On the hunt for a natural perfume scent? Tracking one down is much easier thanks to these sustainable perfume brands that are concocting conscious scents for the good of all.
Whether you prefer your scents sweet or musky, our perfume recommendations below include (at a minimum): non-toxic ingredients, ethical sourcing (i.e. cruelty-free and vegan friendly), and sustainable packaging.
So let’s spritz on the best smelling fragrances that are free of harmful ingredients and whose ethical scents won’t stink up the planet.
Note: many of our readers asked us for a deeper view of a brands’ sustainability credentials, so we developed a Brand Rating System which now assesses perfume brands (and other brands, who opt in to be rated) on a wide range of criteria including things like product safety, chemical use and climate impact. Look out for these brands on the list below. See all our ratings in our directory.
We independently research all featured brands, and we ask them to confirm their claims. In many cases we personally review recommended products. This post contains affiliate links which means we may earn a commission if you buy something. We explain this further in our Terms of Use.
Sustainable Perfume Ideas
Sana Jardin infuses energetic medicine into its cruelty-free range of plant-powered transformative scents. It’s a luxurious option among natural perfume brands, perfect for women seeking both elegance and impact.
We’re hooked on DefineMe ‘s long-lasting scents and crystal-infused formulas that redefine the future of clean perfume with their completely toxin-free ingredients.
Smell good while doing good with The 7 Virtues. Part of their proceeds support recovering post-war communities, proving that some of the best smelling perfumes also have the biggest heart..
Index: Natural Perfume Recommendations
- Sana Jardin Jump to brand
- The 7 Virtues Jump to brand
- For Strange Women Jump to brand
- By/Rosie Jane Jump to brand
- Define Me Jump to brand
- Sleeping Phoenix Jump to brand
- Clean Beauty Collective Jump to brand
- Rainwater Botanicals Jump to brand
- Natural Wisdom Spa Jump to brand
- MIZU Jump to brand
- Vyrao Jump to brand
Sana Jardin
Sana Jardin’s Perfume
Price Range: $30–$145
Luxury fragrance house Sana Jardin’s globally inspired scents harness the healing properties of plants and flowers “to transport and awaken us to our divine spirit.”
With several earthy and intoxicating scents to discover, like Vanilla Nomad, Sandalwood Temple, and Tiger By Her Side, you may find it difficult to choose just one.
Luckily their Scents of Joy Eau de Parfum Trio lets you sample 3 of their best sellers.
Free from parabens, phthalates, formaldehyde, and synthetic dyes, each formula is vegan and cruelty-free.
About Sana Jardin
Sana Jardin has developed a circular business model, where orange blossom (a byproduct of perfume production) is upcycled into a range of products by female micro-entrepreneurs.
Via the Orange Blossom Project, local women in small farming communities are supported with business skills training and keep 100% of the income they generate.
Sana Jardin’s glass perfume bottle is made from 30% recycled materials and can be recycled via a partnership with TerraCycle.
The 7 Virtues
The 7 Virtues’ Perfume
Price Range: $30–$85
“Make Perfume Not War” is the mantra of Canadian brand The 7 Virtues.
Each of their Peace Perfumes contributes towards the brand’s social mission of helping rebuild communities post-war.
Whether you’re looking for something warm and spicy, fresh and earthy, sweet and fruity, or classically floral, you’ll find 8 enticing scents made using ethically-sourced natural essential oils and an organic sugar cane alcohol base.
One of their offerings, Lotus Pear, is a fruity, floral scent, combining juicy pear and peach with the floral notes of rose, orange flower, jasmine, lotus flower, and gardenia.
Part of the proceeds goes to Days For Girls, an organization working to ensure menstrual care and educational opportunities for all.
All products are free from palm oil, SLS, parabens, phthalates, formaldehyde, synthetic colors, UV inhibitors, and sulfates.
About The 7 Virtues
The Peace Perfumes from this “Clean at Sephora” brand make an impact in more ways than one.
By using targeted ingredient sourcing, they support post-war countries with economic recovery.
The natural oils are ethically sourced from Afghanistan, Egypt, Haiti, India, Madagascar, Rwanda, and Sri Lanka. Where possible, they are Fair Trade certified.
Everything is Leaping Bunny and PETA-certified cruelty-free and vegan.
For Strange Women
For Strange Women’s Perfume
Price Range: $16–$75
For Strange Women are creators of the artisanal avant-garde.
They’re for those who want to get away from traditional feminine scents in favor of something a little more understated and unique.
While you’ll still find some classic fresh floral options, you’ll also get plenty of unique, earthy scent experiences, like the smokey Fireside Story™.
