The Truth About Natural Fragrance
Words: Sarah Tarca // @tarca
Images: Mathew Coyte // @mathew_coyte
The world of fragrance is a confusing one, and no sector more so than natural or “clean” fragrance. Just as green and low-tox beauty has exploded in the last decade, so too have natural scents as we search for a balance between a low-tox lifestyle and smelling great.
Before the rise of clean perfume there was a lot of concern about the ingredients used in mass-market fragrance – and rightly so. Because not only is it true that 60 per cent of what we put on your skin is absorbed into our bloodstream, it’s also true that through a magical loop hole (“IP”) perfumes do not have to list their exact ingredients on the back of their bottles.
So, without knowing the exact ingredients you are putting on your skin, it’s easy to see why so many made the jump to natural fragrance. But like many things, it’s not as cut-and-dried as synthetic = bad and natural = good, because a lot of natural ingredients are as potent (and allergenic) as synthetics, and also because natural fragrance brands are also not legally bound to be transparent either. All this makes it even more difficult to know who or what to trust. It’s a minefield, but one we’re happy to navigate with you, with the help of some brilliant experts who we got weigh in too.
All Váhy parfums us natural ingredients with no synthetic scent notes, no denatured alcohol, no hexane or petroleum extracted notes, no phthalates, no SLS/SLES, no ALS, no DEP, no parabens, no nitro musks and no animal by-products.
what exactly constitutes a “natural” perfume?
As it turns out, even this is a loaded question because as with other beauty products there is little regulation around the word “natural” and how it’s used in marketing. That is to say that a brand can claim to be natural, despite only containing a small percentage of natural ingredients.
However, for a perfume to be deemed 100 per cent natural (and not just a vague “natural”) it does have to follow some guidelines. Perfumer Jocelyn Fullerton explains, it needs to contain “naturally occurring substances such as essential oils, absolutes and resins as well as aromatic animal extracts (musk – which is severely restricted for ethical reasons), or microbes (petrichor – the smell of rain comes from soil microbes). This also includes fractions of essential oils such as linalool from Ho Wood and Menthol from Peppermint oil.”
But here’s the thing: this natural definition also includes lab made compounds designed to be “nature identical” and also ingredients fermented from natural compounds to create new ones. “The strict definitions of what constitutes a ‘natural version’ of a new or existing compound differs slightly from the US to the EU. This may mean that synthesized compounds such as Vanillin (one of the elements making the scent of Vanilla beans) may be classed as natural by one region, and not the other,” explains Jocelyn. But, this isn’t necessarily about companies trying to do the dodgy on consumers either. In some cases, it’s the more sustainable option, and better for the environment – as is the case with vanillin. It can of course be extracted from vanilla beans but with a worldwide shortage it’s neither economical nor sustainable.
“To be honest ‘hypoallergenic’ doesn’t really exist in scent as folks can be allergic to all kinds of things natural or synthetic!”
Aromantik Curious Skin Natural Perfume Oil, 10mL, $85. Aromantik scents are 100% natural blends of fragrance materials. They do not contain synthetic fragrances, phthalates, and parabens. The natural perfume oils are blended into an all natural base of fractionated coconut oil and are hand blended. They are made by SallyWoodward-Hawes, a professional perfumer with accrediation from the world’s largest the world's largest trade association dedicated to natural fragrance: The Natural Perfumers Guild.
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Why perfumes don’t list their ingredients
The reason fragrance companies don’t have to list their ingredients is because, well, years of time, effort (and money!) goes into creating these things that often become icons in their own right. It’s kind of like Heston Blumenthal giving away one of his prize recipe or a wine maker the composition of their bestselling Shiraz. “To protect the intellectual property of a scent, it can be listed simply as ‘Parfum’ or ‘Fragrance’ according to INCI (International Nomenclature of Cosmetics Ingredients),” says Jocelyn. However, what must be listed according to the EU cosmetic directive are the potential allergens in the fragrance. “These can come from natural essential oils or be isolates or synthetics, a large portion of which are commonly found in essential oil blends. There are 26 allergens that are recommended to be listed on cosmetic products,” she says.
