THE RACONTEUR
“A story about the quiet beauty of what was always there”
We tell the story of iconic Australian locations through their scent. Our focus is on Australia’s unique native botanical heritage. All our products are handmade at our atelier in Sydney’s northern beaches.
Our home fragrance collection comprises 100% soy candles (we do not use paraffin in our wax), reed diffusers and raw unbleached Australian beeswax candles. Our body fragrances comprise roll-on oils and eau de parfums.
We only use natural ingredients in our fragrances. These comprise essential oils, plant absolutes and concretes as well as natural isolates. We seek out the finest quality raw materials and only make products in small batches when we are able to source raw materials that we think are exceptional. We recognise that as the climate changes from year to year, so too will the yield and quality of essential oils, absolutes, concretes and natural isolates. That volatility is something we embrace and respect as part of the cycle of nature on terroir. Our products will therefore change from year to year, just like annual vintages of wine. Our natural perfumery practice is no different.
We do not use synthetic ingredients (including synthetic isolates) in our fragrances. For example, our “apple” and “fig” notes are a composite of natural isolates. We are regularly asked about our “musk” notes. They are not synthetic. Nor are they animal derived. They are plant derived musk notes. Our fragrances do not contain animal products - they are vegan and are made cruelty-free. Read more
All our fragrances are unisex. We don’t believe that gender identity has any role to play in deciding what fragrance notes a person should, or shouldn’t like. Everyone should be free to love rich, earthy, woody, tobacco and whiskey notes. These are not the exclusive province of those who identify as male. And similarly, the intoxicating beauty of osmanthus, jasmine sambac and Bulgarian rose should be capable of enjoyment by anyone.
And while we’re on big topics, sustainability is an issue of material significance to the fragrance industry.
Several key fragrant raw materials are derived from plants that are, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature either critically endangered (agarwood or “oud”; certain species of sandalwood) or endangered (Atlas cedarwood, guaiacwood, rosewood, and vanilla). There are complex, nuanced challenges on both the supply side and demand side when it comes to this vast topic.
We developed our own Protocol to set out our guiding principles for how we approach Sustainability as a natural perfume house. Read more