Made “for burlesque beauties and Victorian darlings alike,” this is a blend of immortelle, amber, violet, sweet tobacco, and vanilla that reviews call “deep, luscious, and naughty”.
Both the glass-vialed perfume oils and non-vegan solid perfume tins are free from synthetic fragrances, phthalates, parabens, and alcohol.
Scents are instead derived from essential oils and plant extracts, blended into a coconut and jojoba oil base.
About For Strange Women
Based in Kansas City, MO this all-female-run “strange apothecary” uses exclusively small-batch cruelty-free formulas.
Despite the name, they make unisex perfumes because they believe “natural perfume is genderless”.
Ingredients are sourced from trusted harvesters, distillers, and distributors, and 100% recycled outer packaging is used.
For Strange Women contributes to Ocean Conservancy, Redwood Forest Foundation Inc, Nature Conservancy, and more.
By/Rosie Jane
by/rosie jane’s Perfume
Price Range: $28–$70
by/rosie jane offers some of the best cheap perfume in eight scents available in Eau de Parfum (fragrance mixed with organic cane sugar alcohol), a fragrance oil (fragrance mixed with organic coconut oil), or a travel spray.
From the pear, fresh-cut grass, and jasmine notes of Leila Lou to the vanilla, sandalwood, and neroli tones of Lake, there’s an eco-conscious scent for everyone.
by/rosie jane does use some safe synthetic ingredients but aims to use as many natural raw materials as possible.
All products are formulated without any of the more than 2,700 ingredients on Credo’s The Dirty List™️.
About by/ rosie jane
This Los Angeles-based brand makes “clean beauty for cool humans”.
Beyond hand-making their products with clean, safe ingredients, they are also Carbon Neutral-certified and committed to eco-friendly packaging.
After recycling your glass bottles, you can send the plastic pumps, caps, and roller balls back to by/rosie jane for recycling—and 20% off your next order.
Define Me
DefineMe’s Perfume
Price Range: $28–$88
California-based DefineMe offers several sumptuous and supportive scents—from floral and fresh notes to the sweet and spicy blend of the Floret, our personal favorite.
If you’re finding it hard to choose, their Rollerball Natural Perfume Oil Kit contains seven top-quality scents that can be mixed and matched to discover your own signature blend.
All scents can be bought in either a fragrance mist, travel mist, or roll-on fragrance oil.
While they use mainly natural ingredients, they do use some safe synthetic ingredients when these are more skin-safe or sustainable. They’re also free from phthalates, parabens, and GMOs.
About DefineMe
Woman-founded DefineMe aims to empower women from all walks of life.
The DefineMe Dollar Program gives $1 for every bottle of perfume purchased to She’s the First, an organization fighting gender inequality through education.
All DefineMe’s products are made in the USA and exclude palm oil and palm oil-derived ingredients.
Apart from the recyclable 1.7 oz bottle, all of the perfume bottles are reusable. They use FSC-certified paper with vegetable-based inks and buy their packaging locally.
My Personal Review of DefineMe’s Floret Perfume Mist:
The sweet and spicy blend of the Floret is my personal favorite of the five different scents I tried, which features an enchanting blend of spicy cedar wood and rhubarb with rose and strawberry nectar. Plus, I adore the adorable rose quartz pieces in the bottle, which, as the heart stone, is said to infuse a sense of security and love into this all-day wearable fragrance. And last all day it does! In fact, if I don’t shower at the end of the day, I can still catch a subtle whiff of these scents on my wrists the following day.
“I also tested the travel-size version of Lalawoo and now keep it in my personal bag at all times because you just never know when you need a little scent pick-me-up. A stadium concert with 20,000 people after waiting in line in 100F weather? Getting distracted in the garden and having to run to a meeting before having the chance to shower? These are just a couple of times this grounding and earthy combination of sandalwood, soft vanilla, and violet saved me this summer.”
Review by Amber McDaniel, SJ’s Head of Content
Sleeping Phoenix
Sleeping Phoenix’s Perfumes
Price Range: $8–$65
Looking for small batch scents? Don’t sleep on Etsy star-seller Sleeping Phoenix.
You’ll find three invigorating scents in 2ml samples, or 8 ml or 15 ml bottles: Vetiver and Orange, Vanilla and Black Currant, and Lavender and Neroli.
Our SJ pick (and Etsy’s-pick) is their debut Vetiver and Orange, for something light, floral, and creamy all at the same time!
Each option only features pure essential oils, CO2 extracts, and natural isolates (the majority which are wild harvested or organic).
About Sleeping Phoenix
Sleeping Phoenix was founded by longtime scent connoisseur, Lewis Hurell.
