Jo's Scent Notes: UpCircle Santelle

What does sustainability mean, in perfume? It’s complicated. And to be honest, true sustainability probably means what your mum or grandma did, which is to dab on a drop for special occasions, and stick with one perfume till she’d reached the end of the flacon.

But today, most of us have bigger scent wardrobes – rather as we have larger wardrobes generally, to cover every and each mood and occasion. So… how can we scent ourselves more eco-consciously, if we’re concerned about treading more lightly on the planet? One way is by choosing fragrances made with ‘upcycled’ ingredients – yes, the same vibe as that dress you maybe bought, created from beautiful vintage tablecloths.

Many different perfume ingredients are now being extracted from upcycled materials. There’s even a cedarwood ingredient – glorying in the name Cedarwood Atlas NeoAbsolute Morocco Orpur – which is created from cedarwood sawdust that is a waste by-product of the furniture-making industry. Rose, apple and patchouli are also being transformed from waste products, to reduce waste, conserve natural resoources – and also, offer innovative creative potential to perfumers, because these ‘upcycled’ ingredients may have slightly different scent profiles to the originals.

Which brings us to Santelle, one of two debut fragrances from Upcircle, who are real pioneers in beauty. This brother-and-sister brand started by creating body scrubs from upcycled coffee grounds, and have grown to be stocked by retailers including Ocado, Look Fantastic and Sephora.

Of the two fragrances, I LIKE Flaura, with its pretty notes of upcycled botanicals, including jasmine sambac and orange. But I LOVE Santelle, the woodier of the two – soft sandalwood, pencil case-y Atlas cedarwood, a touch of clove. There’s a nose-tingle of pink and black peppers in there, while everything’s rounded out by resinous, aromatic immortelle flower. Definitely ‘shareable’, in terms of gender – and definitely wearable. (I find it cooling on a warm day, of which – blessedly – there’ve been a few, lately.) I find it calming, grounding – a pause-button of a scent, to apply. Plus: great staying power, and a compliment-magnet, on me (which is always a great sign).

I very much like the fact that you can buy samples of these fragrances before deciding on the real thing – you could try both, for just six quid, here. One of the least sustainable aspects of fragrance-shopping is the fact that it’s way too easy to fall for a scent at first sniff, make a snap purchase, get it home… and then discover three hours later that you’re not fond of the ‘dry-down’, as the fragrance settles on your skin and adapts depending on your body chemistry. (Yes, that is a thing.)

The concept of sampling was behind the foundation of The Perfume Society, actually, which I set up with Lorna McKay 10 years ago, and which – although my only involvement is to edit and write the magazine, The Scented Letter – still offers an unrivalled array of sample sets, curated by the Society and from individual brands. Stopping men and women from ‘making fragrance mistakes’ was a key driver, for me – because I truly hate waste. (As, clearly, do UpCircle – who’ve repurposed no less than 16 different ‘upcycled’ ingredients in these two fragrances. The spray bottle is technically refillable, with its screw top, too (although it’s not quite clear how you buy the refills).

Meanwhile – with sustainability in mind – I will be aiming to spritz Santelle to its very last drop.

Santelle/£45 for 50ml eau de parfum – buy here

Flaura/£45 for 50ml eau de parfum – buy here

Sample duo/£6 for 2 x 1.5ml eau de parfum – buy here