Best Non-Toxic Perfume
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If you’re trying to reduce your exposure to toxins but fragrance is so important to you, this is the post for you.
While finding a solid fragrance free of harmful chemicals used to be difficult, it has gotten a bit easier. If you’re looking for a really solid natural perfume, keep reading.
We discussed recently whether fragrance is bad for you or not. If you want to learn more about that, go check out the post. But briefly, we found that though the fragrance industry has made massive strides toward much healthier and safer products, synthetic fragrances still tend to be considered somewhat toxic and one has to carefully check out a brand’s ingredients to ensure a product is formulated safely.
One can debate that there are safe synthetics, and I would say that’s probably true. However, it tends to be a safe bet to stick with natural fragrances, so long as you are not personally sensitive to them. All in all, there’s a landing spot for everyone and a safer switch that can likely be made.
Traditional perfume vs. perfume oil
Clean vs. natural
First I want to clear up something that can be a little confusing. “Clean” perfume and “natural” perfume are not necessarily the same thing. First of all, neither of those words are regulated in any industry, let alone the fragrance industry. Something can be called clean or natural pretty arbitrarily.
However, clean and natural are used in fairly consistent ways throughout the fragrance industry, so let’s look at that a little.
Typically, if a brand is saying their fragrance is natural, they mean that their fragrance is naturally derived or contains a lot of natural essences. It can still contain synthetic fragrances as well. Typically, when a brand says their perfume is “100% natural,” this means that their fragrances are entirely derived from natural sources and they do not use synthetics. Additionally, brands that are “100% natural” tend to not use phthalates, parabens, and other toxins. The two tend to go hand in hand. There’s nothing to MAKE them stick to this but it seems that the term is used pretty reliably and can be trusted.
“Clean” perfume, on the other hand, tends to mean that the perfume is a combination of natural and synthetic fragrances but that the brand also avoids phthalates, parabens, and other problematic ingredients.
The other thing I notice is that, honestly, “clean” perfumes aren’t always that different from conventional perfumes. Part of this is because the perfume industry has massively cleaned up and avoids the use of a lot of bad ingredients, partially by choice and partially due to strict EU regulations. But with a clean perfume brand, you can be sure that, though synthetics are used, there is a focus on safe, sustainable ingredients.
So should you go with “clean” or “100% natural” perfume?
I’m going to go ahead and say that’s a totally personal choice. Personally, I’m not a fan of synthetic fragrance. I think it’s difficult to know what’s in it, they can be toxic, and there are so many amazing natural fragrances to choose from that I just don’t need to mess with synthetics.
The trade off is that natural fragrances don’t tend to last quite as long, because they aren’t using the toxic fixatives that make perfume last a long time. This doesn’t bother me at all. I like a more subtle scent anyway and can always reapply, especially if using a perfume oil.
But for some, you might want that stronger scent that lasts longer. For that person, a clean perfume is likely going to be the direction you want to go since the ingredients should still be safe but some ingredients are used to enhance and lengthen scent. If you go this route, I’d just be ensure the company you choose is committed to avoiding the use of phthalates. I’ll provide some recommendations for this in a moment.
Traditional perfume vs. perfume oil
I want to touch on perfume oils for a moment. These are very popular in the natural fragrance world and I think they’re a fantastic option for a few reasons.
First, fragrance oils are super portable and great for reapplication. Perfume oils are going to be small enough to travel with in any size purse, are great for air travel, and make reapplying on the go so easy. Typically fragrance oils come in glass roller bottles, so you just swipe on your wrists and neck and go on about your business.
This will provide a more subtle scent than a traditional perfume, but I find that it is plenty strong. People notice you’re wearing something without being overwhelmed by it.
One other positive for this is that this is a way to wear perfume without the use of alcohol in the formulation. Companies use different carrier oils for this, a popular one being fractionated coconut oil. To be honest, I’m not sure why some people want to avoid perfumes that use alcohol to carry scent… but nonetheless, this is a solution for that.
Brand recommendations
As a self-admitted non-connoisseur of fragrance (I like a good smell and often opt for a very subtle floral scent, but it’s not my area of expertise), I am providing recommendations based on brand/product safety more than anything else. I have researched these companies thoroughly to understand their ingredient philosophies and product formulations.
I am confident in the safety of these products as I’ve described.
However, I cannot speak to the… sophistication of their scents. I did spend a good amount of time reading other blogs and reviews of the scents of these brands, so I’m fairly confident of their quality, their effectiveness, and the general positive receipt by customers. I just can’t speak to it personally.
