What is Natural Perfume?
What is Natural Perfume?
Natural perfume is fragrance made entirely from plant-based ingredients. Officially (per ISO 9235:2021), natural perfume uses “100% all-natural aromatic raw materials” , that is, essences drawn exclusively from botanical sources. In practice this means only things like essential oils, tinctures, absolutes, infusions, CO₂ extracts, resins and other plant extracts go into a blend, with no synthetic aroma chemicals. As the Natural Perfume Academy (NPA) explains, “on the face of it, natural perfume is perfume made with natural materials, essential oils, tinctures, infusions, extracts, and absolutes.”. In short, natural perfumery is pure, botanical scent, but it is also much more (see below).
Natural perfume isn’t just a technical definition; it’s an art and an experience. Natural fragrances carry the essence of place and history. As NPA co-founder Justine Crane poetically writes, a natural scent “is a journey through history and opulence, transporting you to the temples of Egypt, the palaces of ancient Kings and Queens, and the caravans traversing mountains and deserts.”. It evokes “art, nostalgia, and dreams”, memories linked to nature, love and desire. Every drop of natural perfume celebrates botanical diversity and traditional perfumery techniques. “Natural perfume is a bel canto, rich and resonant, raising the hair on the backs of our necks and arms,” Crane says, capturing how profoundly it moves us. In essence, natural perfume is “a celebration of the world’s botanical diversity and a tribute to the ancient traditions of perfume making. It is an olfactory journey that connects us to the earth”.
Natural Ingredients & Extraction Methods
Natural perfumes are built from a palette of botanical materials. Key categories include:
- Essential Oils – Highly concentrated volatile compounds distilled from plants (flowers, leaves, bark, etc.). For example, rose essential oil, lavender oil or eucalyptus oil. These are obtained by steam or hydrodistillation, where plant material is heated and its fragrant steam condensed into an oil. (Citrus essential oils, like orange or lemon, are usually cold-pressed from the peel.)
- Absolutes – Rich aromatic extracts produced via solvent extraction. Delicate flowers like jasmine or tuberose (which cannot be steam-distilled) are soaked in a solvent (often hexane), yielding a waxy “concrete”. This is further processed to remove wax, leaving the highly fragrant absolute. Absolutes are thicker and heavier than essential oils, with a very full, true-to-flower scent.
- CO₂ Extracts – Produced using supercritical carbon dioxide as the solvent. Under high pressure, CO₂ becomes “supercritical” (neither liquid nor gas) and draws out the plant’s essence. CO₂ extracts (e.g. vetiver CO₂, vanilla CO₂) often smell remarkably close to the living plant, capturing nuances that distillation might miss.
- Resinoids / Concretes – Solvent extracts of plant resins, gums or flowers. For instance, frankincense and myrrh resinoids are made by dissolving the tree resin in solvent and then concentrating it. The result (resinoid) is deep, warm and aromatic.
- Enfleurage Pomades – A traditional (though rare) method: flowers are pressed into a layer of fat (often tallow or coconut fat) to absorb their scent over time. The scented fat (pomade) is then washed with alcohol to yield a pure floral extract. Classic enfleurage was used for jasmine and tuberose. Today it’s mostly of historical interest, but some artisans revive it for its unique results.
- Tinctures & Infusions – Macerations of plant material in alcohol or oil. For example, vanilla tincture (vanilla beans soaked in ethanol) or moss tincture (tree moss infused in alcohol) pull out color and scent to use in formulations. An infusion is similar but may use carrier oils (like a bay leaf olive oil infusion) and no alcohol.
- Natural Isolates – Pure compounds isolated from essential oils, such as geraniol (from rose oil) or vanillin (from vanilla). Although 100% natural in origin, they are singled out to use at higher purity; some natural perfumers avoid them to maintain complexity.
