FAQs

What's that? ?

On this page, you'll find a short, non-exhaustive, and informative glossary and answers to commonly asked questions, providing a basic understanding of the world of perfume.

What does FiiLiT mean?

"FiiLiT" is the Philosophy of Beauty Through Travel: Fi for Philosophy, iL for illumination (in Baudelaire's sense), which meant both inner and outer beauty in Baudelaire's time, and iT for itinerancy, the journey.

Each fragrance is an invitation to travel that awakens the senses. Régis, the brand's creator, has chosen to share his love and passion for scents and perfumes discovered while traveling the world, discovering materials, encounters, cultures, and travel. Nothing is more precious in the world than the feeling of freedom that travel gives us. FiiLiT also means: "FeeL iT" (feel it) and "FiLL iT" (fill it). Fi for women, iL for men, and iT for unisex.

How to refill your perfume?

All new bottles (50mL and 11mL) are unscrewable to reduce waste and allow the bottle to be reused. To refill your bottle, you can purchase a 50mL or 100mL refill and use the small funnel to refill it! The old 50mL and 100mL LIMITED EDITION bottles are not unscrewable and therefore not refillable. That's why we've changed the design of our bottles :) To replace the 11 ml refill in its wooden case with a new one, simply remove the empty bottle and replace it with the new refill.

Ethical Sourcing

A sustainable development approach means choosing to reconcile creativity, economics, and ethics within an environmental and societal approach. In practice, we select small producers around the world, choosing partners from NGOs where we are confident that their work is paid a fair price and that production respects the balance with nature. Some NGOs, such as Cœur de Forêt, offer technology to improve the yields and quality of essential oils while promoting the ecological and economic aspects of producers. The materials we use come mostly from BEHAVE for the ethical sourcing of raw materials, as well as from Accords et Parfums, a pillar of ethical perfumery, promoting perfumers' copyrights and the quality of materials, as well as fair partnerships with producers.

Vegan Perfume

This is a perfume that does not contain any animal materials. We made this choice fairly early on, when the brand was founded. Historically, we can already tell you about six animal raw materials that have already been used in the development of perfumes, namely:

Ambergris: a highly fragrant fatty substance derived from the intestines of the sperm whale. Both highly fragrant and endowed with fixative properties, ambergris is a rare and expensive raw material. This is why perfumers today use a synthetic essence such as Ambroxan or Ambrox instead of ambergris.

Castoreum: an oily secretion produced by certain exocrine scent glands located in the cloaca of two species of North American beavers. When diluted, castoreum releases a sweet, furry and leathery amber scent.

Beeswax: produced within the hive by bees, it is used to obtain bee breccia absolute. The concrete is washed with alcohol before formulating a perfume, to which the beeswax adds honeyed notes.

Civet: an odoriferous substance secreted by the anal glands of the male and female musk cat, commonly known as civet. Perfumers no longer use this natural secretion, which is prohibited by regulations. They replace it with reconstructive products.

Hyraceum: Also known as African stone, this animal raw material is none other than the petrified urine of a South African rodent, the Cape hyrax.

Tonkin musk: A secretion produced by a ventral gland of a mammal living in the wild in Siberia and Asia, the male musk deer. Since the Washington Convention prohibits the hunting of musk deer, this powerful and sensual animal essence is being replaced by synthetic materials.

Is a vegan perfume cruelty-free?

The difference between the two is that the Vegan label indicates that the composition does not contain animal matter, while the cruelty-free label means that the products are not tested on animals. A CERTIFIED vegan perfume is systematically cruelty-free because the associations cover the composition and animal testing. In Europe, we no longer test cosmetics on animals. However, some countries require them to be tested on animals (like China) in order to sell them in their territory and in volume. This is not the case for us!

Are your perfumes organic?

Our eaux de parfum are made for all skin types. An organic perfume is a perfume created from a minimum percentage of organic natural ingredients (95%). An organic raw material has this designation if its production follows the criteria of organic farming. Given the limited quantity of raw materials bearing this organic label, perfumers are thus limited in their creations. This must also be acknowledged by the price of these ingredients. Furthermore, our small producers, even if they cultivate in an eco-responsible way like ours, do not allow us to claim this label: we will therefore not seek to engage in "greenwashing," while respecting the principles of this culture as much as possible, and we use the products of small producers not certified organic. However, our alcohol (85% of the product) is certified organic.

