A Beauty News Exclusive Interview
with Natural Parfumeur Mandy Aftel:
The Queen of Green
By Michelyn Camen

Mandy Aftel, Founder of the Artisan Natural Perfumer’s Guild
Long before we knew we were leaving carbon footprints, and back in the days when drinking bottled water was tres chic, there was Mandy Aftel; owner and founder of Aftelier , the founder of the Artisan Natural Perfumers Guild creating fragrances that used only 100% natural ingredients. Most perfumers and corporations eschewed this methodology; natural and organic materials were expensive and volatile. The difficulties of obtaining only the finest ingredients, distilling essences and creating natural fragrances were not deterrents to Aftel’s mission – to disprove the popular belief that natural fragrances could never achieve the status of ‘fine fragrance’ which used synthetics in their composition. Aftel founded Aftelier, her own company and pioneered the way for the dozens of new fragrances popping up, hyping that their scents are greener and cleaner.
Today, many of these companies are touting their organic fragrances, claiming that they are certified by this organization or that, but few can stand up to the quality of Aftelier fragrances.
Formerly a psychotherapist and currently an author of six books, Aftel began her interest in perfumery just over ten years ago. She was researching the area for her next novel, where the main character was a perfumer. She recognized she had found her calling and started a revolution that we now take for granted as part of our environmentally conscious culture. In fact, one of the most interesting facts about Ms. Aftel’s many accomplishments is that she is working outside parfumery– in conjunction with large corporations such as Glaxco-Smith and with Clean Well to develop ‘green’ scents for consumer products. 







