I've spent the past few months reformulating Air for spray (more soon), trialing what I think is the future — bioengineered ingredients made through fermentation, using microorganisms fed on waste. Think a NOMA approach to scent!
I love the romance of rose fields and sandalwood forests. But I'm also aware of what it takes to grow and produce them.
Sandalwood trees take 30 years to mature and have been harvested to near extinction. The molecule responsible for sandalwood's therapeutic effect — santalol — can now be produced from yeast. Same molecule, different source. (* We currently use a traceable plantation Sandalwood from here, but even sustainable forestry requires resources.)
These naturally-derived ingredients are still in their infancy — difficult to produce, expensive, and hard to source. I don't see them as an alternative so much as a complement to ingredients from flowers and plants. But I'm hoping that using them will help make them more accessible and inspire more to be developed.
Little scented steps forward...
Em x
