User:MountainSource/sandbox

Anya McCoy is a pioneer and leader in the modern natural perfume community who launched her first line Anya's Tropical Essences, in Miami in 1991. It is believed that it was the first natural perfume line in America since the 1800s. Her South Beach clientele included several hotels, boutiques and retail stores. Hoteliers and private individuals contracted with her for private label perfume products. She received her Bachelors degree from the University of California, Riverside with a unique major in Economic Botany approved for her by a petition to the Board of Regents. The degree combined her interests in fragrant plants as they were relevant to the fields of plant science and anthropology. She designed may fragrant gardens in California, Oregon, New York, Pennsylvania and Florida, going on to receive a Masters degree in Landscape Architecture from the State University of New York, Syracuse, in conjunction with Syracuse University. In 1990, she was elected Soil and Water Conservation District Manager in Collier County, Florida and is believed to be the only perfumer in an elected government position in the United States of America.

In 2002, she began the Natural Perfumery discussion group on !Yahoo, which now has over 2400 members. It is the largest repository of natural perfume educational materials, including over 48,000 member messages, Files, Links and ancillary information, on the planet.