. There are some human made decisions that have led to mercury being way more of a danger, but it wasn’t created in a lab, that’s for sure.

Natural does not equal safe. Chemical is a neutral term. If you want to indicate a chemical does a Bad Thing (TM) it’s a good idea to refer to the specific chemical or specific effects of a chemical; broad brush painting of what chemicals do helps no one.

I too hope for the day when I can read an ingredients label and not need to pull out a McNally guide just to start figuring out what’s in something, but approaching it with the zealousy of a religious fanatic and using “good versus evil” terms is not going to help anyone.

1. For those concerned about my possibly skirting libel law, this wouldn’t even make it to court because what I’m saying happened is verifiably true . I got that degree in mass communications, and sometimes, I USE that knowledge! [↩]

www.flickr.com magickalrealism’s Magickal Realism Studio Space photoset

I just got done fixing up my studio at the grand old time of 3 am this morning. I am relieved, overjoyed… and way behind on keeping my housework up to date. But life goes on - after all, I’m an artist, not some housefrau.

And I am incredibly pleased with the efforts my investment has brought forth. The desks you see here I was already using - my boyfriend likes the wire-and-steel look for our cheerfully and inequitably shared office space, so I’ve agreed to work with it in exchange for near-total domination of decor in the rest of our home. And really - it’s not a bad look, not to mention incredibly easy to keep sanitary.

All of these mad organizational efforts were precipitated with a rotating issue I was having: I could do shows, OR I could keep up on my online business. I could NOT do both. This was because I would literally have to tear up my entire space two or three times in the course of the show to set up and tear down at home, at the space, at home again. After a particularly exhausting show last summer, I just quit for awhile until I could find some method of doing it more easily, since throwing all my extraneous goods in a laundry basket was really NOT working for me.

Enter the Container Store. (warning: obscene shipping prices to be found). I found the perfect solution for me, intended as a children’s toy box: a three tier storage box perfect for the endless flotsam of stuff I have to have at shows, ranging from table weights to wet wipes. So much better than a laundry basket.

And with that change, the rest of the office fell into place.

Indeed, as my friend Jill says, “The Container Store is love.” Just not their shipping prices.

Possibly the most common confusion heard among natural product junkies is in distinguishing fragrance from essential oils.There are hordes of smelly and to-make smelly products out there, mutating daily as anonymous bearers of lab coats mix up and sniff things that may or may not be a plant version of Dr. Frankenstein’s meddling with the essential nature of humanity. But hey, I’m somewhat of a purist,
so I’m likely to judge.

The difference between fragrance and essentials is pretty basic: fragrance oils are not natural, they are synthetic.
Essential oils are entirely natural. Please understand that natural does not equate with safe; chemicals are chemicals are
chemicals, whether concocted by divinity or human being.

When an item is labeled a fragrance oil, it’s intended to mean ”has the fragrance of _____.” Apple pie. Grandma and cinnamon. You name it - fragrance oils are darned near limitless in possibility.

An essential oil, on the other hand, is intended to mean ”absolute essence of the plant when you tear it down to the point there’s literally nothing left but a puddle.” That puddle would be the essential oil. Not all plants leave a puddle behind - some just disintegrate without so much as a by-your-leave or by leaving their odor behind. Others might leave something more of a moldering heap, or impart so few drops that it’s just not possible to create something affordable.

When you first start shopping bath and body artisans, it’s very easy to get confused on this point. There are lots of labels thrown around, and misused. Some of them are obvious: Sweet Rain essential oil is most certainly not essential oil. No one, not even the greatest of historic alchemists, is ever going to extract oil from water. Sugar cookie is also obvious - to my knowledge, no one has ever distilled sugar cane for fragrancing. Less obvious might be such scents as gardenia, cucumber, magnolia, or rasberry. While there are ways to distill these scents naturally, not all of them can be distilled as essential oil - especially not the watery cucumber.

Even with this basic knowledge, there are more ways that popular labelling can trip you up in your hunt for all-natural goodies. Common terms designed to lead you to think you’re getting an essential oil when you’re not include ”essence oil,” “essence of,” “natural oil,”  and “pure oil.” If you’re looking for goods with essential oils, just stick to the term “essential oil.” One of the easiest tip offs? Products made with essential oils almost always cost more.