Ethics & Sustainability

Vegan & Cruelty-Free

As a vegan since 2008, it was important to me to design Mariesme to be vegan and cruelty-free from the ground up. Absolutely everything is vegan, down to using vegan adhesive on the labels and vegan ink for the stamps.

Mariesme does not test products on animals or commission any animal testing of products. And of course, I only source ingredients from suppliers who state that they do not conduct or commission animal testing.

 

No synthetics or petroleum derivatives

Unlike most commercial brands of perfume, which use synthetic fragrance (95% of which are petroleum-derived and which are as damaging for coral reefs as sunscreen), I use only 100% natural, plant ingredients. No synthetics and no petroleum-derived fragrance, ever.

 

Biodegradable & ocean-safe

Since I use only plant materials, the perfume's ingredients are ocean-safe and naturally biodegradable.

 

Low waste by design

Traditional perfumery spends up to 10x more on packaging than ingredients. I flipped that on its head and put the money where it matters - the perfume itself. I use a minimum of packaging to keep the perfume safe.

All perfumes are in recyclable glass bottles and I run a bottle reuse scheme in the UK. All shipping materials are made of recyclable or compostable materials and are mainly recycled paper.

Sourcing

I work with small, ethical suppliers where possible (for example most of my ingredients come from a family-run business in Wales and most packaging from a Lancashire-based family business specialising in sustainable paper products that's been around since 1991).