- Other Botanicals – Unrefined plant materials can be used directly (dried petals, herbs, spices, bark, etc.) or processed (e.g. waxes from flowers, essential oil concretes). For example, hydrosols (flower waters) can add a light aroma or be used in niche waters.
Table: Extraction Methods vs. Typical Products
Extraction Method | Typical Uses | Resulting Ingredient |
|---|---|---|
Steam Distillation | Leaves, flowers, woods | Essential oils (e.g. lavender, eucalyptus oil) |
Solvent Extraction | Delicate flowers, spices | Concrete → Absolute (e.g. jasmine absolute) |
CO₂ Extraction | Flowers, resins, roots | CO₂ extract (e.g. vanilla CO₂, vetiver CO₂) |
Cold-Press | Citrus peels (lemons, oranges) | Cold-pressed citrus oils |
Enfleurage | Rare flowers (rose, tuberose) | Enfleurage pomade (flower-fat) then alcohol-washed extract |
Alcohol/Oil Maceration (Tincture/Infusion) | Resins, woods, seeds (e.g. benzoin, oakmoss) | Tincture/Infusion (alcoholic or oil extract) |
NPA’s curriculum emphasizes knowing each material well. In NPA’s words, “the soul of natural perfumery lives in these authentic scents”. By studying these extraction methods, perfumers learn how each technique influences the fragrance: steam-distilled oils often have brighter, cleaner notes, while absolutes and tinctures carry deeper, richer tones. For example, jasmine absolute and rose otto (steam-distilled rose) bring very different textures to a blend, even though both come from flowers.
Natural vs. Synthetic Perfume
Unlike natural perfume’s plant-based origins, synthetic perfumes are built from lab-created aroma molecules. A synthetic fragrance formula may include one or more artificial compounds (often petroleum-derived or lab-fermented) that mimic natural smells or create entirely new scents. For example, iso E super (a cedar-like molecule) or calone (a marine/ozone note) are purely synthetic. By contrast, a natural perfume uses no such molecules, only botanical extracts.
- Source of Ingredients: Natural perfume ingredients are botanical (oils, resins, tinctures from plants). Synthetic perfumes rely on man-made aroma chemicals (some of which happen to match molecules found in nature, like synthetic vanillin).
- Complexity: Natural extracts are chemically complex (each essential oil may contain hundreds of components). This means natural scents often evolve on the skin and have rich, layered profiles. Synthetic compounds are typically single molecules (or blends of a few), so synthetic perfumes can smell “simpler” or more linear.
- Sustainability: Natural ingredients, when ethically sourced, can be renewable (fragrant woods, flowers, fruits, herbs). Synthetic molecules are usually derived from petrochemicals or biotechnology, which have different environmental footprints. (NPA emphasizes ethical sourcing, sustainable harvesting and fair trade, so that perfume “never comes at the expense of ecosystems or communities”.)
- Scent Quality: Natural perfumes often have a “living” complexity (wet earth, green notes, dry woodiness) that evokes nature. Synthetics can produce consistent, potent effects, but sometimes lack the subtlety of botanicals. This is why natural scents are often described as earthy, floral, resinous or herbal in character, whereas synthetic scents can seem more transparent or artificially clean.
- Regulation & Safety: Both natural and synthetic materials must meet safety standards (e.g. IFRA guidelines), but natural oils come with inherent allergens and variability. Importantly, NPA and similar standards require full disclosure: natural perfumers must disclose all ingredients to qualify. By contrast, a synthetic perfume house may consider its formula proprietary.
