Magickal Realism

The perfumers and bath and body creators who use synthetics (i.e. fragrance oils) presumably have good reasons for using them. Usually, the reason is purefly financial: synthetics are produced cheap and let’s face it, most big-name perfumers are trapped in the corporate spiral so cheap the materials must be. Sometimes, it’s for a legitimately ethical reason: using the synthetic options may prevent the actual plant from going extinct through overuse.
Sometimes the scent can’t be found in nature to begin with.

I get it, I do. I just won’t do it - I like my naturals, well, natural. What’s alternately amusing/irritating me is this “praise synthetics/slam naturalism” bent I’m seeing more and more of out of the big-names in the perfume industry. The reason it’s tweaking me is that I can smell their fear, and it’s pure, superstitious, baloney fear, the kind that led to people getting stuffed in Iron Maidens during the Inquisition. These superstitious are frothing forth from men who claim “scientist” in their job title. Apparently “unscientific” is the new “heretic” among perfumers. Should I fear someone from Quest Chemicals is going to show up at my door and haul me off for perverting people with natural materials? Will my oils be cataloged and hidden in some basement with secret passageways that lead to the Vatican? Geez, I thought I had enough to fear living under a regime run by George Bush. It’s a sad day - I openly practice witchcraft, and I’m less fearful and superstitious than these science types.

I’ve been staying away from the synthetics debate because I haven’t researched synthetics that thoroughly, and I just don’t know the materials as initimately as I do natural materials. But this completely unsubtle movement against naturals has my hackles up: there’s something going on behind the scenes, and the syntheticists are scared, so scared that they’re bullying and slamming every naturalist they can. Perfume and Flavorist has started a series called In Praise of Synthetics. In an interview on National Public Radio on January 21st, Chandler Burr felt it necessary to close his interview with an unasked-about and ompletely unnecessary slam against the naturals movement. It’s not the first time he’s made that slam, either, even though from what I gather, no one was asking then, either. IFRA has been doing its darnedest to make synthetics our only chemical option in perfume creation, going so far as to issue unresearched data indicating natural materials are far more allergenic than they actually are (and conveniently ignoring the nature of allergy and the way that allergy works.)What makes much of this naturalists-stalking so ridiculous and Inquisition-like is that even among artisan perfumers, those of us actively in business as natural perfumers are something of a rarity - so much so that we don’t really have accurate numbers for how many of us there are. To get down to the numbers you would have to sort out people who make perfume only as a hobby (I would guess that’s most of us) from smartasses with an eyedropper and a few oils (next level) from those of us actively in business. Among those of us who are actively in business, you would have to separate the essential oil suppliers from the specialists.

I would place myself under that last group of specialists and I suspect my circumstances are still nontypical. Most home bath and body makers in the US are in soap, because soap is where the money is at here. Those of us still specializing in perfume are micro-businesses; our market share is people who are either perfume collectors who purchase equally from artisan naturalists and big name companies, or who have a deep-seated animosity towards syntheticists and their ilk that no amount of praising synthetics is going to unseat.

So far, I’ve left synthetics alone, just because I prefer not to use them. But the way the big chemical makers are carrying on is smelling like a superstition-driven witch hunt. So excuse me, I’m going to go hug my all-natural perfume organ now.

First, I want to give a shoutout to clevergirl on Etsy. Her super-awesomeness went out of her way to send me these 2 ml vials, and I am plotting now for something interesting to do with them/fill them with:

Today is the last day of Nablopomo, and hopefully I’m sliding in to home with all 30 required entries. I’ve enjoyed getting this blog off the ground, although there are a few things I’ve learned:

1. The breadth of the blog topic makes it nearly impossible for me to blog ahead of schedule like I do in Fat Chic. Although there were a couple of entries I tossed off due to illness, those immediately bankrupted my “toss off” subjects. Most of the time I write from notes I’ve taken at other times, with one screen open to my public library databases and another to relevant Internet resources.¹
2. The cold/severe hiving outbreak I had this week was a setback in my physical, business AND blogging life - and while I wasn’t stressed out over blogging, I did have to consider it as a possible priority to set aside.
3. Blogging may not have journalistic standards, but it’s still very important for me to be careful and correct in what I say; even careless comments tossed off in jest will be visited upon and confronted. And I should know that - I have a degree in journalism! (That I don’t use… but that’s another issue).