Although this is an international directive, Australia generally follows the EU in this regard, but Jocelyn also notes that there an increasing trend for transparency and full disclosure of the ingredients listed in perfumes. The problem is again is that because it’s not bound by law to list all the potential allergens, even some companies that claim to have full transparency don’t list all their allergens. And another thing to be wary of is claims of “hypoallergenic”. “To be honest ‘hypoallergenic’ doesn’t really exist in scent as folks can be allergic to all kinds of things natural or synthetic!” says Jocelyn.
The Ayu Natural Fragrance Oil in Smoking Rose, 30ml, $90.
Ayu scents are hand-blended in a base of the finest ingredients and their ingredients are included on their site, along with notes on which fragrances and notes are entirely natural. Certain AYU perfumes contain a very small amount of synthetics which is also noted, and this is done to protect the environment from over harvested and endangered plant species. All Ayu products are plant based, cruelty free and contain no sulphates, parabens, phthalates, formaldehyde mineral oil or EDTA.
The fragrance world and its (lack of) transparency
This disillusionment with the lack of transparency is precisely what drove Kate Macdonald and Anna Weatherlake, co-founders of the natural fragrance brand Váhy, to launch their own line of scent.
Kate, who is also a corporate lawyer, was providing labeling advice to a cosmetic client and discovered that perfumes did not need to disclose their ingredients in most jurisdictions. Naturally, she wanted to investigate more, and find out exactly what was in mass-market perfumes. “What she found was not pretty,” says Anna “the Environmental Working Group (EWG) conducted research on this point and found on average 14 ‘secret’ ingredients are used in fragrances and sometimes more than double that number.” It’s the “secret” ingredients that are precisely the problem… the great unknown of things that can be associated with allergies, irritation, hormone disruption and, as Anna points out have not been tested for safety in personal care products.
“the Environmental Working Group (EWG) conducted research on this point and found on average 14 ‘secret’ ingredients are used in fragrances and sometimes more than double that number.”
This is precisely what lead to the creation of Váhy: the desire for a natural perfume with the same transparency that skincare brands were offering. “We sampled every natural fragrance we could get our hands on and could never find any perfumes which had the same sophistication of scent as synthetic perfumes and an unbelievable number of brands state they are natural but instead use lab made chemicals which are ‘modelled’ from natural notes or only a fraction of the ingredients are indeed natural,” they say. And, the deeper they dug, the more they realised “transparency” was an even greater illusion. “It was difficult working out what was even in the scent as brands either don’t disclose what’s in them or use terms like ‘fragrance’ and ‘denatured alcohol’ that do not have a universal definition and often include a large number of chemicals.” Their solution was to create their own brand, with exactly what they wanted from a natural fragrance.
Recreation Beauty This Love Of Mine eau de parfum, 50ml, $109.
Recreation Beauty fragrances are vegan and cruelty-free as well as being free from chemicals, parabens, mineral oils, petrolatums, sulphates, phthalates, siloxanes, DEA, PEGS, BHA and BHT.
What should you look for in a low-tox, or natural perfume?
The best answer for this is: do your research. There is a lot of information out there, and each person has their own barometer for what they will and won’t put on their skin.
And of course the other side of this is the somewhat fluid idea of what “natural” is. Joycelyn says, “there are a few organisations that have created thier own definitions of what it means to be a 100% natural perfume, but there seems to be a bit of a disagreement between them as to the exact definition of ‘whats in vs whats out’. My concern is also that there is quite flimsy scientific basis for for some of the rules. Some going as far as to spread misinformation and unfounded panic where there is no need for it,” she says.
