The Aesthetic Principle

When you use a synthetic raw material,” said [Thierry] Wasser, [perfumer at Guerlain] “if you know what you're doing you never, but absolutely never use it as a 'substitute' for some natural product. The synthetic is there to be itself—which by the way is something no natural material can be. People need to understand that we design our scents to be specific works.” […]“A work of scent is utterly unnatural,” said Wasser. “Samsara has nothing to do with ‘natural.’ Nature never would or could put it together, but it’s difficult for those people obsessed with ‘natural’—whatever that means—to understand that these synthetics smell like these synthetics and that we use them because they smell like these synthetics."

Vanitas series by Guido Mocafico, 2007 via parenthetically blog

The above comes (brought to my attention by Smedley, an online friend) from a snippet author Chandler Burr included in his reveal of the S02E05 Untitled Series, a project that asks people to smell perfume "blind", i.e. shed of any extraneous marketing or preconceived notions.

The problem is that the movement for "green" living specifically in regard to perfume, championing "less chemicals in our products", relies by its own nature (pun intended) on panic, herd mentality and pseudoscience. A similar streak runs through the anti-vaccination zealots or in people who believe rice crackers and an apple are more nutrient-rich & healthier than a plate of eggs & bacon. Just because something has been vilified in the press or "everyone says so" isn't enough proof to stand scientific scrutiny. But there you go: The hysterics on "green", "vegan", "organic" and "healthier" rely on the gullibility of people who aren't scientists and typically get intensely bored by scientific data or who are convinced Big Pharma is hiding beyond everything. No wonder few among them end up scrutinizing the facts, thus allowing "green marketing"* to get conflated with pseudo-science perpetuating inaccuracies online and in the press.

[*I had a discussion over cocktails with the president of local L'Oreal branch a few years back. He told me "Green is big now, so we promote green". It's L'Oreal, folks!]

It's tempting and easy on the ear to romanticize about "the aromatherapeutic effects of lavender" in your fabric softener and have watchdogs decide whether that should be so or not. In reality, the product you add in your machine's rinse cycle already doesn't contain one drop of real lavender oil. The mere name is a misnomer: lavender "this" and lavender "that" is usually no lavender at all, but a blend of vanilla and musks. That's because this is what people respond well to, according to an old study, its findings based on focus groups, conducted by a huge household cleaning products company. Even Guerlain's iconic Jicky is smart to buttress its own lavender with musk and civet.

Natural (a term that is incredibly difficult to define, since everything is man-treated in some form or other if to be used) is considered better because grown among urbanites sick & tired by the emptiness of a sterilized  existence it implies a "holier than thou" stance of being both informed (wrong, as we have proved) and considerate (wrong again, because relying on faulty proof and twisted medical terms). This desire "to avoid unnecessary chemicals" has greatly harmed the artistic merit and the solid reputation of the all naturals movement.

Perfumers dabbling in all naturals have been quick to sense that and you won't catch the indie & artisanal crowd that I frequently feature on my pages making bogus claims that their wares are better because they're "healthier" or "safer". Instead they propound their artistic integrity operating on a cottage industry level and their independence relying on no one's external funding and not answering to any board of directors. (To bring an analogy: now that Le Labo has been bought off by the Estee Lauder Group how much of their personal touch can survive? Little, judging by the Jo  Malone fragrance brand). More importantly they make their stance that they appreciate natural essences (and natural isolates in some cases, a very welcome addition in my personal opinion) as an aesthetic choice and a bond with perfume's history. 

Neither are niche or luxury perfumes necessarily better (the inherent snobbism of which justifies the high prices asked, making niche & luxury the only sector to show growth in the industry) because they use "better" materials or "more naturals" in their formula.

Don't try to guess via the price. Price is a marketing choice, it's positioning that doesn't directly reflect the formula's cost.

Don't try to guess via the color of the juice either. Fragrances are invariably dyed and the dark, grapes-worthy purple color of your Serge Lutens perfume (Sarrasins?) might not come due to the ingredients, much like the lilac in Vera Wang Princess doesn't either.

Certain luxurious niche perfumes do not contain one iota of frankincense or myrrh, even though they are indeed labeled as "incense", or they don't include even one drop of real rose absolute despite the marketing or the name. This does not diminish them, they are what they are, they connote rather than denote, and perfumery is indeed a game of connotation, of semiotics, of illusion via allusion. "Art is a lie that makes us realize truth", in the words of Pablo Picasso.

