Tapping into a skincare- and ingredient-conscious scent, consumer, water-based perfumes are making small splashes in the fragrance pond.
Mainstream launches like Dior Sauvage Eau Forte or Guerlain’s L’Eau Rose omitted alcohol. Buly offers a range of water-based perfumes, while Hermetica, founded in 2018, has built its entire business on alcohol-free scents. When Bella Hadid launched her fragrance line, Orebella, the formulas were also alcohol-free. In July 2024, Xerjoff released Newcleus, an ethanol-free perfume based on Microcaps Perfume Pearls' technology. The liquid oil core microcapsules, housed in a natural alginate shell (sourced from seaweed), break when sprayed on the skin to release their fragrant content. In September 2024, Velvetvelo released water-based, and microbiome-preserving eau de parfums.
Exploring the formulation differences and potential benefits and drawbacks of this format, BeautyMatter takes a deep dive into the aquatic territory.
Origins of the Alcohol-Free Fragrances Category
Alcohol-free fragrances are not new. Especially for halal beauty consumers, working without the ingredient is an important priority—but it doesn’t end there. “The interest started 15 years ago, and some big brands launched it. It has never taken off big time because depending on the mist sprayer, the droplets seemed to be too wet,” Ginger King, founder and CEO of Grace Kingdom Beauty, tells BeautyMatter. “Yes, consumers perceive it is more ‘natural’ when there's no alcohol, but they need to accept the wetness just like sulfate-free shampoos have less foams. It takes some learning curves. Other than that, alcohol-free fragrance actually can stay on skin longer, which is the same reason that we use a lotion before the spray (fragrance layering). When your skin is wet, fragrance grabs onto it better and smells softer. It is a good thing.”
Perfume oils, which replace the alcohol with carrier oils like sunflower or safflower seed oil, have also been on the rise. There are not just the potent attars, which are especially popular in the Middle East but also present in lines by Amouage or La Collection Privée by Dior. Nest and Maison Louis Marie have featured oils in their collections for several years. Solid fragrance balms with waxy bases also allowed for nonalcoholic formulas. Perfume oils and balms, while often longwearing, also wear closer to the skin plus lack the “spritz” effect of their sprayable counterparts. Aside from the physical perks of hitting a spray of the perfume bottle, the alcohol evaporation in an eau de toilette or eau de parfum is what gives the fragrance flight, or sillage, so to speak. One could even say the alcohol renders the scent molecules airborne.
The rise of alcohol-free formulas can be traced to a skinification of the perfume category. Just as skincare enthusiasts were eager to buy unscented or alcohol-free toners for their skin, so too are certain subsets of consumers now concerned about the impact of daily application of highly alcoholic products to their skin. After all, the average alcohol content for a fragrance can range from 60% to 90% depending on concentration. “For consumers, alcohol can be drying when sprayed on skin or hair,” King adds. “Usually removing alcohol from the formula gives a softer scent instead of the initial burst of top note. It also tends to be wetter on skin.”
For niche releases such as children’s perfumes like Cabriole by Hermès or Dolce&Gabbana’s Fefé perfume for dogs, formulas also omitted alcohol, presumably to avoid causing any interactions with the delicate skin of its intended audiences. For regular adult skin, what negative impact do alcohol-containing fragrances have on the skin? “This depends on the formula. In many cases, considering how perfume is applied, it would realistically have a negligible effect,” Jen Novakovich, founder of The Eco Well, tells BeautyMatter.
As for the benefits these creations provide, Sarah McCartney, founder of 4160 Tuesdays, tells BeautyMatter, “For the quality of the fragrance there are no benefits. It makes formulating more difficult. Using water saves money, and it means that companies can create fragrances, which aren't flammable so they can avoid dangerous goods handling charges. For multinationals, this could save millions annually. Religious beliefs forbid the use of ethanol for some traditions, so removing it could open up some new markets.”
While she is getting requests for water-based perfumes, McCartney is cautious of the category. “It seems to have started with a claim from a brand around five years ago, which falsely stated that ethanol is an allergen, in order to give their own water-based brand some newsworthyness. Ethanol is not an allergen,” she says. “Sometimes I think that these statements are made without any thought for the consequences. This belief went viral, and manufacturers are doing their best to keep their clients content by following his trend. If they would just turn around and say, ‘Honestly, it's just making everyone's life harder; stick with ethanol,’ life would be so much simpler for all of us. Manufacturers are pandering to a whim that will reduce the effectiveness and quality of fragrances. No one dare say no to a client for fear of losing the business.”
Aqueous Bases
Ingredient innovations are hoping to amp up the format’s potential. AquaElixir by Cosmo International Fragrances (released at the end of 2023) is a 100% biodegradable and natural water-based technology to replace alcohol-based formulas with moisturizing benefits and a self-proclaimed longlasting formula. “AquaElixir reflects our dedication to environmental responsibility and innovation, and we believe it will lead the way in creating a greener and safer future for fragrances,” commented Marc Blaison, President of Cosmo International Fragrances, at the time of release.
