All Natural Perfumes

There has been a growing interest in natural perfumes in the global perfume market in recent times. They have been in vogue for the last few years as a new trend in the perfume world. In order to understand the facts about all natural perfumes, we will need to explore what natural and synthetic perfumes are and how they are created in a little bit of detail. So, let’s dig a little deeper.

Table of contents

• What are all natural perfumes?

• What are synthetic perfumes?

• Blending natural fragrances with fixatives and alcohol

• Do all perfumes contain alcohol?

• Essential oils in natural perfumes

• Why do all natural perfumes cost higher than synthetic ones?

• Are all natural fragrances really natural?

• Why choose natural perfumes over synthetic ones?

What are all natural perfumes?

Natural perfumes are perfumes produced from substances of nature, including herbs, spices, trees, and essences extracted from animals. The ingredients used to create them are purely derived from natural sources.

Natural fragrances emanate beautiful scents that do not have any substitute. Moreover, natural ingredients such as essential oils and botanicals used to create them have many different physical and emotional healing properties such as relaxing, mood-lifting, calming, pain-relieving, and energy-enhancing.

In a true sense, natural perfumes are those niche perfumes in which only pure and non-artificial ingredients are used and there is nothing chemical or artificial even the alcohol they use in their composition is also not denatured through any processing and costs around five times more than the other.

What are synthetic perfumes?

Synthetic perfumes are man-made and developed in laboratories. A wide range of chemicals is used in synthetic perfumes instead of sourcing the raw materials from natural properties such as plants or animals. These artificial chemical molecules replicate the smelling accords of natural fragrances and thus, can serve as substitutes for those scents. But if your nose has ever experienced any natural perfume before, you can easily feel the difference between the real one and the artificial one.

Besides, chemicals used in synthetic fragrances may have toxic effects on the human body and the environment. For example, synthetic fragrances derived from petrochemical variables like phthalates can cause skin sensitivity, lung irritation, migraines, and various gastrointestinal issues including nausea and vomiting.

It’s also important to know that the term “synthetic perfumes or synthetic fragrances” is used in a broad sense. There are many types. The main three types of synthetic fragrances include:

• Full synthetic perfumes – These types of perfume are made entirely using synthetic by-products derived mainly from petrochemicals.
• Semi-synthetic perfumes – These types of perfumes are made using synthetic, natural, or artificially modified ingredients.
• Natural isolates – These types of perfume are made from both synthetic as well as natural byproducts.

However, it’s important to note here that due to the increasing demand and running trend of natural perfumes in the global fragrance market, many mainstream fragrance brands or mass-producing companies are moving into the natural fragrance niche to reap the most of its market benefits.

But the overwhelming majority of perfumes are either completely chemical or similar isolates that have artificially modified byproducts. As a result, these mass-produced perfumes can neither get you to experience the real scents nor bring any healing properties.

Blending natural fragrances with fixatives and alcohol

Natural fragrances are generally volatile and evaporate into the air. In order to slow down the rapid evaporation of natural perfumes, fixatives are used. Most fixatives are comprised of mosses, resins, and ingredients extracted from animals. First, the notes are blended carefully to compose the desired scent, and then fixatives are added to help the scent last longer. Scents do change over time. Natural scents can be strong after five minutes but more potent after fifty.

Once the desired scent comes out with perfection, it requires to be diluted. In general, alcohol is used for dilution. But as discussed above, when it comes to pure natural perfumes, the alcohol used should also be natural and unadulterated without any denaturation process.

Natural intact alcohol costs five to six times more than the other. This is one of the major reasons why pure natural niche perfumes are costly. Both the alcohol and the final scent are left to age together, otherwise, the odor of alcohol may overtake the scent in the final result.

Do all perfumes contain alcohol?

Nope, in natural perfumery, alcohol is not necessarily used in every natural perfume. Essential oils are also used to produce non-alcoholic perfumes. Perfumes that do not contain alcohol are also called Attar or Ittar and are widely used in Muslim cultures.

Essential oils in natural perfumes

Essential oils are extracted from plants. These natural oils contain the essence of various parts of plants including flowers, barks, leaves, and roots. Essential oils have been found to have many different therapeutic properties and thus, have long been used for centuries to treat and prevent a diverse range of diseases.

The natural compounds found in essential oils are widely used in traditional medicines in nearly every country throughout the world, especially in aromatherapy in which their aromas are inhaled like perfumes or they are applied directly to the skin.

The process of extracting natural essence from various parts of plants involves either distillation or mechanically. Distillation can be done using water or steam and cold pressing is one of the most popular mechanical processes. Therefore, the process of making essential oils is labor-intensive as well as it requires considerable time to come up to the final stage.

Finally, the natural chemical compounds are extracted from these essences. When combined with carrier oils such as coconut oil, olive oil, or jojoba oil, they turned into a usable agent. Strictly speaking, not all essential oils are natural, this is only true when the extraction is done without using any chemicals.

Essential oils have been known to have many different physical and mental health benefits including calming, relaxing, inflammation-reducing, and sleep-improving among others. 

Why do all natural perfumes cost more than synthetic ones?

Essences sourced from natural ingredients such as essential oils, absolutes, and extracts derived from animals are obviously among the most expensive materials in the world.

Natural perfumers have their very own philosophy along with a strong code of ethics. They use in their perfumes not something that can vaguely be called natural, but only pure flawless ingredients. In their all natural perfumes, nothing is chemical or artificial.

