Upcycled perfume ingredients: A smart sustainable apporach
Recycling is a familiar term we all know, but have you heard of upcycling in perfumery? Upcycling is a form of recycling that goes one step further. Instead of just reusing left-over materials, upcycling enhances them, transforming waste into new, high-quality products with greater value.
New and valuable ingredients in perfumery
Take, for example, freshly squeezed orange juice from the supermarket. Kilos of orange peels are thrown away every day, even though these peels are still packed with flavor and aroma components. Thankfully, upcycling offers a sustainable solution. By upcycling orange peels, in this case, essential oils are extracted: an ingredient that has benefited the perfume industry for years. By embracing upcycling, we not only reduce waste but also create something new and valuable. It's a win-win for both people and the planet.
Revolutionizing perfume with upcycled ingredients
Upcycling is not a new concept in the perfume world. Citrus peels have been used for centuries, and and instead of discarding rose petals after distillation, they are repurposed to create rose water.
What's innovative today is that perfumes can now also be enriched with recycled ingredients from other industries. Food waste that would otherwise be burned, such as coffee beans and cardamom remnants, and materials from the furniture and paper industries, for example, are converted into unique, sustainable fragrance extracts. This creates special fragrances and contributes to a more sustainable world.
Ingredients like cinnamon, oak, essential rose and upcycled orange blossom water are slowly finding their way into luxury perfumes.
Discover niche perfumes with upcycled ingredients
In Perfume Lounge's collection, we have several perfumes where you can experience how useful waste is given a luxurious new life:
Annindriya - Tipsy Tuberose: Our pride, Amsterdam's perfume house Annindriya, together with emerging talent Meabh McCurtin, cleverly used upcycled oak and orange blossom water. The result? A playful and flirty perfume that even has a scientifically proven effect on your self-confidence and seductiveness!
RVDK x Salle Privée - The Mind Vaccine: Designer Ronald van der Kemp joined forces with Salle Privée to create a sustainable fragrance that reflects his sustainable approach. This is reflected in both the packaging and the perfume, which incorporates recycled materials such as paper, plastic, and wool, along with upcycled ingredients like cloves and sandalwood.
Akigalawood: an innovative upcycled patchouli
Akigalawood is a Givaudan ingredient which is extracted through biotechnology from residues of patchouli oil. It smells like a mix of wood, patchouli and black pepper. Akigalawood is found for example in Ganymede Eau de Parfum and Ganymede Extrait de Parfum by Marc-Antoine Barrois, but also in Impadia by BDK Parfums.
