biotech ingredients in natural fragrance

21 June 2023

We are proud to be on the cutting edge of innovation in natural fragrance. A big part of that is keeping our finger on the pulse of what is to come. We love and use biotech ingredients in all of our fragrances. These ingredients are produced using living organisms (plant sugars, bacteria, fungi and yeasts) in a laboratory setting, using a fermentation process.

These ingredients differ from synthetic ones in that they are made from living organisms (not petrochemicals) making them both biodegradable and renewable. Synthetic ingredients are created from petroleum and petrochemicals. Petroleum is a nonrenewable resource and the resulting ingredients are often non-biodegradable in our ecosystem and our bodies.

Biotech ingredients also differ from other natural ingredients in that they are “grown” in the laboratory (in a very clean, environmentally friendly way), not on a farm or plantation. Because biotech ingredients are single molecule ingredients, they afford us a precision in the process that can be otherwise difficult when using only essential oils. We have the freedom and flexibility to be directional and modern with the scent profiles as well as giving us more control over sillage and longevity.

Biotech opens up even more opportunities – the palette is broader, the number of ingredients growing all the time, and the process for creating these molecules requires little environmental inputs.

Complementing this palette with innovative Natural Science and Biotech allows us to make modern fragrances that are long lasting and high performance and gives us a precision in our creative process that is core to what we’re doing.

While we use a lot of biotech ingredients in our fragrance collection, the two most important to us are:

i. A biotech plant derived musk (ambrettolide molecule) which is used in all of our perfumes. Synthetic musk is one of the most widely used ingredients in a modern perfume palette because of its sparkling and effervescent impact on the scent profile. However, these fossil fuel derived musks enter our waterways when we shower and from there, build up in the food chain, particularly in aquatic life. Until just a few years ago, there were no viable alternatives to synthetic musks. For us, sourcing a plant-derived, renewable and biodegradable musk made using the latest biotech innovation was a game-changer in being able to create elevated scents, in particular this was important for our global bestseller – the salty, sweet, ocean inspired musk based scent Cyan Nori.

ii. A biotech base (triethyl citrate) that we use as the base for our Parfum Extrait collection. This base allowed us to create an alcohol free version of the scents without the sticky texture and heaviness of an oil base

Hear what our Master Perfumer, Isaac Sinclair, has to say about innovation in the natural perfume space above.