What's Up With Water Based Fragrances?

A deep dive (sorry) into the next big thing in perfume

- JULEE WILSON

As a seasoned beauty editor, I am embarrassed to say that I only realised ‘eau de parfum’ translates to ‘perfume water’, while researching this story. Adding to my chagrin: said realisation happened while I was in France...with Dior’s team of expert noses. To be fair (to me), modern fragrances have mostly been made with alcohol instead of water, hence my surprise. But as part of the beauty industry’s effort to become cleaner, perfumers are starting to forgo synthetic ingredients wherever they can. Thus: a return to the literal eau. That’s especially great news because the other thing I learned in France is that waterbased scents tend to smell more natural and true to the ingredients. My personal proof was testing Dior’s new water-based version of its iconic J’adore—a fresh floral mix of jasmine, magnolia, and orange blossom. It did smell so ‘real’, like I was standing in some sort of citrusy field of flowers.

In fact, all the water-based blends I have since tried, including the ones above, seem to emit the purest form of the notes on their labels. They are also less likely than alcohol-based scents to dry out your skin or cause an allergic reaction. And that, IMO, is très bon.