Your favorite perfume probably contains hormone disruptors banned in Europe – but you’d never know it from the label. The fragrance industry still has a lot of work to do, and the CEO of Wyld Notes is working toward that goal by creating amazing botanical scents.
In this groundbreaking conversation with Gaya, the visionary behind Wyld Notes, we expose why the fine fragrance industry has remained one of the last frontiers in clean beauty. While skincare and cosmetics have evolved toward cleaner ingredients, perfume companies still hide harmful synthetics behind “proprietary” formulas.
Through an unwavering commitment to transparency and quality, Wyld Notes is revolutionizing the fragrance industry by creating 100% botanical scents that perform like luxury synthetics. From sourcing regeneratively grown ingredients to using non-denatured organic alcohol, every detail has been carefully considered to create safe, sophisticated scents.
Whether you’ve avoided perfume due to sensitivities or you’re just starting to question what’s in your favorite scent, this episode reveals why clean fragrance matters and how it’s possible to create luxury perfumes without compromising your health. Plus, learn about Wyld Notes’ discovery set and how to find your signature botanical scent.
In today’s episode, we’re chatting about:
- Why synthetic fragrances are linked to migraines, skin reactions, and hormone disruption
- How Wyld Notes sources ingredients from regenerative farms
- The truth about denatured alcohol in perfumes
- Why traditional fragrance houses resist going 100% natural
- How to layer botanical perfumes for a unique signature scent
What is Denatured Alcohol in Fragrance?
Over the last year, I’ve been consulting with many companies, and I’ve learned a lot about the manufacturing space in a lot of different ways. It’s easy to be hard on brands, but when you start to get to know them, you discover that getting a manufacturer who’s willing to make the formula they’re asking for is difficult.
In the United States, formal regulations require you to denature a perfume. That means you have to put a chemical that makes it poisonous to drink so the government knows you’re not selling rum in a perfume bottle.
If ‘alcohol’ isn’t on an ingredient list, it is a denatured alcohol. The most popular one is tert-butanol alcohol, which is a petroleum-derived ingredient most companies are denaturing their alcohol with.
2 Ways of Denaturing Alcohol
There are two ways of denaturing alcohol. One uses strong essential oils, like peppermint or bergamot, to denature the alcohol. That’s a 100% natural option. When you’re making a fine fragrance, that’s not an option because it has a very overpowering smell of whatever the essential oil that they use.
When you formulate fine fragrances, you have to use denatured alcohol denatured with a chemical like TBA. It doesn’t have a scent and doesn’t interfere with the fragrance oil blend.
Where Wyld Notes Gets Their Botanical Scents From
There are three different sources. Some of their unique ingredients come from their own farms that practice regenerative agriculture. They’re certified organic, and they take pride in their farms around the world.
Some ingredients are sustainably sourced from the wild. There are incredible stories of how the harvesting process actually helps the environment.
The third source is through their fragrance house. They follow the same thorough, rigorous process for sourcing their ingredients and sustainability practices. Gaia was very excited to find a business partner with the same standards.
They source the ingredients for their fragrances in three ways. They use organic, non-denatured sugarcane alcohol. Wyld Notes sources organically grown essential oils from Young Living Farms. You are getting the best of the best when it comes to ingredients.
Wyld Notes Botanical Scents Discovery Set
Wyld Notes is launching five new gender-neutral fragrances. You can get a discovery set of all five of them to try them out and see which ones you love and what works with your skin.
Perfumes smell different on different people. Wyld Notes has a good variety in the discovery set:
- Smokey Ember: The boldest scent.
- Rugged Wilderness: Favorite for men.
- Timeless Floral: A mix of florals and citrus.
- Fireside Citrus: Citrus top notes mixed in with a little woody undertone.
- Sweet Decadence: Trendy, very sweet, and expected to be a top seller.
Their collection launches in March 2025. Shop the first-ever organic, regeneratively sourced, 100% botanical fine fragrance.
About Wyld Notes
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Related Episodes
Episode 2: The Fragrance Dilemma: How an Entire Industry Hijacked Your Hormones
Episode 44: Safe Synthetics in Perfume vs. Natural Scents: Cracking the Fragrance Code, Part 1
Episode 45: Understanding Fragrance Allergens and Reading Labels (Cracking the Fragrance Code Part 2)
Episode 46: The Link Between Fragrance and Infertility: Cracking the Fragrance Code, Part 3
Episode 58: Leaving the Toxins Behind: From Big Fragrance to Botanical Fragrance w/ Seda & Amanda of ESAS Beauty
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