“This partnership is a great example of corporate stewardship and research that will strengthen education and preservation efforts in Yellowstone for years to come,” says Heather White, president and CEO of Yellowstone Forever (the official non-profit partner of the Park). “We’re delighted that this unique new collection of products will introduce many people to this wonderful park and help share the treasures found within it,” adds White in a media release about Caswell-Massey's Yellowstone Living Florals Collection.
The Yellowstone Living Florals Collection is not a first of its kind for Caswell-Massey. The brand, founded in 1752, has a product line of fine fragrance and scented products created in partnership with the New York Botanical Garden, and has even partnered with perfumers of the past, if you will, to reformulate a line of classic scents called the Centuries collection.
But notably, this latest botanical fragrance collection began as a partnership between IFF and Yellowstone Forever. According to a new video about the project: “in 2013, IFF partnered with Yellowstone National Park and Yellowstone Forever to create a project that would capture the headspace [the molecules in the air above a flower] of endangered species within the Park. It was the beginning of something wonderful. We’re capturing the scent of the park.”
Fragrance as the memory and history of a nation
The Yellowstone Living Florals Collection is, according to Nick Arauz, president of Caswell-Massey,“one of the most remarkable projects our company has undertaken in our 267-year history; and as an American company driven by an intense curiosity for botanical formulations, this Yellowstone Living Floral Collection is a remarkable partnership that enables us to bring the incredible experience of the park directly to our customers.”
Sourcing and bottling Yellowstone National Park
After containing the headspace of numerous botanicals in the Park, “IFF was able to identify the ‘scent signature’ of several of these plant species and to recreate nature-identical scent molecules using sustainably sourced materials without damaging or harming these rare botanical species. These nature-identical molecules were carefully refined by IFF perfumers for the collection.”
The Caswell-Massey collection comprises fragrances called Old Faithful, Lake, Tower Fall, Mammoth, and Canyon. IFF VP Perfumer Yves Cassar is credited with the Canyon blend of Blue Lupine, Pine, Cedar, and other notes. Senior Perfumer Laurent LeGuernec created the Old Faithful scent, which includes notes of sagebrush, birch, and smoky wood.
And Lake, Mammoth, and Tower Fall were all composed by IFF Perfumer MacKenzie Reilly; who asserts in the newly launched video that she believes it’s “long overdue that we give back to nature; and [that] we support it and consider that we can’t just take, we have to actually give back, preserve, and encourage new growth, making sure that what we do is sustainable. So for me, a project like this in not only important but really necessary. And, [it’s] what we need right now as an industry and as a world.”
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Deanna Utroske, CosmeticsDesign.com Editor, covers beauty business news in the Americas region and publishes the weekly Indie Beauty Profile column, showcasing the inspiring work of entrepreneurs and innovative brands.