They make us smell and feel great, take us back to treasured memories in an instant, allow us to express our personality, and can give us that little confidence boost before a date or job interview...but is your perfume vegan?
Many of the scents, musks and extracts in our favourite perfumes are sourced from animals such as beavers, deer and whales, to name a few. Other raw materials and processing aids used in perfume production are often undeclared and could also be derived from animal sources. Add to this the different certification labels and the beauty industry-specific meanings of terms like ‘vegan’ and ‘cruelty-free’, and it can be tricky navigating which perfumes are suitable for you as a vegan – or to gift to a vegan loved one. The Vegan Trademark is a trusted and easily identifiable certification to give you confidence when shopping that the product you are buying does not include animal ingredients and was not tested on animals (at the initiative of the company or on its behalf, or by parties over whom the company has effective control).
It's now easier than ever to shop vegan but if you’re on the lookout for a quick and handy perfume guide, here’s our run-down of some animal-free fragrances certified with the Vegan Trademark. We’ve done all the hard work checking ingredients and processes, so all you need to do is figure out which one best fits your mood and personality!
Floral Street
Floral Street’s gorgeous Eau De Parfums are inspired by florals, with beautiful names to match, like Sunflower Pop and Wonderland Peony. They’re made with sustainably sourced ingredients, use 20% fragrance oil, and the packaging is reusable, recyclable and biodegradable.
We recently attended Floral Street’s virtual Scentschool™, learning all about 'scent-scaping' and exploring their eight most popular fragrances. Check out our Instagram Reel where we’ve summed up what we thought of each one!
Unsurprisingly though, our favourite Floral Street scent has to be Sunflower Pop, given the obvious connection to our iconic sunflower label! It's a vibrant, expressive citrus blend bringing to life the beauty and optimism of Van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’, with fresh mandarin, bursts of natural Calabrian bergamot, vegan honey accord, and a pop of bellini accord.
Eden Perfumes
Missing your beloved perfume by a non-vegan fragrance brand since going vegan? Enter Eden Perfumes, who make affordable versions of your favourite non-vegan fragrances with natural and vegan ingredients! They have over 200 Vegan Trademark certified perfumes, including No. 007 Number Seven (similar notes to N°5 by Chanel), No. 411 Flora (similar notes to Flora by Gucci), No. 111 Joooop Home (similar notes to Homme by JOOP!), No. 109 (similar notes to Ultraviolet Man by Paco Rabanne) and more.
The Body Shop
The Body Shop has just launched its new Choice fragrance collection in the UK. Designed as a range of bold and characterful fragrances that let you express your personality, the five Eau De Toilettes include Glowing Cherry Blossom, Wild Jasmine, Blissful Strawberry, Vibrant Bergamot and Rebel Rosebud. They’re made with at least 87% ingredients of natural origin and the bottles are made with 42% recycled glass and topped with an aluminium lid. Recycle both to show the planet some love where local facilities allow. (Remember to remove the pump first.)
In case you missed the memo on our social media last year, The Body Shop’s White Musk perfume and toppers are also Vegan Trademark certified! The iconic White Musk has been free of animal testing since its launch in 1981 and pioneered the use of synthetic musk in fragrance. The Body Shop have now re-formulated the fragrance, so it's free of all animal ingredients, too! Everything you love remains the same, but now there’s a fresh look, sustainable packaging and three complementary White Musk Elements toppers (Free, Lover, and Radical) to layer for a bespoke scent.
Ila Spa
If smelling like a spa is totally your vibe, then Ila Spa’s Aroma Rollers are for you! These gentle aromatherapy alternatives to perfume soothe your soul whilst also nourishing your skin. Available in three blends; Inner Peace, Vital Energy and Glowing Radiance, they’re small and compact, making them great for travel, as mini mood elevators while you’re on the go, and for quick scent top-ups.
