Creativity and innovation happen in relaxed and critical dialogue. Great ideas come to you in the shower, on a walk, or under the shade of an apple tree say. This earth day I am pleased to share a terrific insight from a good friend and colleague that came up last week when we were casually, yet critically discussing scent, art and industry. I hope you will agree that the word is good asset to the continued effort to shed light on the fragrance industry by opening the doors wider and piercing the packaging all in honor of truth and beauty.
Miriam shared the term “nosewash”, and while at first blush you may be thinking of a sinus flush or nasal irrigation, nosewash is a term meant to address the brainwashing of sorts as it relates to our noses, ingredients and truth to materials. Our noses are sensitive and gullible, so the more aware be become of rampant nosewashing the better.
Miriam has over 30 years in the fragrance industry and will be at the 2022 World Perfumery Congress as a speaker with Yosh Han exploring the topic of materials in fragrance. Thank you as always for your time and creativity Miriam!
Nosewash (noun) 1. The use of inaccurate, misleading and untruthful descriptors which mis-identify the olfactive truth of a scent, 2. In perfume/scent marketing, the misuse of olfactive language to describe and sell a scent.
(verb) 1. Using misleading (descriptive/naming) language which does not align with the olfactive truth of a scent", 2. Gaslighting of olfactive truth-in-materials behind the fragrance industry in order to promote & sell a fragrance”.
Miriam Vareldzis is the founder/nose/creative director of Palette Naturals®,and has been intimately involved with fragrance development and natural perfumery from deep within the beauty & fragrance industry. From the heart of New York City to the Indie Beauty & Niche Perfumery movements on the west coast of the USA, her expertise spans Indie to Industry.
Over the course of her 30 year career, Miriam has worked behind the scenes at global fragrance houses IFF, Agilex and Robertet, delved into natural perfumery and the sourcing of botanical ingredients, has been guided by olfactive mentors, trained to smell by world class perfumers, and developed fine-fragrances, haircare, personal care and home scent for international beauty brands, niche start-ups and celebrities.
Designing the master-classes “The Art & Poetry of Perfumery”, and her signature “A Journey through the Genealogy of Scent” an intensive, natural-materials and olfactive language training, Miriam has trained formulation teams, aspiring noses, seasoned professionals and clean-beauty entrepreneurs. Along the way she took a turn designing & formulating her own award-winning Niche Perfume collection in 2010, 40notes Perfume.
With her newest venture Palette Naturals®, a line of 100% natural perfumery blending accords introduced in 2017, she is dedicated to bringing truth in materials, ingredient transparency, and provide accessibility to natural perfumery scent formulation. As part of her mission with Palette Naturals, Miriam speaks, teaches, and advises in the language of olfaction, the art of perfumery, and natural scent design.
Image courtesy Miriam Vareldzis.