FAQs - Fragrance

Yes. Ffern was founded on the principle of restoring the forgotten craft of natural perfumery.

All Ffern fragrances are composed of 95–100% natural ingredients. We make a small allowance (up to 5%) for harmonising molecules selected from a carefully researched list - these don't carry a scent themselves but serve to brighten, space-out and strengthen the natural notes. The remainder is made up of quintuple-distilled organic Italian grain alcohol, purified water, and in some cases, orange flower water or other natural waters. These waters are byproducts of the oil extraction process and used to add character whilst also reducing waste.

You can read our full natural perfumery framework here.

Most perfumes on the market are considered ‘synthetic fragrances’. These fragrances are made entirely or primarily from synthetic ingredients. Synthetic ingredients are favoured by perfumers worldwide because they are inexpensive to source, consistent and easy to work with.

Synthetic fragrance ingredients are single-molecule chemicals created in a lab, whereas natural fragrance ingredients blend up to 500 molecules, all of which vary according to growing conditions, harvest timings and the specific chemotypes of each ingredient. As a result, no two sources of a given natural ingredient are the same.

Yes - please refer to our ingredient policy for more information.

All our fragrances are gender-neutral. They are designed to be worn by anyone and everyone.

Beyond developing gender neutral fragrances, the complexity of the natural ingredients we use means that our fragrances will evolve with every person that uses them, so you may well find the scent smells rather differently on each person who wears it.

All of our fragrances are indeed 100% vegan and free from any form of animal cruelty or testing.

We do our best to ensure that Ffern fragrances are completely safe for everyone, pregnant or otherwise.

Some natural ingredients can be beneficial during pregnancy, while others are best avoided - and it can vary a lot from person to person. As a general precaution, we would not recommend using essential oil-based fragrances during the first trimester. Pregnancy can also change your sense of smell, so scents that you normally love may feel different.

If you have any concerns, we'd always recommend speaking with your midwife or doctor.

No, and we never will.

We favour certified organic ingredients over their non-certified counterparts and are always striving to increase the certified organic content of our fragrances. Currently 75% or more of each Ffern fragrance is COSMOS-certified organic.

That said, we often work with small producers, growers and wild foragers for whom organic certification isn't an option. These communities make up an exciting part of the fragrance world, and we believe the quality and provenance of their ingredients speaks for itself.

You can find more information on our ingredient policy

Due to the molecular complexity of the natural ingredients we use, Ffern fragrances have a tendency to evolve over time. We think this is something to be embraced, and so we don't prescribe storage conditions for our perfumes. This being said, the more light, temperature fluctuation and heat a fragrance is exposed to, the greater the rate of its evolution will be.

If you would like to minimise changes to the scent, we recommend storing your fragrance somewhere cool and dark, such as in a cabinet or in the fridge!

We focus very hard on longevity every season, with the goal of creating fragrances that can last all day for most wearers. That said, natural perfumes vary greatly from person to person, with individual skin types and body temperatures affecting longevity.

Here are few tips for making any fragrance last longer:

• Apply away from the face: when perfume is applied to the neck or collar, we can quickly adjust to its fragrance and stop noticing it. Applying to the lower arms and back of the neck instead can help.
• Spray close: a 5cm gap between your skin and the perfume pump leaves a concentrated circle of fragrance on the skin. This concentration can boost longevity by ensuring that more of the spray is applied to the skin, and not lost to the air.
• Apply to cold spots: applying the perfume to cooler points on the skin reduces the rate of evaporation and helps the perfume last longer. For example, applying it to the top of wrists rather than underside of wrists (which are hot) will make it last longer. Perfume applied to clothing rather than to skin also sits at a lower temperature, and therefore evaporates less quickly.

If you find it’s still not lasting long enough, do let us know so we can work on this for next season: help@ffern.co