No more fragwashing

For years, brand messaging has been all about "100% natural, 100% eco-friendly, 100% green / clean, 100% vegan, 100% cruelty-free…" and "Synthetics are too chemical, too harmful, not eco-friendly enough, not high-quality enough".

With all these claims and consumers' concerns, it's hard to know what to believe.

We swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth: let's debunk a few common myths!

1. "Synthetics have no place in perfumery": false!

Synthetics appeared at the end of the 19th century and marked the birth of modern perfumery. At the risk of shattering a myth, all the greatest perfumes from the biggest luxury houses owe their success to groundbreaking accords: caramel, lily of the valley, peach, aldehydes, pear…

Most flowers and almost all fruits (except citrus) are synthetic. These notes are "mute": either the scent doesn't exist, or it can't be extracted naturally.

So synthetic accords have to be created, expanding the perfumer's palette, creativity and freedom (around 300 natural notes vs. more than 4,000 synthetic notes).

2. "Natural = eco-friendly": false!

Ouch, a big topic that often divides opinion…

A product can be natural and eco-friendly, but the two don't automatically go hand in hand! To date, there's no such thing as a 100% eco-friendly perfume. Here's why:

• Carbon footprint: ingredients (patchouli from Indonesia or vanilla from Madagascar, for example) are sourced from all four corners of the world and shipped back by air or sea… not by carrier pigeon.
• Yield: 3.5 tons of rose petals to produce 1.5kg of essential oil, or 600kg to get 1kg of rose absolute.
• Packaging: to be 100% eco-friendly, packaging would have to be upcycled or recycled, refillable, recyclable, with no cellophane, no plastic film on the labels, no plastic cap or dip tube, no plastic insert in wooden or cork caps, ink-free printing, no tissue paper around the bottles… "Less is more" turns into "less is nothing at all".
• Bonus: claims like "Organic label" and "Ethical partnerships" should be taken with a grain of salt. Organic from India has nothing to do with organic made in France. As for ethical partnerships, the French minimum wage is far from universal, simple as that.

Synthetics also help preserve our ecosystems and our animal friends (ambergris, civet, deer musk, castoreum), which were killed for centuries for their very distinctive smells. Today, materials of animal origin are banned. Thanks to synthetics, we can recreate notes close to the ones that have disappeared. We tell you all about it in our article on animal notes.

3. "Natural always smells good": false!

When we talk about natural notes, we think of the rose and jasmine harvests in Grasse, where the scent of the petals leaves a delicate trail in our nostrils.

Did you know that many naturals don't smell the way we're used to in perfumes or at the florist's?

• Rose smells of artichoke and geranium, a far cry from the morning dew!
• Jasmine has a medicinal, animalic and very spicy smell, a far cry from solar monoi!

Synthetic notes make it possible to soften, tone down and enhance facets that are too "raw", too "natural". Crazy, right?

4. "Natural lasts longer on the skin": false!

Naturals elevate the soul of a perfume. The natural raw materials used in perfumery are often of very high quality and give a perfume a beautiful evolution.

However, a 100% natural perfume won't last long on the skin. Why?

• Most natural notes are very volatile (citrus, for example) and evaporate very quickly on the skin.
• Nature is alive, it evolves and changes: and so do natural materials.
• Some synthetic notes, like musks, are excellent fixatives and diffusers. Adding them to formulas boosts a perfume's sillage and longevity.

5. "Synthetics are cheap": false!

Another cliché, and a lack of transparency toward consumers.

Yes, naturals can be very expensive (several thousand euros per kilo for oud wood, iris, rose…) when the yield is low: iris takes about 6 years to go from the ground to the lab. It's one of the rarest and most expensive raw materials in perfumery.

On the other hand, as soon as the yield is high enough, prices drop: orange or lavender cost around €10/kg, nothing to break the bank!

Synthetics are indeed cheaper than naturals, which is one of the main reasons brands use them. But not all synthetic notes are cheap: Ambroxan, for example, costs around €600/kg.

Our perfumes combine naturals and synthetics, without overdoing either one, and our formulas cost between €300 and €600/kg excl. VAT (vs. €80/kg on average).

6. Building your whole concept on vegan and cruelty-free: a classic con

Vegan: contains no ingredients of animal origin. In reality, almost all ingredients of animal origin have disappeared. Natural musks and animal notes have been banned for years. Some brands use honey, but producing it doesn't amount to animal cruelty. So almost all cosmetic brands are vegan.

Cruelty-free: not tested on animals (well, of course, poor things!). But in the European Union, animal testing has been banned for finished cosmetics since 2004 and for their ingredients since 2009, and since 2013, no cosmetic tested on animals can be sold there.

So yes, it's good to be a vegan brand that doesn't test on animals. But building your whole concept and value proposition on that? No, they're taking you for a ride.

The final word: neither glorification nor demonization

Naturals and synthetics are both essential to create original, modern perfumes that smell good and last on the skin. We focus on harmony, balance and the right dose.

For us, transparency is a first step toward information for all. That's why every Versatile formula is published on its product page, with a breakdown of natural and synthetic ingredients. Take a look at the ones for Croissant Café or Rital Date, or discover all our Extraits de parfum.

Photo: Versatile Paris