What is Natural Perfume?
For the last few years natural botanical perfumes have been revived by artisan perfumers. Thanks to their passion for plant essences and experimentation niche perfumes and even vegan ones have started finding their place and got a lot of interest among organic skin care enthusiasts.
Once all perfumes were natural, animal or botanical based, or both. Since natural and even organic ingredients are expensive, natural ingredients did not interest perfumers as much as synthetic ones which appeared early in the 20th century. They were cheap and had more tenacity, more synthetic fixatives were created in labs. Synthetic ingredients were easier to work with but in fact they are not as dynamic as nature itself.
Contemporary perfumers claim that synthetics offer a wider range of scents while the followers of all natural botanical perfumes claim that nothing can beat natural ingredients. Well, for me reason nr 1 why I stopped using synthetic skin care was the fact that I learnt how unhealthy it was. 99% of all high end perfumes are synthetic unless stated otherwise. Well they do mention some natural ingredients but as long as they are not 100% pure in their nature, they cannot be considered natural. Transparency of a brand is key if you have doubts.
How do natural perfumes differ and why are they becoming more popular these days?
Botanical perfumes and natural ingredients (essential oils, absolutes, CO2 extracts, concretes, tinctures, etc.) differ in their composition and tenacity from synthetic ones.
Natural botanical fragrances need to be reapplied a bit more often than conventional perfumes, well isn`t it natural that many things disappear and revive in the nature many times? Besides, natural perfumes interact with our chemistry and create a unique aroma for each person. Properly made natural perfumes do not bother other people around you with their scent, they are subtle, mild, but still complex with every note they have with time. Top citrus notes flow into beautiful floral notes which in their turn change into deep and rich base notes. A properly formulated natural perfume can stay up to 3-5 hours, some stay longer (those usually have animal products in, some are cruelty free, some are not).
Synthetic perfumes cause allergies, asthma, skin irritation, etc. On the other hand, natural perfumes are potent too due to the presence of concentrated essences. Even natural essences must be used wisely and must be avoided by pregnant and nursing women. A standard patch test is still recommended for all organic and natural beauty products, including natural perfumes.
Natural perfumers have brought back many natural ingredients which were used many decades or centuries ago. They tend to source special blossom essences made using hi-tech extraction methods which leave the botanical material scent almost pristine, adding extra notes to perfumes and making them even more complex, some look for aged oils such as patchouli to create rounded, smooth base accords, some use really rare oils which are not used or are imitated using synthetics in conventional perfumes simply because they are too expensive, such as real agarwood or oud, some care not only about the naturalness of their creations but also about the ethics of using certain oils.
As for the difference between natural and botanical perfume, the former is is made using 100% natural ingredients, while the latter one is made using not only natural but also 100% vegan ingredients.
If you have never used real artisan complex perfumes, there is one important thing to know: botanical perfumes are created by passionate artists, each note and each accord is an elaborate step which takes many efforts and lots of time to experiment and create the final harmonious blend. Botanical perfumery is a result of herbalism and aromatherapy, botanical perfumes are made to feed our senses, to evoke our deep memories, and most importantly to make us stay closer to nature since we are part of it.