Dr. Michele Squire, founder of science consultancy, Qr8 on the other hand says that much of the talk around the dangers of synthetic perfume is centred around a group of chemicals knows as 5phthalates: which some studies have shown may mimic hormones. “This has caused concern about the use of phthalates in women of childbearing age, pregnant women, infants and adolescents,” she says. Whilst many have been banned out of caution, she says that one - diethylphthalate or DEP - is still used in fragrances. “Multiple studies have failed to establish a health risk to humans from the use of DEP-containing fragranced products when applied at normal usage levels,” she says.
So provided you’re not dousing yourself in it you should be at a safe level. That said, there are many, many phthalate-free fragrance options around if this is your concern. But, here’s a huge caveat: DEP is used in thousands of fragranced products (like body washes, deodarants, lotion and hand soaps) so you’ll need to dig further into your beauty cupboard if you want a low-tox lifestyle.
“DEP is used in thousands of fragranced products (like body washes, deodarants, lotion and hand soaps) so you’ll need to dig further into your beauty cupboard if you want a low-tox lifestyle.”
For Anna and Kate, phthalates are just one piece of the puzzle and their list of non-negotiables for Váhy was a long one. “Effectively, we only use natural ingredients so this means no synthetic scent notes, no denatured alcohol, no hexane or petroleum extracted notes, no phthalates, no SLS/SLES, no ALS, no DEP, no parabens, no nitro musks and no animal by-products. And, all of our products are tested thoroughly by experts and comply with IFRA and allergen regulations.”
Simply, they don’t believe that disruptive and harmful ingredients should have ever been approved for use in personal care products in any country and that the fragrance industry should rise to the transparency challenge knowing that this is precisely what consumers not only expect, but also deserve.
What are some of the benefits of natural perfumes?
Why choose a natural perfume over your mass-market variety then? Well, if your concern is about synthetics and what you are putting on your largest organ (and into your bloodstream), this is the most convincing argument. Because, aside from phalates, there’s also ingredients like BHA, BHT, benzophene, denatured alcohol, ethanolamines, methyl cellosolve, nitro musks, SLS, SLES and ALS that are still being used in commercial perfumery and have big question marks over their effects on the body.
Science aside, however, there is also another interesting benefit to natural fragrance, which Anna and Kate explain: “natural essences possess a bioactive power, a vibrational energy, or ‘compressed vitality’ which just cannot be replicated in a chemical lab,” and this isn’t just woo-woo either. In fact, it was found (way back in 1939) that that the same energy field that surrounds natural living organisms was present when essential oils were tested, despite the energy fields ordinarily dissipating when flora dies. “Synthetics can replicate some of the dominant notes of a natural essence but they cannot capture the complexity, subtlety and nuances of natural notes,” says Anna and Kate. “Natural fragrance notes evolve over time and evolve differently with each different wearer and there is such beauty in this lifecycle.”
how do us “regular people” navigate this natural scent space?
It’s all a lot to take in we know. But the thing about the natural beauty world is that it is complex, and not as simple as just subscribing to the greenwashing that natural is best. Because, as we’ve discovered, every brand seems to have a different idea of what ‘natural’ means and even if they are using terms like ‘made with clean or natural ingredients’ this may only mean that a small percentage are in fact, natural.
Your first step should always be to understand the ingredients label and know what you’re looking for – and what you definitely don’t want in there. “If you see things that don’t have a universal definition like ‘fragrance’ or ‘denatured alcohol’ ask the brand what is actually in there. If they won’t tell you everything that is in their products, be wary,” advises Anna and Kate. If in doubt, ask the brand to confirm that they do or don’t have the ingredients you want. If they’re evasive, you might have your answer.
If you’re looking for a place to start your research, Vàhy has a ‘red flag’ ingredients list on their site (complete with info on their associated concerns). Otherwise, Kate and Anna also suggest referring to the Environmental Working Group and Safe Cosmetics website to know what chemicals you should be concerned about – and if they are in your fragrance or personal care products.
Ultimately, it is a personal decision what you choose to do with and put on your body, but the best advice is always to be well informed so you can make the best (and best smelling) choice for you.