And I’m just thinkin’… given that this is something where you have to show results daily, rather than every couple of days, it might do better in a different month from Nanowrimo. There’s another 30 day month lying around year, somewhere? Right? Like June, maybe?

But beyond Nanowrimo ramblings, today was one of my monthly play dates with my buddy Joel. And we did what we usually do on play dates: since Joel actually enjoys driving, after our typical lunch at a Nepalese chai house, we went to whatever whimsical place struck my fancy that day. Today, it wasn’t whimsy so much as business needs, guiding me, so I showed Joel my favorite Arabic and Indian grocery stores, located in Central.

If you ever come to Minneapolis, once you’ve got your Walker Art tourist thing out of the way, and you’ve done that annoying Mary Tyler Moore thing with your hat on Nicollet Mall, go check out the ethnic grocery stores in north Minneapolis and in Saint Paul. Hmong, Arabic, South Asian - it’s a festival of everyday exotics. The spices these shops can obtain are fresher, stronger, and lower cost than what you get in a bix box American grocery store. There are more oil choices, and I can stock up on sunflower and almond oils that also happen to be organic for a third of the price I can get it from some of my suppliers (sometimes I can get a further discount, depending on how brave I am about attempting languages not my own).

And the real treat for me is hidden at the back of the store, with the soaps and henna boxes. Sometimes, if I’m very lucky, I can find such treasures as oud, or offering waters scented with pomegranites, or some of the richest olive oil you can possibly taste on this side of the Atlantic. Today was not an oud day, but I did score some Egyptian kohl liner², and several small flavor treats I’d been waiting to try.

I also found a few scents to test. Out of curiosity, I picked up some sandalwood oil from the Indian grocery store. One whiff told me that whatever it was, it sure wasn’t real sandalwood, and smelled very powdery on me. I’m not really sure what it was - it’s still unidentified - but whatever it is, it’s not sandalwood It also led Joel on a bit of a research binge, since he wondered if it was actually some other part of the plant other than the bark. It did, despite everything, pass the burn test - it doesn’t leave a rubber trail upon burning - and while that’s no guarantee it’s natural, that puts it in the “plausible” column. But I’m not about to use it in any of my sandalwood fragrances. And while I did unfortunately have to set aside an amber as clearly synthetic, I did find a surprising floral among the ones that I purchased.

I also decided to try out a few of those flavoring agents I see from time to time. While I wasn’t hopeful for a natural effect - the ingredients did read “essential oils…fragrant chemicals…” after all, I thought perhaps the fragrant chemicals weren’t synthesized. So I tried the burn test.

Now I’m going to be vary wary of ANYTHING that says “artificial flavoring” because whatever’s in them would give me marshmallow nightmares. Yipes!

Still, I have quite a few goodies and base oils to play with now, from coconut oil to fresh cardamom. It’s going to be a winter for whipping up. Now let’s see about getting me that heat gun…

1. Anyone who thinks that library research is obsolete also thinks Google is a fullproof research tool. Check out some libraries and really research a topic sometime - it’s a whole wide world of information technology you could only dream of from your desktop. Unless, of course, you’re a lucky schmuck with university access, like me. [↩]
2. which earned me a dirty look from the checkout girl, since in our city only certain types of women line their eyes [↩]

Odorographia: A Natural History of Raw Materials and Drugs Used in the … By John Charles Sawer

I offer this mainly as an intriguing curiosity. Sandalwood is a subject of much discussion because of its endangered status, and because natural perfumers can’t use santalol (the synthetic), so have to reach for other substitutes like amyris.

Although I’m not into the whole Cyber Monday shtick, I thought I’d get experimental and offer a little bit of a discount - all orders are free shipping until Midnight tonight CST, an for those who would like a little variety, I’m also offering a 3 for 3 sale - 3 samplers, $3.

I especially want to plug my sinus aromatherapy today. I got hit with a miserable cold two nights ago, to the tune of mouth-open breathing discomfort, and I’ve been using my own bottle as much as I can. Believe me, it helps - just a dab on either side of my nose. Fortunately, I like herbal menthol smells, but in any case, I’m fond of being able to breathe.¹

As always, I’m using gloves and a mask when I pack my orders. Your goods will arrive safe and disease free.

