We love the fact that more brands are becoming cruelty-free and vegan, that society has started to care about sustainability more than we ever did before. There is still tons of work to be done to make businesses more ethical. Simultaneously, there are a lot of marketing initiatives that promote our good doings. It is one thing to talk about being a sustainable brand, and quite another to actually be one.

If you live in a big city, use Instagram, or are up to date with current trends in any way, you will have noticed the influx of vegan influencers, campaigners and products. Which is great—it gives us hope that we can stop, or at least slow down, the negative impact we had on Earth.

Vegan and cruelty-free cosmetics and perfumes are becoming more popular, as consumers try to make decisions which are better for the planet. But this has meant some brands are prone to constant green-washing. The current climate situation is too serious to get away with such banal, mischievous strategies. Many brands rely on being vegan as their unique selling point. This does make sense in regards to big conglomerates which consciously decide not to sell their products in China (where testing on animals is often performed). However, your local indie perfume brand from Europe is most likely not testing on animals. It has been illegal in Europe since 2013 and since 1997 in the UK. Not testing on animals does not make you special.

“Being vegan as a perfume brand is very easy to be achieved. It should not be the only unique selling point for a brand. We need to collectively do more to change the Earth’s fate”.

What about animal-derived ingredients in perfumes? Well, there are some, but the use of natural musk is really not as popular as some brands make us think. Most of the time, perfumers use the synthetic musks, especially in mass produced perfumes. Simply, it’s cheaper. The same goes for civet, traditionally harvested from animals but now usually synthetically reproduced. One exception is Ambergris, which could be considered cruelty-free but not vegan; formed in the whale’s digestive tract, and then excreted into the ocean where it becomes oxidised, bleached, seasoned and matured by sun and brine until it eventually washes ashore, it’s hard to find and so extremely expensive. But again, there are so many different ingredients used to recreate its smell. Apart from this, there are a few other animal-derived ingredients in perfumes, such as honey. But not many.

We choose not to emphasise the vegan aspect of our perfumes. We communicate that we are cruelty free in our brand’s description as this information should be easily available for customers. However, at the same time we do believe firmly that being vegan as a perfume brand is very easy to be achieved. It should not be the only unique selling point for a brand. We need to collectively do more to change the Earth’s fate.