Things do not necessarily have to prove themselves in a politically charged or a strictly eco-conscious context when it comes to fragrance in order to capture our attention and ultimately our hearts. They merely ask to be considered on their own aesthetic merits; to be judged by the aesthetic principle. Which is another way to say "the pleasure principle", or jouissance, to use a Lacanian term. And sadly, this is what has been depreciated in our contemporary culture.

The Tyranny of Cleaner Living

I was talking to someone I hadn't seen for a while the other day. "This will give you cancer" she mentioned with an ominous forefinger referring to my perfume use. I felt like I was a 6 year old in elementary school, taught about the bad effects of picking my nose and tasting the boogers. It made no sense, though it appeared like it did. She was also misusing a lot of the words we hear brandished a lot in similar discussions: "chemicals" (hey, everything is chemical, including H2O), "nasties" (some of them do keep your products from rotting), "toxic" (well...).

I try to be an inquisitive person, rather than an argumentative one, though it often comes across like I am argumentative (all right, I might be just a bit), so instead of trying to win an argument with my long-lost friend I probed her with more questions to understand the stem of her apprehension and panic towards fragrance. Turns out she was apprehensive and panicked about a lot of  other things too, not just perfumes. Foodstuff, livestock, drugs sold at the chemist's, air pollution affecting her (nascent) asthma, whether her  skin would withstand the assaults of "chemicals" in just about anything sold over the counter, how her totally dropping the habit of the occasional fag with her infrequent drink when going out, once every three months, would result in gaining a pound or two, God forbid, how she would never again let a drop of alcohol pass her lips "because it creates fetus malformations", the fact that she had just bought a juicer to try to juice her organically grown carrots and alpha alpha sprouts, yada yada yada. My eyes would have glazed if my surprise wasn't written all over them like storm on a winter's day sky. What the hell had happened to the woman I knew?

via voicesofeastanglia.com

 This modern obsession with all things "natural" and "clean" isn't necessarily modern. It does always bring on shades of psychoanalytical anal fixation all the same: The idea of one's gut being full of accumulated dirt, a need to purge, the need for control, control on ones' self at first but soon expanding to include one's surroundings. There's a heap of masochism thrown into this controlling desire, where every deviation from the ideal (i.e. an unattainable standard of "clean") is considered a moral lapse for which one must atone through elaborate ritual. Enter the macrobiotic diets, the purging via detoxifying juices and coffee enemas, the tossing of anything remotely pleasurable and its substitution with unpalatable -and when you research it highly dubious- stuff such as rice crackers (rice crackers, man, can you think of anything more cardboard-tasting?!?), the ionisers in the office and the dehumidifiers at home, the eradication of bed bugs through ultra-expensive machinery using UV-radiation (why not just bring out the matresses out in the sun every week or so?), the elimination of anything paraben-containing from the bathroom shelf, the demonization of sedantary lifestyles and the condemnation of the occasional social glass of wine. It's exhausting. No doubt obsessive people derive so much pleasure out of it. It's like taking a massive crap; leaves you light-headed and out of focus for a while, forgetting about third world famine, war waged against people's free choice, rampant unemployment and the collapse of democracy as we know it. Yes, I can well see there's an inordinate amount of pleasure involved; but that doesn't mean I condone it or agree with it.

via https://blogs.monash.edu/presto/tag/clean-eating/

Maybe I'm not the target audience for this "product", because it IS a product, called "clean living". I see  (on the Net, not in real life, thank goodness) T-shirts with nonsese emblazoned on it such as "A clean living room is a happy living room". Come again? Or just look at Gwyneth Paltrow. She looks incredible, but somewhat unstable too, doesn't she? I wouldn't trust her with my offspring; she might try to give them rice crackers, for Pete's sake! When I peruse titles on Amazon selling clean living tips, the people on the cover are all invariably perfectly depilated, clean-combed, routinely in some variation of white and light blue or pink garment, with just the right tan and a whiter than white smile in a frozen "cheese" grimace. They make me shake my head, get convinced they're constipated and inwardly joke they're spanking each other on the butt for fun (something's got to give, right?). What's certain is they don't make me want to emulate them, like the advertisers and the lifestyle media battle to do, know what I mean?