1. this does not constitute medical advice [↩]

Bear with me over the next two entries, kind readers. I’ve had a long strange night in the motel I’m at, and while the details are not relevant to this blog, they alas affect the writing because between the sleep deficit (I got two hours of sleep last night) and the turkey’s triptophane, I’m running on the edge of a hypnogogic state. Given my preference for a rational and focused writing style, I apologize to all readers and to my future more conscious self if this should veer into the territory of melting clocks.

Between the traditionally obligated overindulgence today, I read what I could of Luca Turin’s book the Secret of Scent.While certainly a charming writer (assuming it is not, as rumored, ghost written), there are bits here and there in the information that my medieval mind can parse that are outdated/inaccurate, particularly regarding Aveda’s perfumery: I’m not sure when it happened, but I can tell from looking at any Juut store selection that natural/organic material perfume design has gone by the wayside in favor of profit and convenience (not necessarily bad business decisions, but questionable in face of Aveda’s aggressive green marketing).

Much of the book is sadly over my head. It is a somewhat wandering treatise on Turin’s theories about the mechanics of smell and the chemistry behind it. Try though I might, even without my current sleep deficit, I think I would struggle to feign interest in endless diagrams of molecules. Still, with each passage is something that does strike my interest, whether it’s the way in which Turin defines smells, or his insider comments about the perfume industry.

¹

At a time when I am more awake, there is much more food for thought hidden between these pages, particularly for me, as a self-taught perfumer whose chemistry teacher, in an attempt to put it kindly to my parents, assured them that chem lab was just “not my cup of tea,” and then later wondered at how my lab partner and I always succeeded in our experiments despite our basic inability to follow directions. Turin himself says restricting perfumery to the chemists cuts out the artists that perfumery needs to progress creatively - but we don’t exactly see eye to eye about the use of synthetics in perfumery.

Turin’s impact on perfumery has led directly to perfumery becoming an olfactory art movement. It’s important to read the science behind it, even if it’s only - very laterally - science to Turin himself.

1. image by John Rohan on flickr [↩]

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.

Today I’m spending quite a bit of time organizing my office/studio. I just got in a huge shipment from the Container Store, most pieces geared towards getting my office and perfume space under extremely efficient control. I’ve already fixed up my bathroom and my bedroom, as you can see from this shot of my now superbly organized vanity:

So today, it’s all about getting control of my space - and then, oh the things I will make… that I can clean up quickly and efficiently. All this was seeded by lusting over a little wheeled toybox for me to use at shows, and has rapidly morphed into a whole-office transformation.

For those curious to try my more “gourmand” fragrances, I’m now offering the Happy Fun Pack. It includes my scents Zinc, Punk’In, Sappho, Willendorf, and Dragon. As some have commented, I’m not really a gourmand/foody perfumer - I certainly CAN, but my road rarely takes me down the vanilla-scented path. Still, I know some of you would enjoy these!

I’m posting this fragrance - developed VERY early in my career - because I’m quite pleased with how the photo imagery came together, and because it’s a longstanding ironic favorite of mine. Every so often you’ll hear a perfumer claim “my next will be to make eau d’agua” or somesuch like that - you know, so perfumey it smells like nothing? This is my impression of nothing. There’s a lot of something to it - jasmine and eucalyptus, along with another surprise or two - but overall, the impression is pretty much like a good swim.

It occurs to me some of you might want to know who I am. A few of you already know, and as evidenced by a few emails/messages I’ve gotten recently, some of you know who I am from a completely different area of the creative arts.

I’m Di Rajchel. I am an occult writer, a perfumer, Wiccan and deeply religious - hopefully without being obnoxious about it - and I come from a highly eclectic background. My interests, aside from those related to perfume and natural cosmetics, include environmental preservation, lowbrow art, gourmet cooking/cooking from scratch, organic food, alternative health, herbalism, tarot from a Jungian analysis perspective, urban magic and ritual, classic novels, and I am an overt television and technology junkie. I run a Doctor Who fan meetup in my city, and while I shy away from con/festival culture, I tend to share the fandoms of those who are very much part of those cultures. I’m also unapologetically plus sized - yes, fat - and I write about plus sized fashion. I can find almost anything interesting, if given a reason and a chance to listen and to be heard.

As to my background in perfumery, it’s an extension of 20 years of independent herbal study. So yes, though it sends horrors through some self-named perfumistas, I’m self-taught - and I thoroughly enjoy the horror this causes. While I certainly plan to get more formal training down the line, I don’t think anything will replace the intimacy I experience by nursing some of my plants from seedling to seed.

So hello! This is me. :)