Some Answers To A Few Frequently Asked Questions

What about recycling?
We don't waste your time or the environment with boxes, shrink-wrap, or other unnecessary packaging. And all of the bottles are recyclable.

Birne reuses shipping materials wherever possible by shipping our orders in the same boxes in which we receive shipments. And our customers often return or donate boxes and other packing materials so that they may be reused. Apparently, it's working: Since its birth in January 1997, Birne has never purchased a cardboard box or a Styrofoam peanut to ship an order.

So the bottles are all recyclable, but why are some products packaged in glass, while others are packaged in plastic?
Products have specific packaging in order to maintain the integrity of the product and to promote the safety of its use. Perfume and bath oils are packaged in cobalt glass bottles because tinted glass storage containers preserve the life of your oils in two ways. First, oils are sensitive to light, and tinted glass protects oils from overexposure. Second, glass does not react with oil. Oils stored in plastic eventually erode their container, thereby destroying the container and its contents; the plastic softens and the oil smells like plastic.

Bathing gel and lotions are packaged in plastic because the bottles won't break if they are dropped in the bath or shower. Because they are non-breakable, plastic bottles also travel well. The products packaged in plastic bottles are also the ones people most want to have available at the office, after the gym, in the car, on spring break or a summer vacation.

Do you use natural fragrances?
Wherever possible, Birne uses natural fragrances. Our goal is to provide quality, unique, beautiful fragrances that won't harm the environment.

To this end, we offer fragrances known as natural essential oils. These are oils derived from plants that grow in nature, such as our Eucalyptus, Lavender, Orange, Patchouli, and Rosemary oils. However, in the interest of preserving quality while maintaining environmental consciousness, it is often impractical to use the plant found in nature. For instance, processing enough jasmine flowers to produce a small bottle of perfume oil would be a waste of flowers, and the cost would be prohibitive. In addition, natural oils are not always stable. That is, the results aren't consistent, so it's impossible to offer the same fragrance every time. For these reasons, we also use "synthetic" perfume oils. These oils can be replications of natural fragrances, such as jasmine or gardenia, but they can also make new ones possible, such as mango or chocolate.

Birne perfume oils are always alcohol-free and we never test on animals.

What's the difference between Gold Honey and Honey?
If it were edible (which it's not!), Gold Honey would be drizzled over warm, buttered toast. Honey is a blend of honeyed blossoms with a powdery vetiver note. Check out the fragrances page for a description of every Birne scent.

What's the difference between the four pear fragrances?
Birne means "pear." We chose pears to represent our products because pears are lush, fragrant, diverse, beautiful, and practical. One way that we express those qualities is to include four distinct pear fragrances in our family of scents:

Bosc Pear: A complex, multi-faceted pear that smells of crisp autumn evenings.
Burnished Pear: Ambered pear with dark vanilla notes.
Green Pear: A crisp and fruity fresh scent.
Warm Pear: Warm, ripe, juicy, bees-buzzing-around-it pear.

Do you have any men's products?
Yes. All Birne products are men's products. And women's products. And children's products. Birne is for people to use, enjoy, and share. However, some fragrances for men to try are:

Australian Mango, Bergamot, Cassis, Clear Amber, Coconut, Cucumber, Cucumber Lime, December, Earth, Egyptian Musk, Frankincense, Grass, Honey Tangerine, Houris, Lemon Verbena, Lemongrass Ginger, Myrrh, Pink Grapefruit, Sweet Earth, Vanilla, and White Musk.

Please visit the fragrances page to read more about all of these scents.

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Birne: Fragrance for the Exalted
Post Office Box 11575
Olympia, Washington 98508-1575
360/357-8685 or 800/525-0012

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