Aspect | Natural Perfume | Synthetic Perfume |
|---|---|---|
Ingredients | Pure botanical extracts (oils, absolutes, tinctures) | Lab-made aroma chemicals (some mimic nature) |
Composition | Complex blends (100+ natural molecules per oil) | Typically simpler (single molecules or blends) |
Scent Profile | Often warm, earthy, herbal, floral; evolves on skin | Often clear, bright, or bold; may lack earthiness |
Sustainability | Renewable (if harvested responsibly; NPA stresses ethical sourcing) | Dependent on petrochemicals/fermentation |
Transparency | Full ingredient disclosure (100% botanical) | May include undisclosed trade-secret compounds |
In natural perfumery, “each bottle… is a testament to the harmonious relationship between humans and nature”. NPA teaches that choosing naturals means also choosing responsibility: using sustainable botanicals and supporting the communities who grow them. This ethical dimension is central to what “natural perfume” really means beyond the scent itself.
Certifications & Standards
Because “natural” can be loosely used, credible certifications help ensure authenticity. The NPA itself is CPD-certified (Continuing Professional Development) and has its own certification program: an NPA Certified seal means a perfumer or product has met rigorous natural standards. Under this program, every drop in an NPA-Certified perfume is verified as natural plant-derived and ethically sourced.
Other standards include:
- COSMOS (Ecocert/Cosmebio/ICEA) – A European organic/natural standard. “COSMOS Natural” certified products must use only natural ingredients (no synthetics, GMOs or petrochemicals). COSMOS “Organic” requires a high percentage of certified organic botanicals and prohibits petrochemical solvents. For example, lavender oil labeled COSMOS must be steam-distilled (no hexane) and from organically grown flowers.
- Organic Labels (e.g. USDA Organic, ECOCERT) – These require certified organic farming of the raw materials. An “organic perfume” means key botanicals (and often the alcohol) meet organic farming rules.
- Other “Natural” Seals – Some brands reference ISO definitions (ISO 9235) or third-party groups. NPA’s own certification set the standard: “100% natural perfume can and should be made to the highest quality, and clearly distinguished from synthetic or mass-produced fragrances.”.
Certifications may vary (one brand’s “all-natural” might allow certain isolates, another’s might ban them). The safest bet for consumers is to look for verified standards. The NPA emphasises transparency and education so perfumers and customers know exactly what’s in the bottle.
Natural Perfume Academy, A Global Leader in Education
As the originators of this article, we at the Natural Perfume Academy (NPA) pride ourselves on deep expertise. Founded in Ireland in 2008, NPA is a CPD-certified online academy dedicated solely to teaching 100% botanical perfumery. From our first class, we’ve grown into “a pioneering educational institution recognised worldwide”. Our CPD-certified programs (guided by expert instructors) are trusted by students in 30+ countries. NPA’s curriculum blends classical perfumery with sustainability: we teach students to master the art and science of scent while honoring ethical sourcing and biodiversity.
The Academy’s online courses walk learners through every facet of natural perfumery, from ingredient chemistry to fragrance composition. Students work with real botanical extracts, supported by tools like dilution calculators and allergen charts. We foster a global “student-centered, collaborative” community where Irish tradition meets worldwide innovation. In fact, graduates become mentors themselves (for example, one of our earliest students from Brazil now teaches perfumery, embodying NPA’s “for perfumers, by perfumers” ethos).
Because NPA is based in Ireland, our work carries a touch of Irish lore and landscape. We encourage perfumers to draw on local botanicals (heather, moss, bog myrtle) and to embrace the Celtic love of nature and craft. In Galway and beyond, Ireland’s educational scene is admired for blending tradition and creativity, a spirit we bring into every lesson.
Summary: Natural perfume is pure botanical fragrance, the essence of plants captured in scent. It stands at the intersection of art, science and ethics. Unlike synthetic fragrances, natural perfumes tell the story of the earth: each ingredient has history, character and complexity. By learning from credible standards and passionate educators (like at NPA), perfumers and customers alike gain trust and deeper appreciation for what “100% natural” truly means. Whether you’re drawn by the rich poetry of scent or the rigor of formulation, natural perfumery offers a uniquely human and magical connection to nature’s bounty.
Sources: Authoritative perfumery references and NPA’s own publications were used, including ISO standards, key texts by Tisserand and Arctander, and NPA curriculum materials.