Made in France

The production of our eaux de parfum is French. Indeed, the raw materials are all gathered in the town of Grasse where the perfumes (the perfume concentrates) are made. Then, still in France, the organic alcohol is added to organic French wheat alcohol, macerated for a period of 5 weeks, icing (a step in which the perfume is brought to a temperature below 5°C), and finally filtered to remove all residual matter. Packaging is carried out by an ESAT (Employment Assistance Service) in the Paris region, which is an establishment and service providing assistance through work. In France, an ESAT (Employment Assistance Service) is a sheltered medical-social work establishment reserved for people with disabilities and aimed at their social and professional integration.

Is your packaging eco-friendly?

We work with imPRIm'VERT-certified printers (for the production and printing of packaging), which aims to encourage companies engaged in printing activities to implement concrete actions that reduce their environmental impact. Our wooden travel cases are made of ash wood from European PEFC forests. PEFC is the leading forest certification system in terms of surface area, the world's leading source of certified wood. All our glass bottles are recyclable. However, the spray bottles (pumps) are not recyclable due to the many technical components made of different materials. We are continually striving to improve our packaging to limit our environmental impact.

Are your glasses biodegradable?

Glass takes 4,000 to 5,000 years to biodegrade in nature! So yes, in France, we recycle glass. But is recycling a real solution for preserving our beautiful planet? (see https://www.consoglobe.com/recycler-verre-4321-cg/Recycling glass is one of the most effective ecological actions we can take). Indeed, glass takes 3 or 4 millennia (or so we believe) to decompose in nature. Creating "new" glass from recycled glass consumes much less energy; in fact, one ton of recycled glass saves half a ton of CO2. So why recycle glass? While packaging is essential for protecting food and beverages, it is considered inert. Glass packaging ensures good preservation, safe delivery, and attractive presentation for a wide range of consumer products supplied to European and global markets, whether for beverages, cosmetics, perfumes, or pharmaceuticals. Glass is 100% recyclable, infinitely recyclable, and remains inert, preserving the original taste of the products it contains: it is the most reliable product today, far ahead of plastic, even when it comes to recycling.

Ethical Charter

We apply an ecological and ethical approach based on a shared desire to promote a natural, healthy, and reasonable way of consuming cosmetics. The rigorous selection of natural materials and certain synthetic notes in adequate quantities, respectful of the environment and the health of living beings, aims to encourage a value-based approach in a market that is not necessarily ethical, such as perfume. This applies both to the content and the container (less plastic and materials harmful to the planet in packaging). We guarantee that our perfumes do not contain formaldehyde, benzene, acrolein, bisphenol A, parabens, or phthalates.

What is a perfume?

A perfume is described as a pleasant odor given off by something, or a fragrant product for perfuming the body, composed of a mixture of aromatic products (concentrated) and ethyl alcohol, which serves as a carrier for the scent. More technically, perfume refers to an olfactory composition created in a laboratory, based on aromas and combining natural or artificial materials for the concentrated odorant component (essential oils, absolutes, concretes, etc.). Depending on the type of perfume, alcohol, oil, or balm, or a fixative is added. In addition to the concentrate, we use COSMOS-certified organic ethyl alcohol from organic wheat farming, which does not contain phthalates, in a proportion of 15 to 18%.

Alcohol in Perfume

Alcoholic perfumes are the most common fragrances. The alcoholic or ethanol carrier is volatile and, once evaporated, leaves only the fragrance on the skin. Alcohol also ensures proper preservation of the product and is antioxidant and antibacterial.

Perfume types are categorized:

Perfume has a concentration of 15% and up to 40% for a long-lasting effect of more than a day,

Eau de Parfum has a concentration of 12% to 20% for a long-lasting effect of several hours (our eaux de parfum have a concentration of more than 15% for a day's wear),

Eau de toilette has a lower concentration of 6 to 12% and only lasts a few hours,

Eau fraîche has a concentration of less than 5% for a short lasting effect.

Denatured alcohol

Denatured means making unfit for consumption (orally). It is a European requirement that a petrochemical or emetic product be added to the ethyl alcohol. Phthalates are generally added, which also have a preservative and odor-fixing function. We use COSMOS-certified organic ethyl alcohol, generally from wheat or beetroot in France, denatured with Bytrex, an industrial emetic that does not contain phthalates.

Manufacturing Concentrates

Natural raw materials are grouped according to the NACERév.2 classification, which breaks down the class into four manufacturing branches:

Essences of natural aromatic products;

Resinoids;

Compositions based on odoriferous products for food;

Manufacturing compositions based on odoriferous products other than for food (mainly perfumery).

