Clean Reserve, which trades on its identity as a sustainable, natural and safe fragrance player, offers an example of a brand successfully meeting these challenging consumer demands.
It’s owned by The Clean Beauty Collective (formerly Fusion Brands America, Inc.) and was launched in 2015 as a collaboration of three leading global fragrance houses: Takasago, Firmenich, and Mane.
Avant Garden: next level sustainability in fragrance?
The brand launched an ‘Avant Garden’ range earlier this year which is “vegan, cruelty-free, free of phthalates, preservatives, gluten and artificial dyes, plus infused with safe molecular naturals and sustainable notes such as mandarin, cardamom, and sandalwood”.
The Clean Beauty Collective, explains the brand's focus on sustainable fragrance.
“This bespoke “farm to fragrance” collection offers peace-of-mind with ingredients and formulas that put safety first, uses eco-conscious packaging and sustainable ingredients to keep the planet healthy and happy and gives back to the farmers and their communities who help make this fragrance collection possible."
Fragrance house: Firmenich
We spoke to Olivier Cresp, Master Perfumer of Firmenich, one of the fragrance houses behind Clean Reserve’s new Avant Garden range, about how the fragrance house is working to meet the complicated demands of consumers looking for sustainable, natural fragrance products.
“I would say that sustainability has changed everything, it is a tsunami, consumers and brands want to know what happens with farmers, when someone puts something on their skin, they want to know if the ingredient is safe and where it comes from. Now consumers demand transparency,” he explains.
“We can see that consumers are more and more interested in how the fragrance is composed, what ingredients are inside, how it was composed and the entire story behind.”
Cresp also notes that with consumers now shopping in a more globally-minded way, the same fragrance needs to meet the demands of consumers from several different markets at once. This, he suggests, can be difficult.
“With the globalization, fragrances need to be loved by a lot of people with different culture at the same time. This is a great challenge for perfumers,” he says.
How does Firmenich respond to demand for sustainability?
Cresp explained that Firmenich has a ‘Naturals Together’ programme, that informs how the company responds to these demands.
“The initiative is about ensuring that Firmenich not only protects the best that nature can offer, but also shares its know-how to improve farmers’ livelihoods, while fostering biodiversity,” he said.
“We are fortunate to work with a multitude of partners who provide beautiful natural materials from all over the world. And through these partnerships, we are able to manage the supply chain, from the sourcing of the raw materials through to the innovation, extraction and production.
“We master 100% of the products that we are using in our formulas which in turn, gives us the conviction of having something special to use in our perfumes.”
Innovation: leading the way
Cresp asserted that “perfumery cannot exist without innovation, especially innovation at the service of nature”.
He explained that Firmenich, for example, recently pioneered in the field of high tech ingredients, creating the first ingredients produced by white biotech.
“I am very excited to see my craft evolving towards respectful products for the environment and the consumers who wear them. I feel biotech ingredients would likely become the emblematic ingredients of the 21st century.”