Friday, August 17, 2007

Anya's Secret Garden

Anya McCoy, well known in the circle of 'natural perfumers' as an acclaimed professional with 15+ years of creative and business expertise in the field. Her private garden Casa Jasmin allows Anya the opportunity to grow and then tincture the many rare and usually unavailable fragrant plants that she loves to use in her perfumes.

Fairchild, inspired by the Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens in Florida and is a breathtaking blending of three distinct jasmines along with ylang ylang, champaca, citrus, beach dried ambergris, oakmoss, seaweed, and pandanus (similar in scent to a peppery saffron wedded with a rose.) Fairchild is not a floral in the truest sense. It's exotic, complex and quite earthy and has not been the easiest of fragrances for me to wear. At first 'sniff' it's as thought someone has shouted 'fire' and all the essential oils and tinctures are trying to leave a burning building simultaneously. If you're unaccustomed to wearing pure, organic fragrances, don't rush too quickly to judgment as I did. Fairchild takes a minimum of 15 minutes to evolve enough to appreciate the complexity and thought provoking nuances that this fragrance brings to the table. Anya invites you to wear Fairchild when you want to feel empowered and strong. And that is exactly when I will wear it...so that would be just about everyday!

I'll review Pan at a future date when
I can wrap my mind around the aroma of a tincture of 'rutting billy goat' hair.

Under the direction of Anya McCoy, the Natural Perfumer Guild is flourishing as a consortium of international perfumers, associates, suppliers and enthusiasts dedicated to perfumes made with natural aromatics. "The main principle of the Guild is to exalt and encourage the use of natural botanicals in perfume and toiletries. Standards of excellence in creating natural perfumes are demanded and met by our perfumers. We encourage you to sample these hand made artisan products, luxuriously experiencing the beauty of nature, captured in a bottle."

Fairchild and Pan can be purchased via Anya's Garden web store, in parfum extrait (3.5ml for $40), Eau de Parfum (15ml for $80) or in sample spray size (2ml for $20). A smaller size sample, is also available for $5.