Synthetic raw materials are grouped into three manufacturing categories (NACE standards). Chemicals: Basic chemicals, synthetic aromatics, and coal tar distillation.

Clean formulation

A perfume with a clean formulation for both the self and the environment is a perfume formulated from raw materials that do not present any recognized danger to nature. These materials, whether natural or not, must therefore be as sustainable as possible and have no long-term impact on our environment. It is also a perfume without raw materials that could pose a danger to humans by having carcinogenic, mutagenic, or reprotoxic effects (toxic for reproduction). These so-called CMR materials are all listed by IFRA (International Perfume Association) regulations, and their use is controlled.

Natural Perfume

A natural perfume is a fragrance composed of natural raw materials (essential oil, absolute, resinoid) or of natural origin (molecules isolated from and derived from a natural product).

The Structure of a Perfume

For copyright protection reasons, perfumers are not required to disclose the list of components to the public. It is generally a combination of natural or artificial materials that gives a perfume its originality, character, and specificity. Thus, its characteristics are carefully guarded. The materials that make up the perfume are highlighted without disclosing all their proportions and arrangements. However, it is impossible to describe a perfume simply by listing its components, which are often numerous. On the other hand, it is possible to classify a perfume according to its olfactory family, in order to construct an olfactory pyramid (notes which appear when used). It includes the following notes: citrus, floral, aromatic, fruity, spicy, woody, amber, green, aquatic, leathery, and animal.

The Olfactory Pyramid

When sprayed, the perfume notes do not appear at the same speed and always arrive in a gradual order. This is how an olfactory pyramid is defined, which gradually describes the arrival of the essences, with 3 levels:

The top note gives the first impression of the perfume with citrus, green, aromatic, fruity, and aquatic notes. These are volatile notes that are perceived from the very first moments and last for about 30 minutes and gradually evaporate;

The middle note then gives the "sillage" of the perfume with aromatic, fruity, Floral, spicy, and woody notes. These notes can linger for several hours. The heart note carries the facets that give the perfume its body. It is more intimate than the top note;

The base note is there to last, and is therefore referred to as its staying power. It contains traces of the heart notes that linger. The base note gives the perfume its depth. It particularly contains woody, mystical, oriental, gourmand, and powdery notes.

Allergens

IFRA is an organization representing the international perfume industry whose goal is to ensure that perfumes are safe for consumers by establishing a form of regulation. This organization ensures consumer protection, and its regulations must continue to be followed by the entire industry. IFRA lists these molecules on the INCI display on European product labels. Allergens above a certain threshold in perfumes must be reported in this list. Some people may become allergic to certain molecules through repeated use of certain raw materials. In a perfume, they are present in two forms: as molecules (in their pure form) or within natural products. This is why all perfumes containing natural products are more or less allergenic. Essential oils, for example, are not recommended for pregnant or breastfeeding women. In addition, we use reworked natural citrus essential oils to limit their photosensitizing effects.

What do your perfumes contain?

Our eau de parfums contain: 15-17% perfume concentrate, 79% denatured organic wheat alcohol, 5% demineralized water. We strive to ensure our products are as natural as possible: between 87% and 100%.

Creating a Perfume

We begin with a brief, based on a picture, a memory of places, emotions, moods, an atmosphere, scents, and more specifically, raw materials, a desire for travel and horizons, a wide range of aromas, scents, and research, discoveries, novelties, and originalities: a sum total, a cocktail of creation, innovation, escape, and tradition. We seek the pleasure of scents and materials and their evocation without worrying about constraints of rarity (we'll simply say finding them), depending on the richness of the supply that may exist. It's also naturally a taste and style that must fit the brand, blending exoticism, love, enthusiasm, and sincerity.

What is a nose?

It's not just an organ for breathing, but a profession! A nose can be a "perfumer-creator," "perfumer analyst," "perfumer ingredient," "technical perfumer," and/or an evaluator who tests fragranced food or cosmetic products. Perfumer-creators, or Noses, have stored hundreds or even thousands of scents (natural and/or synthetic) in their memory to create original fragrances by combining essences. A Nose must ensure they follow a brief and comply with current regulations. It is after numerous tests and through iteration that an Eau de Parfum is chosen for its release on the market. It will represent the completeness of a range or an intimate and original favorite.

Natural Raw Materials

The essences used in the composition of a perfume are generally made from raw materials of plant, animal, or synthetic origin.

