Posted by Robin on 17 Comments
The trend toward a minimalist aesthetic in fragrance can however be more harmful than it appears, particularly when it comes to flowers. The struggle major companies face is how to sustainably produce what is inherently an unsustainable product, especially as consumers demand more and more raw materials.
— Read more at A sweeter choice: synthetic perfumes, while unpopular, are better for the planet at The Guardian.
Posted by Robin on 2 Comments
SITTING before me is a vial of cloudy white broth. Biologist Patrick Boyle invites me to take a sniff. To my amateur nose, the liquid smells green and sweet, a little like fresh-cut grass, a little like a bunch of flowers.
The concoction is a microbial perfume. Cooked up in the laboratories of Ginkgo BioWorks in Boston, it contains yeast that has been genetically engineered to smell of roses.
— As previously reported, Robertet and Gingko Bioworks are working on a bioengineered rose oil. Read more at Would you wear yeast perfume? Microbes used to brew scent at NewScientist. Hat tip to Bob!
Posted by Robin on 9 Comments
"We’re calling this project the cultured rose," says Patrick Boyle, an organism designer at the Boston company [Gingko Bioworks], who notes that microbes produce many naturally fermented product, such as beer, cheese, and yogurt, that we consume today. "What we’re doing is taking genes from roses and other flowers, transferring them into yeast, and rebuilding the bio-synthetic pathways that are producing the fragrances that roses produce."
— Robertet and Gingko Bioworks are working on a bioengineered rose oil. Read more at The Quest To Reproduce The Scent Of A Rose, With Designer Microbes at FastCo.Exist.
Posted by Robin on 24 Comments
Today 95% of chemicals used in perfume manufacture are derived from petroleum, and perfume "houses" are really laboratories full of scientists bent on discovering the most profitable apple-smelling molecule rather than artisanal "noses" mixing vats of rose petals. As the nose of Hermès, Jean-Claude Ellena, puts it: "One-third of my collection [of materials] consists of natural products and two-thirds of synthetic products."
— From Is there an eco perfume for Valentine's Day? at the Guardian, with many thanks to Vanessa for the link!
Posted by Robin on 9 Comments
Economics and ethics have stopped endangered species from turning up in perfume formulas. Still, there's a romance about natural ingredients. A scent molecule extracted from the natural environment is regarded more sympathetically than a scent molecule created in an artificial environment - and somehow seen as, well, instantly more ethical.
— From How green is your spritz? in the Sydney Morning Herald.