The scent of sustainable fragrances

Local scent creator Tammy Frazer is the founder of Frazer Parfum. Her gorgeous natural and organic fragrances have big bragging rights for being not only bespoke, but sustainable products too. Here’s her story…

What’s your fragrance philosophy?

My products are all about the quality of the raw materials. Simply put, it’s about going to the source, finding the best quality and using the best to make perfume. And also telling the supplier’s story – what’s the history behind what’s being harvested and its origin.

Are your fragrances classified as organic?

My perfumes are natural and organic fragrances because I do not use any synthetics – they’re essential oils in alcohol. The reason why I chose this route is because if you, for example, compare the smell of a synthesized sandalwood and a natural one, there’s no comparison. The smell of natural is far more complex and voluptuous.

Why perfumes? What sparked your interest?

My interest in natural fragrances was born from a need to tick all the boxes I wanted in my work: working with farmers, making something beautiful, and travelling. I knew I wanted to have a sustainable business (environmental, social and economic impact) and natural perfumery ticked all the right boxes. I didn’t actually study perfumery because five years ago there was no formal training available for natural perfumery. I just simply decided I wanted to go and meet the farmers and started from there. There’s so much more that comes from a meeting. It’s like something else happens and you can really build a relationship.

Tell us about your earliest fragrance memories?

My first fragrance was Jean Paul Gaultier’s Classique – the first scent given to me by a man. I believe fragrance is very interlinked with your rite of passage as a woman.

Where is fragrance headed? What’s its future?

I believe the future of fragrance is that women will want to smell more like themselves and a lot less like candy – and you can do that with natural oils

What’s your best advice for women who’re shopping for a new perfume? How do you make the right decision rather than just an impulsive buy?

Try something on your skin (spray one fragrance on each hand between your thumb and forefinger) and then leave the shop. Now you need to live with the fragrance for a bit, so walk around and keep smelling it. But before you make your final choice, give the scent a day or so and then only go back to the store and make a final decision.

Frazer Parfum’s latest scent is Chapter Ten, inspired by Tammy’s expedition to the northwest of Namibia. The perfume juice is infused with omumbiri, a raw material gathered by the indigenous Himba women. It is a golden honeyed resin that is collected off the twigs as a gum exudate from Commiphora wildii, a hardy local desert bush. A porcelain 80ml flacon is R990 and available via [email protected].

Here’s how the fragrance came into being: