Ink Ocean Botanicals makes nice organic perfumes in glass bottles and solid perfumes made with jojoba wax. Birdsong contains orange, bergamot, peach and violet, and ends with sandalwood, vanilla and vetiver. Wilderland combines spruce, bergamot and chamomile with green florals, sandalwood, myrrh and tobacco.
Keep perfumes in dark cool place and stop use if irritation occurs. Avoid use for pregnancy/nursing. Never spray perfumes near babies or pets (not use cocoa butter solid perfumes in case they lick your skin) and don’t wear perfume, if pets sleep on your bed.
The UK fragrance market is worth £7 billion (that includes men’s colognes and scented add-ons). A ban on animal testing came into force a few years ago for cosmetics products, but the same brands may still test for sale elsewhere. And many brands cloak all manner of dodgy ingredients under the ingredient ‘fragrance’ (including hormone disruptors and allergens – around one in three people are actually allergic to perfume, leading to medical issues and days off work).
If you like to wear fragrance, switch to brands made with natural vegan ingredients (they don’t last as long but are better for you) sold in sustainable packaging. They also work out more affordable, as you are not paying for celebrities to advertise designer names.
A study by The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics found that the average perfume contains around 14 chemicals (only listed as ‘fragrance’). These don’t biodegrade when showered off, and cause algae bloom in rivers and seas, which chokes oxygen out of the water and harms marine creatures.
Most big brands are also sold in (overpriced) plastic packaging. Don’t be fooled that designer brands use organic oils, most use the same cheap chemicals as drugstore brands. A natural perfume is usually a deep colour, as plants are not see-through! Just like natural shampoos, your skin may take a while to adjust to natural scents, so give it a week or two (scents smell different on each person’s skin).
Choose vegan perfumes, as some brands use ambergris (whale poop), musk (a tiny Siberian deer), civet (Asian wild cat), castoreum (beavers) and hyraceum (an African guinea pig). Choose sustainable oils (esp. sandalwood, frankincense, eucalyptus) and avoid rosewood oil (a critically endangered tree).
how to dispose of old perfumes & colognes
A bit like paint, the best thing to do with perfumes and colognes is likely to use them up, because they are flammable and classed as hazardous waste. Empty bottles can just be recycled.
Haoma natural organic perfumes
Haoma Perfumes are made with organic ingredients, sold in beautiful frosted bottles. Free from synthetic fragrance molecules, the range includes lavender, myrrh & frankincense, ylang ylang, orange and their signature No.1 perfume (geranium patchouli, frankincense, cedarwood, palmarosa, sweet orange and thyme).
gender-inclusive unique natural scents
Shay and Blue offers clean organic perfumes for either sex. Whereas most perfumes are made with 80 ingredients, these contain just 15. The range includes melrose apple blossom, blood orange, black tulip, Sicilian lime, white peaches and blackberry woods.
handmade artisan perfume from Somerset
Jones & Modha No.1 is a handmade artisan perfume made in Somerset. Sold in minimal packaging, this is reminiscent of a green uplifting breeze with scent of citrus trees and cut leaves, with woody greens and spice. Contains notes of bergamot, lemon myrtle, grapefruit and red mandarin. Middle notes of rose geranium, linden, ginger, rose, coriander and spearmint. And base notes of cedarwood.
natural floral scents (from London)
Floral Street (London) creates natural scents in sustainable packaging made from upcycled coffee cups. Scents include vanilla orchid, ylang ylang espresso sunflower pop and electric rhubarb!
