Tralala, the winners and some thoughts

While drawing the name of the friends who left a comment to my review of Tralala, I thought about how lucky I've been growing in a world where beauty, creativity and quality came first of all. Also Davide, Giampaolo Jicky Baldoni, Lorenzo, Karin and Asali are lucky because they will receive a preview of Duchaufour's latest creation. My friends, leave me your address here, by e-mail or in Facebook and I'll send you soon few drops of the perfume.


In Voluptas Mors - S. Dalì/P. Halsman

I consider myself lucky for having had the chance to enjoy the beauty of masterpieces like Chypre, L'Heure Bleue, No. 5, Joy and all the flourishing of beauty, heritage and knowledge they started. Since ever, the basic ingredients of this legacy are raw materials, naturals and synthetics which has made possible to sculpt in the air perfect smelly shapes. There wouldn't have been chypres without oakmoss as well as there wouldn't have been florientals without eugenoles.
Decades ago perfumery's hands have been tied by the hands of IFRA and EU legislators that restricted more and more in fact and in law the perfumer's palette. Of course everybody is grateful for having forbidden materials that has been proved to be carcinogenic, but the next steps seem to have insanely pushed the restrictions for an excess of zeal (they don't have for the potentially allergenic palm oil for example) in defense of our health. Now we're at an end, this is frustrating for people aiming to create beautiful and different fragrances. I often talk about it also with my friend, the perfumer Antonio Alessandria who recently had to deal with this issue for the launch of his line Hommage à la lune. Sticking to such oppressive regulations and laws by now forces to an unacceptable flattering, just think of what's nowadays on the shelves.

Within few months the EU lawmakers could definitely decree the death of perfumery as we know it forbidding substances that can be found also in many naturals: this is the warning passed on the web coming from Luc Gabriel (The Different Company), but also spread by independent perfumers that's always been sensible to this topic like Anya McCoy and Michel Roudnitska. It's time to do all the possible for changing the paradigm so that a perfume must be protected for its own peculiarities (as it is for cheese for example) rather than being considered a potentially allergenic cosmetic, otherwise we're losing something. Otherwise we risk to be the last lucky guys able to enjoy the beauty of an era that won't come back ever.