What is a ‘clean’ perfume: Maison 21G

Johanna Monange, founder and CEO of Parisian haute perfumery Maison 21G shares her knowledge of over two decades of working with the big powerhouses of the perfumery industry and is revealing the secrets of what a ‘clean fragrance’ actually is which questions consumers should be asking when buying perfume.

She shares that ‘clean’ is a not-so-new label and a topic of never-ending discussion. Most commonly we hear the word used in the context of ‘clean food’ or ‘clean beauty’ and yet it is impossible to separate fragrance from beauty care.

Almost all the products you use, for your face, your hair or your body, are fragranced one way or another and thus, inevitably, the revolutionising concept of ‘clean beauty’ has extended to ‘clean fragrance’.

So, what is ‘clean’?

In reality, ‘clean’ is merely an industrial label with no hard and fast technical standards or regulatory guidelines constituting it and yet it is very powerful. It automatically adds consumer trust, gives notions of quality and it sounds ‘transparent’.

At a time when nature and the planet itself are at risk, we begin, oddly enough, to take better care of ourselves, expanding the definition of wellness and health and ushering in a new clean era with promises of “no nasties”. But what is driving this? The answer is easy: the catalyst is the lack of industry transparency! Beauty companies use fine adjectives and bold words to ignite their marketing, to “greenwash” their products and appeal to their consumers.

At Maison 21G, product ‘clean-ness’ and ‘transparency’ is the key to their values, and they follow predefined rules to fully achieve this. And that is why they are revolutionising perfumery.

On their website, all consumers can access the percentage of natural ingredients contained in their fragrance, the concentration of their perfume (21%, of course), and whether the perfume is vegan or not.

They have also decided to ban the usage of phthalates, GMOs (genetically modified organisms), CMRs (substances that are carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction), and preservatives. At Maison 21G, you can be 100% aware of what you are spraying onto your skin. And they go one step further and indicate the value of percentage of biodegradability, along with the percentage of renewable carbon of each perfume formula.

And what about waste? Green luxury should be the new norm!

The impact of packaging on the planet should be a concern, especially in the luxury industry where the size of the box is so important.

Maison 21G is committed to developing re-usable packaging and to reducing as much as possible both plastic and unnecessary boxing; they are also the first to offer sustainable perfume refills, through the technology of La Source, so you can re-use bottles and caps. This saves cost for both parties.