Perfume is just the tip of the iceberg and my rant just a budding disconnect with the (misconstrued, I suppose?) Protestant morals that have swept over Europe and possibly the world thanks to the ill effects of previous policies. It's easy to target, because it seems frivolous and morally suspect (Isn't perfume routinely associated with sexual attraction and seduction?). It's also easy to place all the shortcomings of the modern world on the back of this little scapegoat, called perfume, and think that by ousting it out of the community, burdened with all our sins, we have escaped Nemesis and can go about our lives feeling much lighter as if we have taken a massive crap. Alas, as any classicist will tell you, things don't quite work out this way. Hubris is just around the corner.

Demonizing Perfume with the Evangelical Conviction of Erroneous Fact Splashing

Live a more natural life, a more organic life, eat fresh produce, use natural products...it all sounds totally desirable and, well, common sense, doesn't it. Who wouldn't want to be able to say "I'm doing the very best I can for my health and my children's future"? Eco-awareness is indeed a most significant and noble cause. But to leap from this to an evangelical Dr.Kellog persuasion, often removed from solid scientific facts, or -worse yet- just brushing on them for added conviction, veers into a crusade for sanitation of everyday life which tends to deprive people of the small pleasures left us in favor of an ultimately unattainable goal shimmering with promise in a future that is uncertain. But let's take things at the top. The other day an article called "Secret Scents: The Hidden Chemicals in Fragrance" came to my attention thanks to a popular forum. It was posted in the best of intentions for fume enthusiasts who are interested in such stuff. The problem is the article is misleading. I mean, totally.

The Women film still (1939) via themotionpicture.net

It is easy to lose track of just how things actually work, especially if one isn't immersed in research (and even then, one tends to be immersed in one field of research to the exclusion of others to a comparable level, which makes trying to get to the bottom of anything a really hard and prolonged task). In light of that, let's clarify I'm no medical doctor, but I have more than one university degrees, which if nothing else teach you the way to approach things from a scientific point of view. I'm also in conversation with relatives and friends who are members of the international scientific community, in some cases into the medical and biology ones, so I feel like I'm not taking too many liberties by posting the following.

Browsing the site on which the article was published I came across some interesting preliminary insights. The host is Maria Rodale's blog, who I found out is the CEO of Rodale Publishing -who issue Men's Health, Prevention and other titles in the same vein. There is even a book authored by Maria called "The Organic Manifesto", from what I can see; I can't tell you much on it though as I'm afraid to click on the title, lest I'm blinded by the earnestness. Let it be said in passing that anyone who posts in their personal blog statement "If you've made it to this blog, you're on the right  track" with Messianic vapors of self-importance has my credibility antennae lurching wildly. But apparently they're dead serious about it! (check out The Rodale Story link on the bottom  of the page) I have read some of their magazines, which are rather nicely put together, if a bit too focused on how to attain a specific ideal which might -just might- not be everyone's ideal. Anyway, I'd love to be proven wrong on the Messianic shades.

Apparently the article is NOT written by Maria Rodale who is merely hosting it (and therefore I assume she approves of it) but by Alexandra Scranton, director of science and research for Women’s Voices for the Earth. This was the first mental "uh huh" I did. Especially when I read this statement on their site: "This bill will ensure that personal care and salon products are free from toxic chemicals linked to cancer, birth defects, and other reproductive harm." The reason? Simply put, the natural sensibility of women, especially towards the care-giving and nurturing role they -for better or worse- emulate in our society, is unfortunately very often channeled into crusades of goals that are peppered with half-digested truths and half-truths period (and I'm coming to that shortly). Perhaps the classic men's -though not restricted to men!- "no suffering fools gladly" attitude would be nice to surface from time to time to actually challenge and put things into perspective, even if it veers into the boorish and frat mentality. As women we tend to sometimes be over-considerate of others' feelings, I find, and in issues that have to do with information circulating on the Net this might do more harm than good. But I digress.

Furthermore, I read that Alexandra "Prior to working at WVE, she worked in the epidemiology and statistics unit at the American Lung Association headquarters in New York. She has a Masters degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Montana and a BA from Amherst College." This also gives me an insight on how the data and the viewpoint are formed. I realize that we're dealing with someone who has a focus on the environmental issues rather than the medical profession. This is totally legit and I respect it as long as the article would adhere to presenting things via that prism (but it doesn't, which is my whole point).

via themodcabin.com

My deduction is the article is misleading, written from an "expert's" viewpoint addressed to a lay(wo)man, which makes it particularly dangerous (and if you browse some of the other articles you might see the same): it's easy to take it as gospel, reproduce it via social media, email and just plain linking, to the point that it catches on like wild fire and becomes THE truth due to overexposure and repetition. I'm not in a million years suggesting there is some Goebbelsian intent of spreading lies or half- truths. No. They seem like perfectly nice people and with a noble intention in their heart of hearts no doubt (It sells magazines too, but hey, that's totally legit and everyone does it). I'm just saying that in their earnestness and oversimplification in this particular article the author/editors are doing a disservice to the public.
I'm going to really dissect this with a scalpel below, so bear with me (it's long but worth it, even if I say so myself).
NB. The different font is meant to differentiate the quotes taken off the article.


"Have you ever used a scented product that resulted in itchy, red, or blotchy skin? Or have you had a rash that’s hard to predict or control that you suspect might be caused by products in your home?" 
Itchy, red or blotchy skin can be a sign of too many things. Products in your home might be a hundred different things, from detergents to insecticides to dishwashing liquid to actual foodstuff. But the article talks about "fragrance" and specifically shows a perfume bottle forcing a mental connection.

"Millions of people in the U.S. have been sensitized to ingredients in fragrance, making them predisposed to allergic reactions like contact dermatitis. In fact, “fragrance allergy” is one of the most common diagnoses among dermatology patients." 
Major fallacy: skin sensitisation is not synonymous with allergies and contact dermatitis is usually not an allergy per se (most of the cases belong to "irritant contact dermatitis"). An allergy is a disruption of the functionality of the immune system and is much graver than those simple symptoms mentioned above. You can see how it leads the reader into thinking they have developed something "serious" though, can't you?

There are then some statistics presented (obviously Scranton's expertise) : 
"Up to 11 percent of the population is sensitized to fragrance".
All right, I'm willing to believe that. I have no way to refute it anyway.

"Women are two to three times more likely than men to be allergic to fragrance".
Uh huh. Please see my argument above. (It is inferred subconsciously that it is because more women than men use fragrances. But as the author states herself previously it just might be "caused by products in your home")

"Rates of skin allergies in children have risen dramatically over the past few decades."
Illogical argument. They have, because children are now screened for allergies whereas it was not customary before, because the tests have become much more sensitive and because the environment as a whole has been aggravated (including the air that we breathe).

"Billions of healthcare dollars are spent each year in the U.S. for treatment of these skin conditions".
True. But I suspect that this is actually encouraged by the pharmaceutical companies.

 "Chemicals used in fragranced products—such as phthalates—have been associated with reduced sperm count and reproductive problems."
So is soy and hormones in chicken meat and a hundred other things, but you don't see that kind of holier-than-thou attitude in the projects against them, do you? Besides phthalates are used in plasticizers, so it is the plastic packaging and the plasticizer in lotions and creamy products and deodorants and not the fragrance compound itself (the raw material off the perfumer's lab counter) that is at fault.

via airsensenews.com

"A fragrance can be made up of dozens or even hundreds of different chemicals." 
Newsflash: EVERYTHING is made up of different chemicals! Chemical molecules are the building blocks of our universe. If the word "chemicals" hadn't gained such a skewed and faulty meaning, we'd be having a real conversation. Natural substances like rose oil, the coffee we drink every day and even organic milk and organic cotton are made up of chemical ingredients. I often review perfumes made of only natural essences, sometimes even organically produced. They're also built up of chemical ingredients, no less natural because of it. Chemicals as related to chemistry, please note, not as "man-made". But you see where I'm going.

"Among these chemicals are numerous known allergens such as geraniol, eugenol, citronellol." 
True. And these are perfectly legible ON the fragrance box or the personal care product for all to read. There's really no excuse! If you know you're sensitized to one of them, stop using it for Pete's sake; don't force us all to not have the option of having it around, just because you don't like it.

Here is where it begins to go seriously skewed and faux medi-savvy:
"Additionally, several hazardous chemicals can be found in fragrance: phthalates, which have been linked to reproductive harm; synthetic musks, which may alter hormone levels; and cancer-causing chemicals like styrene and methyl eugenol. But you won’t find these ingredients listed on product labels—you’ll just see the word “fragrance.”
Well, re: phthalates see above. Regarding musks, Scranton can be excused for not knowing about the latest musks used in the industry. Let me assure you I do, however and my data and credentials are clearly posted. In fact I have a detailed article about synthetic musks on these pages pinpointing any concern. It's easily Googleable too, so again there's no excuse. As to styrene and methul euegenol, I might bore you if I zoomed in on both, so let's just take methyl eugenol as a point of deconstructing the argument.

Methyl eugenol has been found to be related to carcinogenesis in lab rats. This does not necessarily mean that it would induce the same reactions and follow the same pathways for humans, as is common lab knowledge, and besides lab rats receive an inordinate amount of the suspect ingredient to monitor the reactions. What's more methyl eugenol is found in several natural essential oils too, and in actual foodstuff, such as in pimento, laurel, tarragon, fennel etc. Should we stop eating all these things? It's also found in high doses in tea tree oil, which had been hailed as THE natural remedy for everything a few years ago (remember?) by all the Mother Earth types. [Nothing wrong with the latter, just correlating the manipulative correlation]. Cancer on the other hand has been increasingly found out to be a genetic predisposition, meaning if you have the gene & pathway for a specific type you're almost bound to get it no matter how much you avoid "triggers" and vice versa. (I have a biologist relative in research at an esteemed institution, I'm not making this up). This is for instance why women with the gene for breast cancer and a history of it in the family sometimes elect for a preventative mastectomy, I'm told (This has been covered in several "health and fitness" magazines in the US as I recall).
 Additionally, it is to our (consumers') benefit and just as a precaution that the International Fragrance Association and the cosmetics & fragrances controlling bodies such as the CSSC are setting very specific ratios of suspect ingredients in the formula; for methyl eugenol, for instance, the limit is set at 0.002% in the fragrance compound, i.e. that means it is FURTHER diluted after that for ready-made fragrances! You'd have to actually drink the fragrance by the gallon for some time to even come close to the quantities used in lab rats and to have it built in your tissues.

"[..]you can almost never tell whether a particular fragrance might contain an allergen or toxic chemical that affects you".
As stated above, yes, yes you can, actually. The allergens are clearly listed on perfume packaging by law since 2000.

"One option is to choose fragrance-free products".
If only there were more available! I'm myself here stating that in my opinion the over-saturation of our daily life with too many scented products is a problem. It won't be solved as long as added scent is a functional necessity (see below) or seen as a sales vantage point. In order to really bring change in that area one needs to push the argument that too much added scent in household products is in fact repelling and would diminish sales. (Why should my floor cleaner smell of peaches?)

"Even 'unscented' products may contain fragrance ingredients as 'masking agents' to neutralize the inherent smell of other ingredients in the product".
Indeed. "Unscented" in fact is no guarantee there are no added aromatic compounds, in fact they invariably are because the inherent scent of so many ingredients would be insupportable otherwise. Still, if among those masking agents there is a known allergen/skin sensitizer the manufacturer is again required by law to state it in the label.

There is then another statistics list of common products with added scent. I'm not refuting those either. The article closes with the wish for more allergens being disclosed (rest assure, Alexandra, they are, and at an increasing pace, if you follow our IFRA & perfumery restrictions posts here), that safer substitutes for the "toxic chemicals" are introduced (ditto) and the plea to fill out a petition or such. Not surprised here; there would be no point in not proposing "action", the whole premise was a polemic from the very start.

Bottom-line: Even if beginning on a noble founding block, after a certain point this kind of "picketing" rhetoric becomes unsupported & self-fed. A life almost fascistically devoid of some little pleasures is a life not worth living. You might get to reach a 100, but would that be a good thing? It reminds me of the old joke about a man going to his doctor and asking "If I don't smoke, don't eat fatty food, don't drink and don't fuck around, will I get to reach 100?" To which the doctor replies "It's doubtful, but it would certainly feel that way".
If overpopulation is the gravest problem of our planet right now, from which other malaise stems out, perhaps our individual vices are a small bolt in the grander evolution scheme. My little perfume use hobby is small potatoes compared to the aggravation of the planet. I use it in my own home and on myself and I won't impose it on you if you don't come within my personal space. And if you convince me you do have a medical problem with it, rather than just use it as a put down because it's so easy to, I will considerately adjust my use.

I realize that after this article I won't be very popular with the Rodale people (or even some readers) and that my thesis can be deemed long & boring, plus that I'm using a personal space to deconstruct someone's argument here instead of taking it there; but that's democracy to you and the restraints of the commentary function on most web platforms. At least no one can accuse me of being populist or sycophantic. You can bet there will continue to be discourse as long as people are willing to argue the finer points in a smart and civilized way.