Mainstream perfumes were one of the hardest things for me to let go of when I began my non toxic journey but ironically  now the smell gives me a hardcore headache. I literally can’t stand it anymore. Amazing how our bodies will naturally reject toxic things after a while right?

There are a few good reasons why I decided to ditch perfumes but I’ll try to simplify it as much as I can. To keep it short, there’s something called the Fair Packaging and Label Act that protects the need for major perfume companies to list all their ingredients as a sort of loop-hole to protect their “secret” recipe. The issue with this is pretty obvious – they can put whatever they want in there and are legally able to. Not sure about you but I want to know what I’m putting on my body.

On top of this, there’s issues with some of the ingredients that ARE LISTED. Things like acetone, benzyl acetate, camphor, ethanol, ethyl acetate, limonene, benzaldehyde, benzyl alcohol and linalool – can usually be found on your favorite perfume bottle. The problem? These things are endocrine disrupters, causing damage to your nervous system and cognitive abilities.

Though I haven’t worn any strong, synthetic fragrances in 5+ years I would be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy a sweet natural aroma from time to time. Lucky for us there are presently some amazing brands that have created wonderful non toxic options for us. Here are my top picks free from toxic chemicals:

1. Kuumba Made Fragrance oils

This was the first clean fragrance/oil I used after giving up perfume. I was browsing around Whole Foods one day and came across these in the cosmetics section. The consistency is a smooth oil that applies with a roll on ball. They have a TON of different scents to choose from (you can sample them in store) and are perfect to throw right into your purse. My favorite is the Water Goddess (a soft beautiful floral)  scent pictured here and my hubs loves the Frankincense & Myrrh.

2. Lurk Beauty – RSW005

This was the second natural perfume I tried and is closer to the “dab” on conventional perfumes we’re all used to. The smell is gorgeous and you can probably start to see I like soft floral smells haha. This one is by a brand called Lurk Beauty that I was introduced to on Instagram and they have a wide range of other scents to choose from. The bottle pictured here is their travel/sample size if I’m not mistaken but it’s lasted me forever! This is typically the bad boy I put on for fancy outings.

3. Pour Le Monde Parfum

Pour le Monde is another brand I found via social media and love how clean and natural they are! These babies pack a strong punch making even a sample size like this last a while. They currently offer 3 different scents that you can purchase in mini tubes before committing to a full bottle. “Envision” is my personal favorite of the three – no surprise it’s the most floral but the others are more earthy and musky if that’s your sort of thing.

4. Curandera Remedies 

This brand was introduced to me from my Good Being subscription box (which you should totally sign up for, for reasons like this!) and I loved it! It’s much different than the scents I typically gravitate towards with a much more musky, herbal scent to it. I believe this is the only scent they offer but it’s really nice if you’re into Earthy things.

5. Veyali

First of all, can we just appreciate the beautiful wooden packaging on these?! These beautiful perfumes were sent to me for review and I am SO GLAD for that! Veyali (much like all the other brands mentioned) is founded on the principle of clean pure ingredients and is botanical based. They currently offer two scents on their site: Cielo and Oliya – and both are truly beautiful. Cielo has notes of sandalwood and magnolia while Oliya is rich in jasmine and citrus. You really can’t go wrong with either.

6. Sigil Scent 

Packaged in beautiful glass bottles, these Sigil Scent sprays are unique in that they double as a body or room spray! Each scent is named after the mood, feeling or concept its intended to evoke such as “focus” , “balance” etc and I just love that! I was given the awesome opportunity to choose two sprays from their 6 scents and I chose “aura” and “bloom”. Aura was described as having notes of Palo Santo (which I love) and Bloom to be the most floral of the bunch.

While both are true to their descriptions, I will say that Bloom is much stronger than I anticipated. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing it’s just not what I’m used to wearing (soft, delicate floral). Aura definitely has a woodsy fresh smell that makes for a lovely room spray. I’m very curious about the rest of their scents and love that you can purchase a sample collection to try them all in mini versions! Their ingredients are also fantastic.

Hope this helps to point you in the right direction for all natural non toxic fragrances! As always shoot me a comment if you have any questions 🙂

Til next time,

~ Chantel