the Best reason to include natural fragrance in your life
Question the ingredients that go into your favourite scent - absorbed by your skin on the daily - and you might be more inclined to swap out at least one to a natural fragrance.
Under the moniker of Váhy, Melburnian besties Kate Macdonald and Anna Weatherlake have consciously created a stunning capsule collection of luxury scents, all the while encouraging the transition to natural, organic fragrance which they view as “better for self, animals and the environment”.
1. Have you always worn natural scents? Both Anna and I wore commercial synthetic fragrances until we discovered what was actually in them. I was looking into the labelling regulations while working as a corporate lawyer and noticed the ‘fragrance’ loophole. This being that brands did not have to disclose exactly what chemicals were in their products when these fell into the ‘fragrance’ category. This set me on a wormhole of research and I found out the 3,000 or so chemicals that are actually compromised in this term ‘fragrance’ and the nasties contained in denatured alcohol which is the base of most commercial fragrances. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has conducted a number of studies on what’s actually in commercial fragrances and found chemicals associated with hormone disruption, allergies, organ toxicity, amongst other terrible conditions.
Anna and I then went to find a natural alternative to synthetic fragrances but we discovered that we couldn’t substitute like-for-like quality and style wise. For years, we sampled every natural fragrance we could get our hands on and could never find any perfumes which had the same sophistication of scent as synthetic perfumes or that lasted long enough. Throughout this journey we also found that an unbelievable number of brands state they are natural but instead use lab made chemicals which are ‘modelled’ from natural notes or only a fraction of the ingredients are indeed natural. Half the time it was difficult even working out what was in the scent as most brands do not disclose what’s in them or use terms like ‘fragrance’ and ‘denatured alcohol’ that do not have a universal definition. We started developing Váhy in 2016 because we simply couldn’t find what we wanted in a natural fragrance.
2. What was the motivation behind this beautiful house of fragrance? Our motivation for starting Váhy was that we couldn’t find what we were after on the market and we found the whole process of working out was actually natural confusing when brands didn’t disclose what was in their products. We wanted to be able to substitute our designer synthetic fragrances with scents that were natural without making a sacrifice on the luxurious feel and quality. At Váhy, we come from a place of radical transparency, we provide our full ingredients lists rather than shielding our intellectual property. We trust our consumers, they know what works for them and what does not. We simply want to give them the opportunity to choose what they wear in an informed way and confidently make truly clean fragrance buying decisions.
Our brand is also motivated by our ethos, ‘balance’. Váhy means ‘balance’ in Czech. While we are both Australian, Kate’s family heritage is Czech. Balance was chosen as our ethos as we are seeking balance in many facets of our lives, whether this be balancing work and life; giving to your family and also working on self-care; or protecting the environment and also making consumption decisions. We think that purchasing products these days is voting with your feet on the kind of world and environment you want to see in the future. We wanted to give our tribe an alternative to commercial synthetic fragrances which are made without harmful chemicals, without animal by-products and with only pure, natural ingredients. In a way, you balance the decision to buy a consumable against the ethos of buying one that is as good as possible for the environment, animals and your body.
3. How do you think regular fragrance disrupts our health? We don’t claim to be chemists or health experts, but we do rely on the experts in these fields and research studies. Different ingredients react with people’s skin differently. One of the most important things from our perspective is allowing people to understand themselves and how what they put on their bodies reacts with them. A crucial part of this is being aware of what is actually in your products. The EWG conducted research on what is actually in commercial perfumes and found that on average 14 ‘secret’ ingredients were used in fragrances. These secret ingredients along with harmful ingredients like denatured alcohol have been associated with allergies, irritation, hormone disruption and, as importantly, have not been tested for safety in personal care products.
Despite this, the main reason we use naturals and steer clear of synthetics is not just the health implications, but instead is because natural essences possess a bioactive power, a vibrational energy, or ‘compressed vitality’, to quote (natural perfume guru) Mandy Aftel, which just cannot be replicated in a chemical lab. Synthetics can replicate some of the dominant notes of a natural essence but they cannot capture the complexity, subtlety and nuances of natural notes. Natural fragrance notes evolve over time and evolve differently with each different wearer and there is such beauty in this lifecycle.
4. What do you always remind a customer before their very first purchase into this natural world of perfume? Like most things in life, it is better if you give it time and let it breathe. Synthetics have been lab modified to hit you in the face with the full scent right at the top note. Naturals evolve over time and often their heart and base notes are the stars with the top notes simply complementing them. What this means is that natural scents usually smell best after the first few minutes.
5. Which scent has been the most popular and has that surprised you? Desert Nōmad has been our stand out star, being nominated for a finalised in the Non-Toxic Beauty Awards and amassing raving fans. This did surprise Anna and I as we both prefer more peppery heavy scents like Midnight Ruze and Luna. That said, it’s gorgeous, tropical and uplifting which in times like 2020 is a welcomed olfactory relief.
Editor’s favourite: I love Isle of Blanc, $240 (top notes: lime, pink grapefruit, middle notes: lavender geranium, base notes: cedarwood, patchouli). a heady and lingering, ocean-inspired beauty.
NOTE: I’m not paid to endorse any of these products. I only recommend what I know really works.
