More and more companies are producing ethically sourced beauty products and taking their responsibility seriously by using ingredients which are safer for both the consumer and the planet. Maison Sybarite was the first to come up with technology which enables perfumers to put fine fragrance in an alcohol-free blend. Sabi Phagura spoke to the business to find out more.
LM: It’s a fascinating concept of producing a water-based fragrance. What was the theory behind creating such a product?
Maison Sybarite: We think people are becoming more conscious in general about the foods they eat and cosmetic products they use. But perfumes are often the last products that people think about when switching to clean beauty products. It’s tough to make a clean fragrance. We think people are drawn to Maison Sybarite because we use clean ingredients without sacrificing the luxury of the product and we are cruelty-free. We are a transparent indie brand about what’s inside our products.
As a clean fragrance, we use the safest components, whether they are natural or synthetic. Clean fragrances have the potential to be safer because they contain fewer components than conventional perfumes. For our perfumes, we use ultra-pure water – it can be drunk.
LM: Has anyone else produced a perfume that is free of ethyl alcohol either in France or elsewhere?
MS: Global cultural shifts and environmental crises are taking the world of perfumery on to new challenges. There are a few relevant fragrance brands. There are perfumes which are hydrosol based, glycerin-based, oil-based (most common), wax-based and water-based. We made a choice not to use alcohol or solvent in the formulation to limit our impact on the planet by increasing greenhouse gas emissions. Our innovative technology is the cleanest and least polluting. All other similar formulations use glycol, dimethicone (silicons), surfactants, ethoxylated hydrogenated castor oil, emulgin, etc.
LM: We understand the perfume is also not tested on animals. Is this because, as consumers, we are more eco and morally conscious?
MS: Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the ethical issues of animal testing and demanding new kinds of products. Companies are moving fast to be a part of this movement. In the European Union, India, Israel, and Norway bans have are now in place, making it illegal to test cosmetics on animals within those countries’ borders or to sell cosmetics that have been tested on animals elsewhere in the world.
In a global cosmetic market, all countries must ban animal testing. Right from the start, our ethos has been to ensure that our products are cruelty-free. We’ve vetted all our ingredient suppliers carefully, and we certainly never test our products on animals, at any stage of the production process. Quite simply, we believe that for truly great perfume, cruelty-free is the only way to go.
The technology has evolved, so we can test our perfumes in the laboratory and be sure they are not harmful. We don’t need to endanger the lives of the animals. We also avoid all animal ingredients, to respect their lives and also for the planet, because some ingredients are damaging the ecosystem.
LM: Tell us about Sybarite and a little about its history.
MS: Sybaris was a city of Magna Graecia, “Great Greece”, that was located in southern Italy on the Gulf of Taranto. It was said to have been established in 720 BC by settlers from the Greek Peloponnesus, mainly from the city of Argolis, and developed into a very prosperous area. It was known for its luxurious lifestyle for the Sybarites until neighbouring Crotona destroyed it in 510 BC Sybarites were widely distributed in ancient literature of various genres.
The term Sybarite refers to exquisite people with refined tastes, or to those who were delivered to luxury and pleasure. They should have been known for being a member of the probably first monetary union in history.
Sybarites were advanced for their time, policies and way of life. They knew how to associate pleasure with work, arts, quality of life, harmonious coexistence with nature and wellbeing. A conscious sybarite is a person totally devoted to sensuality and all of life’s pleasures while being respectful of the environment.