The traveling chef and film composer draws inspirations from his travels, from Australian Eucalyptus and English Black Currant.
Though inspired by worldwide travels, the products are crafted entirely in their Burlington apartment.
Clean Beauty Collective
Clean Beauty Collective’s Perfumes
Price Range: $20–$98
Clean Beauty Collective is a “Clean at Sephora” brand with something for every budget, from affordable roller balls to 100ml luxury perfume bottles.
You’ll find three collections of layerable scents blend of natural plant essences and phthalate-free synthetics:
- Clean Classic: linear and simple fragrances
- Clean Reserve: “farm to fragrance” made from sustainably harvested flowers and herbs.
- Clean Reserve Avant Garden: “garden-to-fragrance” with an exotic twist
Looking for a minimalist gift? Sel Santal is a unisex scent, combining top notes of mandarin leaves, bergamot, and nutmeg with a base of sandalwood, amber, and styrax, which is ethically-sourced from Honduras.
About Clean Beauty Collective
Clean Beauty Collective sources ingredients responsibly, work with partners who also employ ethical business practices, and use minimum-impact packaging where possible.
See their “No-to-list” for ingredients they avoid.
They do use glycerin, which is a palm oil derivative, but theirs is RSPO-certified.
Rainwater Botanicals
Rainwater Botanicals’ Perfume
Price Range: $14–$24
Rainwater Botanicals’ sells some of the best cheap perfumes at pocket-friendly prices.
With no less than 25 delectable options—including Orange Blossom, Vanilla & Oakmoss, and Wild Rose & Bergamot—there’s plenty of new signature scent potential.
If you’re a fan of seasonal scents, Autumn might just become your year-round favorite thanks to its hints of spice and wood.
All of their affordable and sustainable fragrance oils are made with organic jojoba oil and scented using natural plant oils, all-natural absolutes, and CO2 extracts.
Several scents are also available as an eco-friendly body spray.
About Rainwater Botanicals
Rainwater Botanicals has been making cruelty-free perfume, soaps, salves, plastic free deodorant, and more for over two decades.
Products are handmade in small batches and they prioritize organic and locally-sourced natural ingredients.
Many items come in zero waste packaging and everything is palm oil free.
Natural Wisdom Spa
Natural Wisdom Spa’s Perfume
Price Range: $32–$46
If you’re looking for alternatives to perfume sprays, Natural Wisdom Spa offers a beautiful range of solid perfumes and cologne using aromatherapeutic oils and absolutes folded into organic shea butter & carnauba wax.
With several sensuous and unisex aromas to choose from, like Patchouli for those in the mood for an earthy, bold balm.
Their innovative sustainable perfume containers are made from cedar root wood by a female-run wood co-op in Morocco. They are both reusable and biodegradable.
Smaller sizes come in a reusable and recyclable glass jar.
About Natural Wisdom Spa
Natural Wisdom Spa was founded by Maeve Brazi, a professional artisan perfumer who trained in Grasse, France.
In addition to enticing eco scents, you’ll find other zero waste skin care and body care products.
Everything is freshly hand-made in small batches using natural, nourishing, and sustainably-sourced ingredients.
MIZU
MIZU’s Perfumes
Price Range: $15–$138
Kiss that perfume pain and MIZU-ry behind with MIZU.
Also known as “Natural Perfume that’s revolutionizing the genre”, according to Vogue.
Gender-neutral perfume sprays and oils in scents like Palo Santo and Moon Flower are crafted from organic, wildcrafted, and sustainably harvested botanicals.
Their award-winning Floral Delusion Eau-De-Parfum is best described as that earth after rain smell.
With hints of shiso leaf, cassie flower, and sandalwood, one whiff of the irreplicable Japanese-inspired scent will make anyone MIZU (miss you).
About MIZU
Valuing repurposing over recycling, MIZU’s affordable perfume bottles are courtesy of heritage glass and reclaimed objects.
The sustainable perfume brand is now experimenting with refillable scents, and the FSC-certified paper packaging is free from plastic laminations and gloss.
All formulas are made using a minimum of 80% USDA Organic materials, and direct farming partnerships when possible.
Vyrao
Vyrao’s Perfume
Price Range: $105–$220
Vyrao’s combines “energetic healing with master perfumery”.
You’ll find six uplifting and transformative scents, all made from 88–89% sustainably sourced natural ingredients (80% of which are certified organic).
Synthetically derived sustainable ingredients are used if there isn’t a sustainable natural alternative.
Vyao’s Witchy Woo includes scents of thorny rose, cinnamon, and black pepper.
Each 50ml glass bottle contains an extra touch of magic—a Herkimer diamond crystal charged by Vyrao’s own energy healer.
