Vegan Perfume
Finding a perfume that smells amazing and matches your values is easier than you might think! From understanding vegan perfume ingredients to checking out cruelty-free brands, there are plenty of ways to find your new favorite scent. You can even make your own solid vegan perfume with just a few simple ingredients and your favorite essential oils. Whether you love fresh florals, sweet vanilla, or warm, cozy scents, there’s something for every nose and every mood!
In this guide, which is part of our Vegan Bath, Body, & Beauty series, you’ll find the most popular and pleasing vegan perfume brands on the market today.
What Is In Perfume That Makes It NOT Vegan?
Perfume is vegan and cruelty-free if the ingredients are free of animal by-products and there is no animal testing at any stage. A fragrance oil, cologne, or perfume is not considered vegan if it includes any of these ingredients:
- Ambergris (sperm whale secretions)
- Civet, Castoreum, or Kasturi (anal secretions from mammals)
- Honey (read more on the vegan status of honey)
- Lanolin (fat or wool wax from sheep)
- Musk (from the abdomen of a male musk deer)
Some perfumes may even contain milk or beeswax, so please take care to check the ingredients before purchasing.
What are the Different Types of Perfume?
There are five types of perfume and they vary based on the amount of concentrated perfume oil is included in the mixture. From least to most, the types are:
- Eau Fraiche (1-3%)
- Eau de Cologne (2-6%)
- Eau de Toilette (5-15%)
- Eau de Parfum (15-20%)
- Pure Parfum (15-40%)
100% Cruelty-Free and Vegan Perfume Brands
Which perfume brands are vegan, cruelty-free, and positively perfect? The list below ranges from luxurious oils and refreshing eau de toilettes to pure, pungent parfums. Here are the most popular fan favorites:
- Ariana Grande
- Clean Beauty Collective
- Dossier
- Ellis Brooklyn
- Kuumba Made
- Le Labo
- Pacifica Beauty
- Phlur
- Pinrose
- Somethin’ Special
- Tulip
And The Body Shop has committed to becoming fully vegan by the end of 2023!
Natural and Essential Oil Vegan Fragrances
Finding a commercial fragrance that is free of chemicals is no easy task. Although many perfumes on the market today are free of parabens and phthalates, stronger chemical ingredients like styrene, acetates, methylene chloride, and benzaldehyde are still not required to be listed individually, only as “fragrance.”
For anyone with a sensitive immune system or would like a more gentle, non-toxic fragrance experience, these are the brands to search for:
- Abbott (100% vegan)
- by Rosie Jane (100% vegan)
- Dedcool (100% vegan)
- Florame (all perfume is vegan)
- Henry Rose (some scents are not vegan)
- Lavanila (all perfume is vegan)
- Rahua (100% vegan)
- Skylar (100% vegan)
- The 7 Virtues (100% vegan)
- Wild Spirit (100% vegan)
How To Make Perfume Yourself
Professional perfume-making can take years of training, special ingredients, and a steady hand. But, don’t give up hope perfume lovers! There are a number of fun ways of creating and crafting your own perfume at home. Our favorite reliable resources are listed below.
Recommended Books
- All-Natural Perfume Making by Kristen Schuhmann
- The Compassionate Chick’s Guide to DIY Beauty by Sunny Subramanian (founder of Vegan Beauty Review)
- Plant-Based Beauty: The Essential Guide to Detoxing Your Beauty Routine by Jess Arnaudin
Reusable Perfume Containers
- Enslz (refillable, pretty perfume spray bottle)
- Pretty Care (refillable, glass roller bottles for perfume oils)
- MyKasen (refillable, bamboo and glass bottles for oils)
- Vonovo (Portable, refillable, travel-sized atomizers)
DIY Solid Perfume Recipe
If you prefer solid perfume, we have a recipe for how to make solid perfume, too! It’s simple to make with just three ingredients: candelilla wax, jojoba oil, and essential oils. These are perfect for gifting over the holidays!
Are These Perfumes Vegan?
It sure is! On Jennifer Aniston’s website, her Lolavie perfume is labeled as “…vegan, cruelty-free, and “always formulated with naturally-derived, plant-based ingredients without using water.”
