Perfume

Parfum in INCI lists

When you see the word Parfum in the ingredient list of a cosmetic product, it refers to a fragrance substance, which is generally of synthetic origin. When only essential oils are used to scent a cosmetic, the botanical name of the plant and any allergens must be listed on the label.

The term Parfum is therefore a collective designation that can include various types of fragrance ingredients—these can be of natural or synthetic origin.

La Saponaria fragrances

In the case of our cosmetics, you may sometimes find the phrase "Parfum of natural origin": this means that our fragrances are composed exclusively of essential oils and/or substances of natural origin, with no synthetic components whatsoever. We use only 100% natural perfumes, created from blends of essential oils, plant extracts, and resins.

These blends are often very complex and can contain more than 40 different ingredients. To keep INCI lists concise and to protect our formulation work, we register our fragrance formulas. This is why individual components do not appear on the label, and are instead grouped under the term Parfum.

However, allergens (e.g., linalool) are still listed on the label. These are naturally occurring components found in essential oils and are themselves of natural origin—unlike synthetic fragrances, where molecules (whether synthetic, petrochemical, or even natural) are typically dissolved in glycols (petrochemical-derived substances).

This serves as further proof that our fragrances are created using only essential oil blends—if there were no allergens listed, it would likely be a synthetic fragrance!