Sometimes, natural perfumers use some animal pheromones like ambergris and musk deer and perhaps you are aware of they are among the costliest materials in the world. These perfumes come under the category of  “Non-vegan” natural fragrances.

Animal pheromones have long been used in perfumery and medicine since the age of ancient times. In the earlier days before the advent of modern perfumery, perfumery was assumed to be an apothecary, and perfumes were used to treat and prevent diseases. This is why the use of animal pheromones is mentioned in several traditional pharmacopeias across the world.

Surprisingly, many essences are more expensive than gold. In order to produce just one kilogram of rose essence, you will need around five tons of rose petals that are hand-picked on the first morning and transferred immediately to the processing unit without any delay so that the natural compounds they contain remain preserved and fresh. 

Besides, in natural perfumery, only traditional century-old techniques like distillation through steam or water are used for extraction in order to maintain the naturality of the compounds and to keep them intact until the final stage. Therefore, the processing of making natural perfumes are far more labor-intensive and time-consuming than the processing of synthetic ones.   

All these above-mentioned factors impact the cost of natural perfumes hugely. Now, you might wonder – Why should I bother with such high expenses for natural fragrances?

If you want to protect yourself from harmful toxins and chemicals of synthetic fragrances, or you already have sensitive skin that tends to be allergic to mainstream perfumes, or you are someone who is concerned about environmental damage, then natural perfumes would be the only solution to meet your goals and to fit your high ethical standards.

Moreover, through using natural perfumes you will experience diverse healing benefits along with developing a sense of purity, exclusiveness, and royalty just like wearing real gems such as emeralds or rubies.

Are all natural fragrances really natural?

The term “natural” is a bit vague and you need to take some time to find out the truth behind it.  

Do not get confused that the claim of all natural perfumes is real, this is only true when they are made using only pure ingredients such as botanical extracts, essential oils, and absolutes.

The overwhelming majority of mass-produced so-called natural fragrances are actually artificial replications made from synthetic molecules of famous natural perfume compositions and therefore, they smell like natural perfumes although at limited certain levels.

But the actual scents of natural perfumes are by far different than the synthetic ones. If you have ever experienced the kind of sense of olfactory opulence natural fragrances can evoke in your body and mind and the healing benefits they can produce for your emotional and physical health, you will definitely understand that pure unadulterated perfumes are undoubtedly priceless gifts of nature that do not have any analogy.

Therefore, to reap the most benefits, it’s important that you don’t choose perfumes randomly but wisely choose the real ones that contain pure ingredients without any kind of artificial materials. And make sure you thoroughly check whether there is a guarantee of naturality from the manufacturer you want to buy perfumes from.

Why choose all natural perfumes over synthetic ones?

Natural perfumes offer a number of advantages in comparison to synthetic ones. They are unique, decent, and potent and do not have any comparisons.

While artificial molecules or synthetic chemicals used in synthetic perfumes may cause various health issues such as allergies, headaches, or nausea and make you ill, the substances used in natural fragrances have significant potential to heal you physically, mentally, and spiritually.

The ingredients used in all natural perfumes are sourced from bio flora and fauna that are like rare gems and precious metals difficult to find easily everywhere. In fact, pure essences are olfactory jewels. They evoke a sense of value and offer various emotional and physical health benefits.

On the other hand, synthetic perfumes are like duplicate pearls of colored glass or plastic beads that seem to be originals but in reality they are not.

Let’s take a look at some of the most common reasons why you should consider choosing only natural fragrances over synthetic ones: 

• Natural perfumes do not contain artificial molecules developed through toxic chemicals like pesticides which may cause various damages to humans, the environment, and other animals.
• Synthetic perfumes made from phthalates or petrochemical derivatives may cause lung irritation, migraine headaches, gastrointestinal discomforts such as nausea and vomiting, and can disrupt hormonal balance and may cause developmental, reproductive, and other serious health issues (see: endocrine-disrupting chemical (EDC)).
• Unlike fragrances that contain synthetic or artificial molecules, all-natural perfumes have a proven history of safety and effectiveness for thousands of years and thus, they do not require to be tested on animals. In contrast, substances found in mass-produced fragrance brands such as musk ketone and phthalates often led to horrible mistreatments of animals.
• Using natural perfumes and the ingredients they contain has been found to produce a wide variety of physical and emotional health benefits including boosting moods, improving mental alertness, killing viruses, bacteria, and fungus, reducing inflammation and pain, relieving headaches or migraines, relieving anxiety, stress, and depression, improving sleep, reducing gastrointestinal issues, as well as others.
• Blending two or more synthetic fragrances may smell very pesky, whereas natural fragrances composed from only whole ingredients can be used in both ways, separately or layered to create a personal bespoken custom scent depending on your personal preference and mood.
• Responsible natural niche perfume brands like La Via del Profumo neither use any chemical ingredients nor follow any type of unethical practices while developing their perfumes. Each and every perfume or attar is composed using the century-old traditional art of natural perfumery and the pristine knowledge of making perfumes carried from thousands of years till date.

At La Via del Profumo we offer a guarantee of naturality on our all-natural perfumes. We also sell pure natural essences as Attars as well.

See our all-natural perfumes line: The Scents of the Soul

SEE ALSO:

• Why natural perfumes?
• Introduction to natural perfumery