About Vyrao
Using scent as a mood-boosting tool for well-being, Vyrao’s blends “help connect us to ourselves and our feelings, and raise our energetic field”.
Their team combines the skills of a master perfumer, a psychic, and an energy healer with founder Yasmin’s Sewell training in Integrative Quantum Medicine™ and Reiki.
Vyrao partners with a certified Carbon Balanced Printer to print their 100% recycled FSC-certified paper boxes.
How We Found The Best Eco-Friendly Perfumes
What is sustainable perfume?
Whether you prefer your scents sweet or musky, we used our sustainable beauty criteria to help you find only the best odors around.
- Non-toxic: There are plenty of ingredients to avoid in skincare, including artificial dyes, parabens, phthalates, and formaldehyde. We look for non-toxic perfume brands that use natural skin care ingredients (or the occasional certified safe synthetic)—and actually disclose these full lists!
- Vegan & cruelty-free: Traditional perfumes are often crafted using animal-derived ingredients (including ambergris, musk deer, castoreum, and civet) and regularly tested on animals. We want neither.
- Palm oil free: Or RSPO-certified.
- Ethically sourced ingredients: Those sustainable perfume ingredients should also be sourced from fair and ethical channels.
- Thoughtful packaging: Zero waste perfume means refillable bottles are best, though we also look for reusable or (at the very least) recyclable ones.
FAQ: Eco-Friendly Perfume
What is a “sustainable perfume”?
In a nutshell, a sustainable perfume is one designed with environmental and ethical considerations in mind — this includes responsibly sourced ingredients (often natural, organic or certified), reduced impact packaging (glass, refillable bottles, FSC-certified paper), minimal harmful synthetics (parabens, phthalates, synthetic musk), cruelty-free and vegan practices, and sometimes social or carbon-impact initiatives.
Why should consumers choose sustainable perfumes over conventional ones?
Choosing sustainable perfumes helps you reduce the environmental impact (through better sourcing and packaging), supports more ethical supply chains (fair trade, cruelty-free), and can reduce your exposure to potentially harmful synthetic chemicals. We aim to highlight brands with natural oils, organic alcohol bases, refill systems and transparent practices.
What features or criteria should one look for when selecting a sustainable perfume?
Key features include:
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Ingredient transparency (natural/organic oils, minimal synthetic fragrance ingredients)
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Ethical sourcing (Fair Trade, local production, avoiding destructive harvesting)
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Packaging that is reusable, recyclable, refillable or made from sustainable materials (e.g., 100% recycled glass, FSC-certified paper)
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Cruelty-free and vegan certification or commitments
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Clear brand values and processes (small batches, environmental/social initiatives)
Are natural ingredients always more sustainable in perfumes?
Not always. While natural ingredients can be better in some respects, sustainable perfumes can also include thoughtfully designed synthetics (especially when natural alternatives are environmentally harmful). For example, sourcing oils ethically and ensuring minimal ecological footprint is key.
How can consumers assess claims of “sustainable” or “eco-friendly” in the perfume industry?
Consumers should look beyond marketing buzzwords by checking: ingredient lists and sourcing; packaging materials and lifecycle; certifications (cruelty-free, vegan, organic, fair trade); brand transparency about practices; and whether the brand openly discloses its sustainability commitments. Sustainability in fragrance is about the entire supply chain and impact, not just “natural” labels.
Final Thoughts On Eco-Friendly & Ethical Perfume
On the hunt for a sustainable signature scent?
Tracking one down is much easier thanks to these no nonscents ethical fragrance brands that are concocting conscious scents for the good of all. You can feel good about popping any of them into your sustainable handbag.
Or by simply by sharing this article with your pro-planet peers to help make the world a better (smelling) place.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published in August 2020 and updated in October 2025 to include new images, refreshed copy, and an expanded FAQ section.
Hailey is a full-time world traveler and a part-time content writer with a Bachelor’s Degree in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation from the University of Florida. She loves exploring the world by participating in local sustainability projects. Her project highlights include volunteering at a farm animal sanctuary in Hawaii, a butterfly biodiversity garden in Laos, and an ethical elephant sanctuary in Thailand. All experiences which have further developed her passion for universal animal welfare and advocacy. In her free time you might find her cuddling stray animals, hand crafting, café hopping, and literally hugging trees.
I agree that animal testing is abhorrent, which is why I thought you might like to be made aware that while The 7 Virtues perfume is cruelty free, they are sold at Sephora, a company that is not cruelty free. Regardless, I’d like to thank you for making this post to help others live a cruelty free and sustainable life. 🙂
Thanks Emily, that is a useful consideration for sure!