NEW YORK — The economy will turn around some day — but don’t expect conspicuous consumption to make a comeback. So believes H. Lee Scott, chief executive officer of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., noting the dismal economy has caused a permanent and fundamental change in consumer behavior. The ceo of the world’s largest retailer spoke at […]

Twenty-five years ago, Michael Edwards developed a perfumer’s classification system and published reference books that have become a bible of scent formulators.  This year, Mr. Edwards will be honored at Sniffapalooza’s Holiday Fête on Saturday, December 6 at the Turtle Bay Spafumerie at 900 Second Avenue in New York City.  I’m so jealous of everyone […]

ScienceDaily (Nov. 7, 2008) — Scientists in Italy have found bacteria in the root of a tropical grass whose oils have been used in the cosmetic and perfumery industries. These bacteria seem to promote the production of essential oils, but also they change the molecular structure of the oil, giving it different flavours and properties: […]

From the California Olive Oil Council Making extra-virgin olive oil (the best of the olive oils) is a time intensive and expensive process. For millennia, growers have monitored olives, waiting for the precise moment of invaiatura when the succulent drupe turns from green to black. Only then are olives harvested by hand and pressed for […]

Artist Danielle Julian-Norton used 20,000 amber gylcerin bar soaps to create an art installation with 7-foot high walls that ran 40 feet long and 12 feet wide in a wave-like shape. “It is the clean identity, amber color, fresh scent, bodily reference, striking surface and translucent aesthetic that inspired me to create Ambrosia,” Ms. Norton […]

A nanomaterial created by MIT researchers acts like the main ingredient in soaps, shampoos and detergents. In addition to improving existing cleaning products, these nanostructures may have other chemical engineering uses for materials where traditional surfactants are used. Unlike lipids, it’s possible to modify these kinds of molecules so that it is easy for them […]

A study published in the The FASEB Journal, a journal of experimental biology “found that incensole acetate, a Boswellia resin constituent, when tested in mice lowers anxiety and causes antidepressive-like behavior.” The press release goes on to cite this study as an explanation of how burning incense may have had a spiritual effect–a fact that […]