GHOST Fragrances
If you're a long-time lover of GHOST Fragrances’ iconic scents, you’ll be pleased to know they have several vegan-verified perfumes! A firm favourite on the British high street, they have offered a portfolio of accessible premium scents for day and night at competitive prices, for over two decades since the launch of their debut perfume, GHOST the Fragrance. The timeless scent of this first release remains the most-popular fragrance in the range even now. One of their most recent scents is Purity, a sister scent to GHOST The Fragrance and the modern update to the English classic.
The vegan verified scents include GHOST The Fragrance, Purity, Midnight Dream, Summer Dream, Deep Night, Eclipse, Enchanted Bloom, Moonlight, Daydream, Orb of Night, Sweetheart, Sweetheart Forever and White Light. Shop them at Boots, Superdrug, The Perfume Shop and The Fragrance Shop.
Flaya
Flaya is a small family run business with a passion for organic and vegan perfumes, made with ethically sourced ingredients and all handmade, hand bottled and hand packed in small batches in Scotland. They use organic ingredients where possible and their entire range of fragrances contain between 80% and 92% certified organic ingredients. Flaya’s perfumes are classified as eau de parfum and contain 20% fragrance. Through careful blending and selection, they have created a range of stunning fragrances which combine precious oils and natural aromatic compounds.
Flaya’s range of seven core perfumes are Forever, If..., Imagine, Island, Love, No. 48 and Rose. They also have a trio of ‘Male Fragrances’ including Origin, Instinct and Freedom – though they’re suitable for anyone the scents resonate with!
LUSH
LUSH has a huge catalogue of unique vegan fragrances to choose from, both as liquid sprays and solid perfumes. Reach for:
- Shade spray or solid if you’re after a warm, woody, gender-neutral scent
- Two More Hearts for a soft and playful vibe
- Grass for a fresh, earthy, forest-like fragrance for Spring
- Sun spray or solid for a bright and uplifting vibe for Summer
- Lust spray or solid for a floral, sexy and intoxicating date-night scent
If these aren’t quite to your taste, there are plenty more to explore! You can browse more of LUSH’s Perfumes and Solid Perfumes on their website – make sure to look for the Vegan Trademark in the website description, or on packaging when shopping in-store, to identify their vegan-certified fragrances.
Dolma Perfumes
Dolma boasts a wide range of vegan perfumes and aftershaves for people of all ages, backgrounds, and scent preferences – from deep winter to light and airy summer feels. Their vegan-verified perfumes include Vegamusk (a best-seller), Amethyst Mist, Anahita, Andromeda, Calista, Compassion, Cushi B, Sarabande, Keltina, Prelude, Raga and Sonata, with more being verified by us! For vegan aftershaves, choose from Freedom, Imagine, Kwame and Sirius.
Dolma recently gave their classic green bottles a fresh new upgrade! We’ve linked to the new bottles (where available) but you can shop their classic-look Perfumes and Aftershaves on their website, too.
Jennifer Lopez Fragrances
JLO’s vegan verified perfumes Jennifer Lopez One and Jennifer Lopez Promise, have been created by the iconic star herself, combining floral scents with woody notes for scents that capture her essence. Shop them at The Perfume Shop, Superdrug, Boots, and The Fragrance Shop.
Primark
If you’re looking for something a little more affordable, check out Primark’s range of fragrances for all genders, including their Lunar range in Sapphire, Amethyst, and Amber, as well as their Elements Day, Wild and Night fragrances. They also have a range of fragrance sticks in Coconut, Watermelon, Peach, Tropicool and Sun, Sea & Coconuts – perfect for your travel bag this summer! Remember to look for the Vegan Trademark on packaging to identify vegan products or use our Trademarked Products Search.
We hope you enjoyed this exploration of vegan perfumes with us. Make sure you’re following Vegan Trademark on Instagram and Twitter for all the latest fragrance and product updates!
By Vegan Society Brand Marketing Officer, Nishat Rahman.
The views expressed by our bloggers are not necessarily the views of The Vegan Society.
