All Natural Colognes - Page 2

Dane beat me to it with the Sandalwood-cost reference. If they were to use natural sandalwood it would be VERY expensive. I believe that certain varieties of rose are in the same cost ballpark as well.

Maybe Le Labo?

Nope. At least, not entirely. Its going to severely restrict your choices. I have yet to find an all-natural scent that I like. Fact is, you're better off going with an essential oil on your skin then trying to find a worthwhile blend. Given the extremely high cost of natural ingredients, I'm not sure why some manufacturers even bother.

out of interest, can you elaborate more on your desire for something natural? Pretty much anything available that's modern, ie post 1900 or so will have chemicals and synthetics in it. if you really want to go old school and the natural way, then what I suggest is to avoid modern perfumery and instead go back to the basics. ie traditional eau de colognes (citrus, florals, herbs), of which i assume there must be someone out there doing them completely naturally (maybe one of the Guerlain's or some old house like Fahrina?), or something like wood oils (oud, sandalwood, etc), or incense/smoke (burn incense in a closet with a shirt so imbed the smell)... just some random ideas. my thinking about this is that it's like going to a restaurant and asking for no butter... it's sort of thier job to make the stuff taste good, so the fear is taht they tell you it'll taste good this way, your request it 'grilled' instead of fried, then you don't enjoy it, complain, and are unhappy and blame them... so it's sort of in the interests of modern makers to use whatever's at their disposal to make something last as long as possible, keep the costs down, present interesting smells, etc... instead of a traditional cologne that probably only lasts a few minutes. eg check out Hermes eau d'orange vert. very simple, clean, and I believe it has a LOT (but not completely) of naturals... it only lasts a few minutes though.

Well - not entirely, but the odds that you'll find something that really resonates with you will be reduced. Or you'll make a sort of compromise, wearing something you like but don't love.

Alternately, a lot of the bases and fixatives won't be easily found. Ambergris and good sandalwood are hellishly expensive, as are musk and civet - if you can get them. Same with beeswax absolute, although hay absolute may be a decent substitute, but you've got to get the good stuff. There's always vanilla, though.

Actually - side note: Tania Sanchez noted when reviewing Chergui that hay absolute smells so outrageously good that she wonders why no one ever bottled it and sold it.


I don't think any of the major houses have anything that's even largely natural - at least not without a ton of fanfare.


It's feasible, but the world of perfumery is so different now than it was then. Actually I've heard of a few people who started making their own extracts, so there's a possibility of DIY perfumery, but it would be so time-consuming and wasteful that you'd have to really really really really want to do it.