Brand recommendations for “100% natural” perfumes
Brief recap, these products are going to be the most natural option, containing no synthetic fragrances or fixatives. These brands use only natural fragrances, which does mean their scents are going to be slightly different than mainstream perfumes, but can still be so beautiful. These scents are also going to be slightly more subtle and won’t last as long. I’ve seen people rank these 3.5/4 on scent strength and longevity. Fragrance oils are a great option in this category as well.
Because these scents are going to vary somewhat from traditional fragrances, I’d recommend thoroughly reading descriptions as well as ordering samples where possible. Some of these brands do not offer returns due to the nature of their products and business, so ensure you understand that policy before you purchase.
I will say, some of the teams behind these all natural perfume brands are made of ROCKSTAR chemists and business people with a ton of experience in the traditional fragrance world who wanted to do better for customers.
Prim Botanicals has a few different kinds of beauty products with a handful of very simple but well received all natural perfume oils.
This brand is for the true hippie. The scents are handcrafted from natural ingredients by a woman in Canada. It’s a neat brand and I’d encourage you to check out her story/philosophy if you’re interested in a very unique and very natural perfume experience. Her fragrances are all perfume oil style.
A favorite in the 100% natural fragrance world, this brand has many amazing scents that people rave about. Their unique stamp on the perfume world is being a little bit edgy, with all of their scent names designed to be dark or somewhat racy. They’ve got some great discovery scents collections for those wanting to try a few out before committing to something and they offer all their scents in both perfume oils and traditional sprays.
This brand is dedicated to 100% natural, high quality perfumes and carries out a small-batch system. This is another brand people seem to love made by a team of experts in the field.
These perfumes are very expensive and from what I’ve been able to find on them, people think they’re worth it. The scents are said to be very feminine and beautiful. This is definitely a high quality, investment type perfume company.
This brand is said to have very “complex” scents, which I assume means they’re great for perfume enthusiasts. They offer both alcohol perfumes and perfume oils.
This is another very interesting brand with scents hand crafted by a world class perfumer. The founder and owner has been in the game for a very long time, is well studied and awarded, and is said to be the teacher/mentor of many younger perfumers interested in natural fragrances. Her products are more expensive than some brands but they are very high quality and each scent is uniquely hand crafted.
This brand has quite a few scents to choose from, which is great. They also offer both traditional alcohol-based sprays as well as perfume oils.
Brand recommendations for “clean” perfumes
Brief recap, these products are safe and effective, but do include some synthetic fragrances and fixatives. These brands DO NOT use phthalates in their formulations. These products are likely to carry a somewhat stronger scent and last longer. I’ve seen people rank these a 4/5 on scent strength and longevity. Because these products utilize synthetics and synthetic fixatives, they’re also typically a bit cheaper than 100% natural perfume.
This company has an amazing team, amazing reviews, and truly beautiful products. This is actually the brand I have my eye on for my next perfume purchase. They have several scents for different tastes and honestly different seasons. They do use some synthetic fragrance compounds but I’m pretty impressed with their list of ingredients they won’t use.
Phlur is a pretty well-known and well-received clean perfume brand that does utilize synthetics, stating they can be “less allergenic” than some natural scent compounds. This brand is easily shoppable on Amazon.
The brand states they utilize synthetics when it is more sustainable or less allergenic than using natural compounds. Their perfumes are a mixture of natural and synthetic, but clean. They are also easily shoppable on Amazon.
This is a pretty popular clean perfume brand with amazing reviews. Be wary of buying this off Amazon because it doesn’t look like the brand is actually on Amazon, it looks like reselling and I’ve seen reviews that some of the products may be tampered with. I’d go straight to the brand’s website (which is what I linked and get no affiliate commission from) or you can buy it at Sephora.
This company’s packaging is simple and beautiful and they have great options in both traditional perfume style as well as roller-on perfume oils. Some say they’re all natural but I’ve read that they do use some synthetics so I’m placing them in the clean category just in case.
Wrap-Up
This is not all of the brands in either category. I didn’t want this to run too long or be too overwhelming. I think this is a pretty good sampling of some of the best companies in clean and natural fragrance with great reviews and amazing teams/stories. But obviously, there are other great brands out there.
I hope you were able to find a new fragrance brand that’s exciting to you and may help you make that difficult swap from traditional fragrances full of less than stellar ingredients. You can’t really go wrong with any of the brands on this list and there’s a great place to land for a variety of folks with different tastes and ingredient philosophies.
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