Expressions Parfumées’ AquaBoost Natco technology, which debuted in 2022, is 99% natural and helps to create high-dose, water-soluble fragrances. It’s 100% COSMOS standard compliant and optimizes perfume solubilization in water, allowing for perfume doses of 10% instead of the traditional range of 1% to 3%. Takasago’s AquaScent microemulsion technology, released over a decade ago, enabled the even distribution of fragrance molecules in water through the use of surfactants. Clean Beauty Collective’s Clean Reserve range was designed using the technology but was also three years in the making.
Formulation Challenges
What happens when alcohol is replaced with water in a fragrance formula? First, there is ethanol’s function as a preservative, therefore a broad spectrum preservative system would need to be added to avoid bacteria growth. This could include phenoxyethanol, glycols, glycerin, or potassium sorbate according to King. Furthermore, since water repels oils, some creations need to be shaken before use to counteract the separation. Micro- and -nanoemulsion technologies also help to counteract this issue.
“Parabens would be the best and safest [replacement], but if I'm asked to replace the ethanol, it's usually by clients who wouldn't want to use parabens because of their undeserved reputation for being a bad thing. There are natural parabens in blueberries, by the way, but if you throw enough mud, some sticks,” McCartney adds. “It's not just about preservatives though; there's a problem with solubility. The natural CO2 extracts I use are not water soluble, so it would restrict the palette I can use. To make the mixture miscible, we also need an emulsifier. It doesn't affect all materials, but it affects some of my favorites. Some water-based fragrances can have a cloudy appearance.”
In comparison to alcohol-based scents, those of an aquatic nature stay more linear due to the lack of the evaporation curve, requiring perfumers to adopt their formulations. Some notes like vanillin, are not stable in water, while citrus, musk, and wood notes also have less affinity with water. While this doesn’t mean these ingredients can’t be used, their use does need to be adopted to these formulas. “Considering the volatility of alcohol compared to, for example, triglyceride solvents, the fragrance may fade faster during the day … it really depends though on the fragrance. A triglyceride may stick around longer, [but] the application won't be what most would expect; alcohol probably would give consumers more of what they are generally looking for. There may be oxidation issues with triglycerides compared to alcohol,” Novakovich remarks.
“Alcohol is the best friend of the perfumer and of fragrance oils. It does not need extra soapy chemicals to solubilize fragrance oils, whether you are working with naturals or molecules, so water-based formulas are actually less clean. Also water-based fragrances are cheaper to produce and usually contain less fragrance; otherwise they would need a lot of chemicals to dissolve [the fragrance oils],” Christophe Laudamiel, Master Perfumer at Osmo, tells BeautyMatter. Prices for water-based perfumes range from $110 to $185 for a 100 ml bottle depending on the brand (mass market brands were noticeably absent from the water perfume category). Perfume oils provide a more budget friendly and also alcohol-free option, with prices averaging $45-$65 (excluding attars, which are not only highly concentrated with 15% to 30% fragrance oils, but also a more costly affair).
While some water-based creations market themselves as more environmentally friendly, Novakovich points out that “with respect to emollient replacements, arguably the alcohol would have a lower environmental impact.” When it comes to carbon captured alcohol substitutes like those pioneered by Coty and LanzaTech, she sees a potential environmental benefit, but comparative LCA [lifecycle assessment] data would be required to fully quantify this.
Could Oil-Based Fragrances Steal Water-Based Scents’ Thunder?
While momentum is building around these aqueous creations, it has yet to hit mass. According to Spate NY, alcohol-free fragrances saw 4.1K monthly searches, which shows an 80.6% year-over-year (YoY) decline from 2023 to 2024. The search terms “fragrance + alcohol” receive an average of 1.1K monthly searches. However, there are increasing searches for oil-based fragrances, with a 65.7% YoY growth and 3.1K average monthly searches, with 82.2% growth and 35.7K average weekly views on TikTok. Oil creations are also alcohol-free, but offer more moisturizing benefits and also potentially longer wear.
“Alcohol is by far and away the best solvent for perfumery, so I'm always reluctant to remove it. But I have made fragrances without ethanol for a client who gave me a particular oil to use for tests. The projection was low, and they lasted around the same time as the same formulas in ethanol,” McCartney states.
While the clean, environmental, and skincare benefit claims of water perfumes are still up for debate, they are most likely to draw in scent enthusiasts concerned about the impact of alcohol on their skin, creating a potential marketing draw. However, there is an industry responsibility for ensuring these formulas don’t grow any harmful bacteria, as well as educating consumers on the fact that just because a perfume doesn’t contain alcohol doesn’t mean it won’t contain other preservatives. Plus, clarifying the wear and performance of these products compared to their traditional counterparts is another industry responsibility. If interest in alcohol-free creations continues to grow, it could also have a positive sales impact for perfume oils. For now, the waves of water perfumes will continue to subtly rise and fall rather than immediately hitting tidal peak.
