The Natural Perfumers Guild is an organisation which promotes the use of 100% natural aromatics in perfume and bath and body fragrance products and this month it celebrates a decade of bringing together brands and consumers with an interest in natural perfumery.
The Guild grew out of a Yahoo group, which was founded by Anya McCoy of Anya’s Garden Perfumes, and was designed to improve internet presence for small businesses in the sector. The Guild now focuses on influencing legislation and standards around natural aromatics.
The Natural Perfumers Guild says “Our mission is to gather, strengthen and empower our existing member community, increase public awareness through education about pure and natural perfumes, and establish standards of excellence in perfumery by protecting this traditional art… We hold our professional perfumers to a higher standard than any other organization.
The membership voted on definitions for both natural aromatics such as essential oils and absolutes, and for natural isolates, surpassing the requirements of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9235 requirements.
Certified Natural Perfumers much submit documentation about sources and materials when applying, and a Review Committee completes the certification if criteria is met.”
There are many member categories including Certified Natural Perfumers, Associates (which includes Aromatherapists), Associate Perfumers, Authors, and Affiliated Businesses, Suppliers and Friends of the Guild. Friends of The Guild can include hobbyist perfumers and those who are passionate about the availability of natural perfumes.
“Nurturing and growing the Guild over the past ten years has been a joy and a rewarding experience,” says Guild President Anya McCoy. “I love seeing the increased recognition of natural perfumery due to the beautiful products offered by the members, and their increased success in the business world. This indicates that our art, sometimes maligned by outsiders who don’t understand our commitment to using only 100% natural aromatics, has reached a decade of maturity, accomplishment, and recognition. I hope for this to continue far into the future, with greater growth and public awareness of the alternative we offer to mainstream perfumes.”
Guild members have created a number of documents relevant to the natural perfume industry, and these can be downloaded for free by the general public. In addition to these Guild members can access free downloads of vintage perfumer books and articles. For more information you can visit http://www.naturalperfumers.com
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