Plant Materials:

FLOWERS

The noblest are undoubtedly rose and jasmine, to which tuberose and iris are added. Other commonly used flowers are violet (of which the leaves are mainly used), orange blossom (or neroli), mimosa, daffodils, lavender, and ylang-ylang (or ylang-ylang), a flower native to the islands of the Indian Ocean.

FRUITS

The fruits used in perfumery are mainly citrus fruits. There are various varieties of lemons and oranges, including lime and bergamot. Other fruits are most often synthetic products, the most frequently used being vanilla.

OTHER

There are many, from trees to the most humble herbs. From a tree or shrub, the bark or wood (cinnamon, sandalwood, cedar, birch, guaiac wood), or the resin (frankincense, myrrh, benzoin, labdanum) can be used. Plants can be used as is (rosemary), the leaves (patchouli, verbena), the roots (vetiver, ginger), or the seeds (cardamom, coriander, tonka bean).

Extraction Technique

There are three main methods for extracting essences: distillation, extraction using volatile solvents, and enfleurage.

Distillation is the main method used to extract essential oils. Known since ancient times, it was perfected in the Arab civilization from the 8th century onward and remains a major technique in traditional perfumery today. The distillation method involves extracting the perfume using steam in a still. The still is a steel tank topped with a serpentine pipe in which the flowers and plants are placed on a perforated tray located at the top of the tank; the still is then filled with boiling water. As it rises, the released steam absorbs the fragrant principles of these plants and carries them into a coil where a refrigeration system allows its condensation. The mixture of water and essential oil thus obtained is then collected in essencialers, also called Florentine vases, in which the two liquids naturally separate due to the difference in density. The essential oils are collected at the surface to be used in perfumery, while the scented waters of certain essences (rose water, orange blossom water, etc.) are reserved for other uses. "For example, five to six tons of roses are needed to obtain one kilo of essential oil."

Volatile solvent extraction involves dissolving the plant's fragrant material in a solvent that is then evaporated. This technique has been practiced since the 18th century using ether, an expensive and highly flammable product. Today, more suitable solvents are used, such as ethanol, methanol, benzene, or carbon dioxide. The plants are placed in enormous steel vats called extractors and subjected to successive washes with solvents, which absorb their fragrance. After decanting and filtering, the solvent is evaporated to obtain a kind of strongly odorous paste called concrete for flowers and resinoids for the material derived from the processing of dried plants (roots, mosses). After a series of alcohol washes in mechanical beaters and glazings, the concrete gives rise to a pure essence called an absolute.

The enfleurage technique relies on the power of fatty substances to naturally absorb odors. It can be practiced, depending on the plants' resistance to heat, in hot or cold conditions. Hot enfleurage (or maceration) consists of infusing flowers or other fragrant elements in previously heated fatty substances. The resulting mixtures are then filtered through cloths to obtain scented ointments. This technique, known since Antiquity, was supplemented over the centuries by advances in other extraction methods. Mechanically washing these scented ointments in alcohol in beaters thus produces a scented alcoholic extract after separating the fatty and alcoholic products. The cold enfleurage technique was developed for the most fragile flowers, such as jasmine, tuberose, or daffodil, which could not tolerate heating. Widespread in the Grasse region until the first half of the 20th century, it involves spreading a layer of odorless fat on the walls of a glass frame, which is then covered with flowers. These flowers are renewed until the fat is saturated with perfume. The resulting scented ointments can be used as is for the manufacture of cosmetic products. Treated with alcohol in threshers to remove their fat, they allow for the production of an absolute after evaporation. This technique is rarely used today, as it is very expensive.

Synthetic Materials

Synthetic materials are artificially produced molecules. They can be naturally present in certain natural raw materials or invented by humans. A material equals a molecule whereas for a natural material (essential oil, absolute, etc.) it is composed of multiple molecules. There are several methods for manufacturing synthetic materials (chlorination, distillation, cyclization, esterification, etc.). These methods are more or less long and complex and aim to produce the purest, most stable material with the best possible yield. Synthetic raw materials are today the basis of perfumery. Advances in chemistry since the mid-19th century have allowed the development of industrial perfumery meeting the quality and volume expectations of the global market. They are not always less expensive than natural materials, but their choice most often responds to ecological constraints, out of concern for preserving biodiversity and consistency in product quality. "Green" chemistry in the laboratory can ethically address the overexploitation of land and crops.

Are synthetic materials toxic to health and the environment?