Yes! All of Ariana Grande’s perfumes are both vegan, cruelty-free, and Leaping Bunny certified! You can buy any of her scents in stores or online (such as Target, Amazon, Ulta, and Sephora).
More Vegan Beauty Guides and Recipes To Try
You can also explore perfume brands without paying full price by subscribing to a vegan beauty subscription box like Vegan Cuts!
DIY Perfume Recipe
If you’re positively passionate about crafting your own handmade perfume, you’re in luck! We’re going to show you how to make a signature, all-natural perfume that takes only minutes.
All you need is a few easily-found essential oils and a small bottle with a screw-on lid, cork, or stopper. Ready to create your own signature scent?
Print me! Did you know you can easily print our recipes? Just tap the “Print Recipe” button in the recipe card. You can keep a stack of new recipes to try in your kitchen—or better yet—create a recipe binder where you keep all your favorites!
DIY Perfume
Equipment
- 1 glass roller ball 10 ml (1⁄3 ounce)
Ingredients
- 10 drops orange essential oil , or any citrus essential oil
- 10 drops lavender essential oil, or any herbal essential oil
- 10 drops vanilla essential oil, or any warm essential oil (or vanilla extract either in alcohol or vegetable glycerin)
- 2 teaspoons jojoba oil , or any base oil (such as almond, olive, grapeseed, or coconut)
Instructions
- Sterilize the bottle the night before by taking off the cap and roller ball, filling it with boiling water, and letting it sit overnight or run it through the dishwasher. This will prevent the perfume oil from becoming moldy and eliminating any existing harmful bacteria already in the bottle.
- Slowly add 10 drops of each of the three essential oils into the bottom of the glass perfume bottle. Be very careful when adding the oils. Some oils come out of the bottle quickly, while others take more time.
- Hold the bottle in your hand and, with a gentle swirling motion, allow the three essential oils to blend together.
- Slowly add the base oil to the glass bottle. It may not take the entire two teaspoons. Add until you just reach the neck of the bottle and then stop. Do not pour up to the top because you'll need to add the roller ball part. Repeat Step 3 to blend well.
- Press the roller ball section back into the top of the bottle firmly, making sure it snaps into place. Roll a little on your inner wrist to see if you like the smell and, when finished, screw on the cap and place it upright in a cool, shaded area or in a cupboard for up to 3 months. Enjoy!
Notes
- Top Notes (Citrus or Aromatic Essential Oils): Lemon, Grapefruit, Tangerine, Lime, or Bergamot
- Middle Notes (Floral, Green, Fruity, or Spicy Essential Oils): Rosemary, Jasmine, Rose, Ylang-Ylang, or Chamomile
- Base Notes (Warm and Deep Essential Oils): Sandalwood, Patchouli, Benzoin or Cedar
You may also like...
Enter to Win Our Monthly Giveaway!
New winner every month! Drop your name below for a chance to win hundreds of dollars of vegan prizes from our brand partners. You’ll also receive our weekly e-newsletter with plant-based recipes galore!
Leave a Comment
Only a couple of the Henry Rose fragrances are vegan. I know Queens & Monsters is one of them (and Jake’s House is not). They use some ingredient derived from insects.
Hi Miles, thanks so much for bringing this to our attention! We just updated the guide to note which brands are fully vegan.
Didn’t even know there were vegan perfume options this is so informative
Definitely so exciting to be able to make your own perfume! Love this!
Great gift idea!
At first, I didn’t have orange oil, but I tried cedar oil, and it worked for a bit, but then it got a little goopy. I tried again with the orange oil, and I like it a lot better.
Creating this DIY perfume is one of my passions! I’ve been using it every day for years. It’s a wonderful way to have a natural scent that is eco-friendly, inexpensive and smells exactly the way you like it 😀 Hope you love this recipe!
I love seeing all these vegan friendly perfumes!
This diy perfume is genius! Love the scent and so excited to make more of these for friends and family!
This is a great guide for making gifts! I’ll definitely be using it to make gifts for birthdays and the holidays.