3 minutes to understand everything about natural perfumes

It's not lost on you: natural beauty products are in fashion - and that's good! But in the jungle of cosmetics that claim to be "natural", "clean" and "green", there is sometimes a lot of vagueness about these claims... if not outright false advertising. The result is a level of disappointment equivalent to that of your last Tinder date, when you faked an urgent call in the middle of the conversation...

At Bastille, we've done our homework on the subject, and to be honest, we get a bit annoyed when some people play on the (quite legitimate) concerns of us consumers. So we've decided to share our knowledge with you, so that you'll be able to spot the real from the fake like the pros!

Originally: the natural perfume, then the synthetic revolution 

Historically, perfumes were completely natural: first burned in the form of incense, then integrated into an oily, aqueous and finally alcoholic base, these fragrances were created from vegetable or animal raw materials. It was not until the 19th century that synthetic perfumery made its appearance and mixed with the natural in the composition of perfumes. This revolution made it possible to produce perfumes at a lower cost, and above all to have a much wider range of scents available all year round - without worrying about seasonal or harvest variations. How convenient!

The true definition of natural in perfumery

For some years now, natural has been making a strong comeback, sometimes with very vague definitions. And yet standards have been created to define exactly what a natural cosmetic product is: this is the case of the ISO 9235 standard. Granted, the name doesn't sound sexy or natural - but rest assured, the content is. This standard simply states that :

• A beauty product can only be said to be natural if at least 95% of its ingredients are natural.
• A natural ingredient is, to simplify, a material extracted directly from the plant through various processes that do not alter its composition.

Bastille fragrances comply with this standard: they are therefore 95% natural ingredients (not 100%, as we wanted to offer you fragrances that are sophisticated, original and long-lasting - which is very difficult without using a little synthesis). So, a few carefully selected synthetic ingredients - some of which are actually synthesized from plants! - have been incorporated into our fragrances, to guarantee an exceptional olfactory experience while taking care of your skin. You can discover them right here: 

At the same time, many organic labels have been created and impose a certain percentage of ingredients from organic farming. This famous percentage varies: we'll explain it all to you very soon in an article on the subject of organic perfumes. To sum up, an organic perfume is necessarily natural, but the opposite is not true: a perfume can be 95% natural without including a single organic ingredient.

"Natural" and "of natural origin": white bonnet and... ah no, sorry.

Granted, it's subtle, but important. An ingredient is said to be natural when it comes from nature and has never been chemically modified. On the other hand, an ingredient of natural origin may have undergone chemical transformation. This is the case with ambroxan, a beautiful musk used in perfumery: it is synthesized from sclareol, a natural element found in sage. As it has undergone a transformation, it cannot be called "natural", even though it originally comes from a plant! If you'd like to know more on the subject, we suggest you read our article on the difference between natural and synthetic ingredients. Don't worry, Bastille is pretty strict on the subject: for us, any processed ingredient is considered synthetic. We only call 100% natural!

The TOP 3 "greenwashing" mentions that should scare you away

1. 'Contains natural ingredients'.

Tinder equivalent: someone who says their cleavage "contains natural" would alert you to the rest of the contents... right?
Clearly,it's a statement that serves no purpose other than to make you think you're using a natural product when in fact it may only contain 0.001% natural ingredients. Do you see what we're getting at? Most cosmetic products have some natural ingredients in their composition: shea butter, vegetable oils, antioxidant fruits, etc. This is all well and good, but it does not guarantee the overall naturalness of the product. We advise you not to rely on this mention.

2) "85% natural fragrance"

Tinder equivalent: the guy who says he loves to cook, but doesn't mention that he orders Deliveroo 6 days a week.
Take your day cream or perfume and look at the list of ingredients on the back of that product. What do you see? On your cream, probably AQUA/WATER and on your perfume ALCOHOL. That's right: most cosmetics contain water and alcohol (made from wheat, beetroot, or some other plant) first. From there, it's easy to assure customers that the product is 85% natural ingredients... Even if the perfume concentrate is 100% synthetic! In short, a cheap trick that does not stand up to a good reading of the label. The correct figure, we remind you, is 95% minimum - this means that for a perfume concentrated at 15%, you are guaranteed to have at least two thirds of the fragrance notes that are natural (85% alcohol and water + 10% natural notes + 5% synthetic notes). Easy, isn't it?

3. 'Lily of the valley absolute' and other synthetics disguised as natural

Tinder equivalent: the guy who poses with a book by Balzac in profile pic, and approaches you with "slt sava?"
That's another story that's downright lying. 90% of flowers that exist in nature are mute. This means that their scent cannot be extracted, or is not profitable enough to make an essential oil or absolute. This is the case with lily of the valley, violet, lilac, peony, hyacinth... Their scent is recreated through synthesis. If you see a brand promoting the scent of one of these flowers as a natural ingredient (in the form of an essential oil, an absolute, or simply leaving it in doubt), you now know that this is not the case. At Bastille, we've spotted a gem in a worldwide best-selling fragrance, praised for its "lily of the valley absolute accord" - which is only as absolute as the confusion it generates...

The right reflexes to adopt 

Now that you know what to avoid, you're given a few tips to adopt every time you want to buy a new product. Because yes, don't just use the word "natural" in a sentence on the home page.

• Find out what standards and labels the brand follows in creating its products. If the information is not clearly explained, don't hesitate to ask the brand or the salespeople!
• Look for the % of natural and remember: below 95% natural ingredients, the product is not natural.
• Last but not least, learn to read the labels on your products. To learn the basics, check out this article. You'll learn how to tell if your product contains mainly natural ingredients or not, and if it contains any controversial ingredients. With a little practice, you'll become a pro at this!

The true/false of the natural

Now it's up to you to find out if you've got it all figured out. For the occasion, we have prepared a true/false on the natural in cosmetics.

• A natural perfume is necessarily good for my skin and my health FALSE.
  This is not necessarily the case, as some ingredients used in perfumery - sometimes even in natural fragrances - are controversial. To avoid them, we at Bastille the choice to ban endocrine disruptorsThe products are also used as stabilizers, dyes, UV filters, phthalates and parabens.
  
  
  DISCOVER OUR APPROACH
  
  
  
• A natural perfume is necessarily vegan FALSE.
  Nowadays most animal materials are forbidden in perfumery, but some are still used, such as beeswax. It is sometimes found in natural perfumes. Bastille fragrances are veganBut it is up to you to decide whether this is a fundamental criterion for you!
  
  
• A natural cosmetic is not necessarily organic: TRUE. But an organic perfume is necessarily natural.
  
  
• Natural and naturally derived ingredients are the same thing: FALSE.
  We explain everything above!

So, did you get it all right? If not, don't panic: you'll become infallible with a little practice. You already have all the cards in hand to spot the greenwashing marks! And if you have any further questions, don't hesitate to contact us by e-mail or on our Instagram. We will be happy to answer them.