They are generally the result of several years of scientific research. Unlike natural materials, synthetic materials are not subject to climatic hazards; all their manufacturing processes are carried out in laboratories. While this process is based on green chemistry (respectful of the environment and its resources), it can be said that some synthetic molecules are more environmentally friendly than natural ones. However, this is not the case for all synthetic materials, and likewise for natural materials, not all of them are produced sustainably and eco-responsibly. Thanks to current European regulations and awareness of our environmental impact, all these synthetic materials are monitored to ensure their impact is as neutral as possible.

Does the perfume change on my skin?

One characteristic of perfumes is that they transform on the skin, and it varies from person to person, giving it a unique and unique character. It's also important to note that each person's skin type involves a noticeable, or sometimes obvious, transformation of the perfume. Thus, it is personalized according to the wearer. Perfume rarely smells the same on two different people.

Perfume Storage

It's a bit like storing fine wine: avoid differences in heat, light, and humidity.

Heat: expands and transforms the olfactory molecules in your perfume and can therefore alter its properties and longevity.

Light: UV rays alter the quality of many materials, particularly liquids and their olfactory molecules.

Humidity: A humid room, and over time, the precious liquid risks losing some of its olfactory virtues. It's best to opt for a dry room.

 

Regulations in the Perfumery Sector

The perfumery sector is particularly regulated by law and is constantly being reviewed. This allows for the review or banning of products related to health (ANSM) and concerns individual components, their dosage, the product, legal notices, distribution, marketing, etc. "The composition of cosmetic products is strictly regulated by regulations, whether French or European. Since 1975 in France, and since 1976 in Europe (with the European directive known as the "Cosmetics Directive", replaced in 2009 by Regulation No. 1223/2009), regulations have determined the ingredients (or substances) that may be used in cosmetic products. It establishes the list of prohibited substances (more than 1000 substances) and specifies at what maximum concentration and under what conditions certain substances can be used safely. It also establishes the restricted list of colorants, preservatives and UV filters that can be used in cosmetic products to ensure the functions of coloring, preservation, sun protection. These lists are regularly updated to take into account scientific advances. Previously, the European REACH regulation, relating to the registration, evaluation and authorization of chemicals and which came into force on June 1, 2007, aims to better protect human health and the environment against the risks that chemicals can present. The regulation stipulates that manufacturers are responsible for assessing the risks posed by the chemical products they use or place on the market and for providing their users with the necessary information. The registration of substances is mandatory with the European Chemicals Agency; Substances that have not been registered will no longer be able to be placed on the European market.

How to use your perfume?

According to the great perfume book, nez culture: "Each perfume requires its own application technique. For sprays, the dose to apply naturally depends on the intensity of the fragrance, your tastes, the moment, your mood, and the desired effect." "Regarding application, skin or clothing, why choose? Upon contact with the skin, the fragrance will develop in a more personal way. Be careful if you tend to sweat; humidity can significantly alter the scent and the fragrance's longevity. Clothing is an excellent medium, but prefer woolens, cotton, cashmere, or silk, and avoid perfuming synthetics, which develop an unpleasant odor."

Yuka app notes

YUKA's rating is based on allergens. The primary principle of the application is to decipher the labels with allergens on the INCI list of food and cosmetic products and analyze their impact on health. However, we note that the more natural the fragrance is and has aromatherapeutic effects, the lower the score will be, especially with certain FiiLiT fragrances. Essential oils are plant concentrates and have allergens. We find this application useful when you are allergic to something in particular. However, it does not qualify the quantity of an allergen and will therefore limit itself to favoring products without active ingredients through its rating. Indeed, since allergens are often present in natural active ingredients, the application will give a poor rating to a product that has active ingredients but is effective. For example, a day cream with 90% water and 10% silicone will have a score of 100/100 on the application because there would be no allergen but it has no active function and will even clog the pores of the skin. We place more trust in labels like COSMOS, which control formulas. For example, our 99.9% natural Waka fragrance from Madagascar with active aromatherapy properties receives the lowest rating on Yuka, even though it has the most health benefits. As soon as essential oils are present, there are allergens, and therefore a poor rating on this app. France is the most stringent country when it comes to INCI lists, which means that the same product sold in the US will receive a much better rating because brands are not required to display INCI lists!

Finally, we work on our formulas to avoid polluting groundwater while still indulging in beauty that returns to the roots of nature, our own. We are constantly studying, learning, and improving.

We want major brands to apply more ethical values because they have the means to do so. So let's create demand together.