Why Natural Fragrances are Better for the Planet

Your personal scent is as unique and important as defining your identity - that final spritz as you run out the door to make you feel complete; to make you feel like you. Fragrances are used to enhance your mood and to reflect a dimension of your personality. However, there are unknown toxic ingredients lurking in many of the mainstream perfumes brands of today.

If you think using a reusable canvas tote bag for your weekly shop suffices for your environmentalism quota, think again. Leaving an aromatic scent trail behind you as you go about your day should be the only ‘trail’ you leave while wearing fragrance, not a harmful ecological trail, which sadly, and ‘to the environment’s despair, the traditional fragrance industry perpetuates. Here we break down for you the negative impacts traditional, alcohol-filled fragrances can have on the planet:

1. VOC Emissions. With every spray, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) are released into the atmosphere. These tiny molecules can cause detrimental effects to our surrounding environment, from ground-level ozone (smog) to contributing to acid rain. Both of which have devastating consequences on our global ecosystems. Despite calls from environmental groups to reduce VOC levels, mainstream perfumes brands continue to use them to formulate their scents.
2. Waste Production. Ever wondered how perfumes are made? Producing synthetic perfume guzzles an excessive and unsustainable amount of energy. Manufacturing traditional perfumes uses vast amounts of fossil fuels: approximately 95% of the energy needed derives from them. Any use of fossil fuels is a direct catalyst to polluting our planet. Additionally, the discharge of waste, while extracting mass-produced ingredients and transporting them, can lead to leaks (often accidentally) into the surrounding environment. This can cause a multitude of negative effects on the habitat of animals and the local ecosystems that surround these factories.
3. Synthetic Ingredients. What is perfume made of? Whilst traditional perfumes are derived from synthetic, toxic chemicals, natural perfumes are made from various types of extracts such as essential oils, absolutes, resins, concretes, floral waxes, tinctures, and infusions of raw plant material. Natural perfumes harness the power of these elements to create clean, unique scents.

At Brûmée we’re proud to have created a line of products that are certified natural, which means not only are they truly good for you, but they also have a minimal impact on the world that we live in. By only making our scent in small batches, we ensure that each bottle is expertly crafted by specialists in the industry, who respect and celebrate the art of creating natural fragrances.