Nothing Hidden.
You'll wear fragrance most days for the rest of your life. You should know what's in the bottle. Where most brands hide their ingredients behind "parfum" or "fragrance", ours are listed in full.
What's in a Sylvawell roll-on.
Two ingredients. That's the entire formula. Every component, in every scent, printed in full on every box.
Essential Oils
Steam-distilled or CO₂-extracted from real plants. Sandalwood, frankincense, geranium, vanilla, patchouli, cedarwood, and a small handful of others depending on the scent. Nothing isolated. Nothing synthesised. Nothing engineered.
Certified Organic Jojoba
The carrier. Cold-pressed, certified organic, single ingredient. The closest plant oil to your skin's own sebum, which is why it absorbs cleanly and doesn't sit on the surface.
That's the entire formula. There's nothing else in the bottle.
The honest trade-off.
Natural fragrance behaves naturally. It stays close to the skin, settles into your body chemistry, and fades through the day. That's the trade-off you're making for real ingredients.
Sylvawell projects close to the skin for around 2 to 4 hours. After that, it softens into a personal scent that stays with you for up to 8 hours and some even up to 12+ hours. It's designed to be worn by an actual human being, on actual skin, every single day.
Reapplication is normal. The same way you wouldn't eat one meal a day and call it sustenance, you don't put on one application of natural fragrance and expect it to behave like a chemistry lab.
It's what happens when nothing in the bottle is engineered to override your biology.
The word "fragrance" is a loophole.
Two ingredients is what the inside of a fragrance bottle should look like. Almost none of them do.
In Australia, the EU, the US and most of the world, fragrance formulas are treated differently from ordinary ingredient lists. A brand can list "fragrance", "fragrances", "parfum" or "parfums" and still avoid naming the full scent formula.
A single fragrance accord can hide dozens, sometimes hundreds, of synthetic chemicals. The consumer sees one word. The formula can be far more complex.
You're not being told what you're wearing. You're not being told what you're absorbing through your skin. You're not being told what you're breathing in every time you spray it.
That's the part of the industry no one talks about. It's also the part that made us start this brand.
Australian cosmetic labelling rules require ingredient information, but fragrance ingredients can be disclosed either by listing the individual fragrance ingredients or by using terms such as "fragrance", "fragrances", "parfum" or "parfums". Sylvawell chooses full disclosure instead.
Independent testing commissioned by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and analysed by Environmental Working Group found 38 undisclosed chemicals across 17 name-brand fragrance products.
The average product contained 14 chemicals not listed on the label. That is the problem with "fragrance" or "parfum": it is not one ingredient. It can be a concealed formula.
What's actually in synthetic fragrance.
A short list of the chemical groups used across conventional fragrance, and why we refuse to build Sylvawell with them.
Phthalates
Solvents and fixatives used in some fragrance systems to help scent cling to skin and last longer. Because they can sit behind the word “fragrance”, you may never know whether they are in the bottle.
Synthetic Musks
The base note in many modern perfumes. Lab-built molecules designed to make scent linger on skin, clothes, and in the air long after natural materials would have faded.
Formaldehyde Releasers
Preservatives that slowly release formaldehyde into a formula to help keep it stable on the shelf.
Petrochemical Solvents
Most spray fragrances use an alcohol base to carry scent, spread it quickly, and help it evaporate from the skin. Sylvawell does not use denatured alcohol, alcohol spray bases, or petrochemical solvent systems.
Synthetic Fixatives & Boosters
Lab-designed aroma molecules engineered to amplify projection, force longevity, and create scent profiles that do not exist in nature. These are the chemistry behind "beast mode" fragrances. Most of them you've never heard of, and you have no way of knowing how many are in the bottle on your bathroom shelf.
Sources and further reading
The claims on this page are supported by peer-reviewed research and regulatory guidance. Key sources below.
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Fragrance secrecy and undisclosed ingredients
Campaign for Safe Cosmetics & Environmental Working Group. Not So Sexy: The Health Risks of Secret Chemicals in Fragrance. 2010. Independent testing found 38 undisclosed chemicals in 17 name-brand fragrance products, with an average of 14 undisclosed chemicals per product.
Full report: https://www.safecosmetics.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Not-So-Sexy-report.pdf
EWG summary: https://www.ewg.org/research/not-so-sexy -
Fragrance/parfum labelling and ingredient disclosure
ACCC Product Safety. Cosmetics ingredients labelling mandatory standard. The standard requires cosmetic ingredient information and explains how ingredient lists must be presented.
https://www.productsafety.gov.au/business/search-mandatory-standards/cosmetics-ingredients-labelling-mandatory-standard
Australian Government Federal Register of Legislation. Consumer Goods (Cosmetics) Information Standard 2020. Section 7 allows fragrance ingredients to be shown as "fragrance", "fragrances", "parfum" or "parfums", or by listing the ingredients in the fragrance.
https://www.legislation.gov.au/F2020L01469/latest/text
Australian Industrial Chemicals Introduction Scheme (AICIS). Personal care, skincare, make-up and other cosmetic products. AICIS regulates cosmetic ingredients as industrial chemicals and notes that flavour and fragrance blends can involve protected trade-secret chemical identities.
https://www.industrialchemicals.gov.au/cosmetics-and-soap/personal-care-skincare-make-and-other-cosmetic-products -
What "fragrance" can mean on a label
Environmental Working Group. What is fragrance? EWG explains that fragrance may be made from a mix of many chemicals and that manufacturers are not generally required to list every fragrance ingredient on the product label.
https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news/2023/07/what-fragrance
Environmental Working Group Skin Deep. Fragrance. Describes "fragrance" or "parfum" as an undisclosed mixture of scent chemicals and related ingredients.
https://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ingredients/702512-FRAGRANCE/ -
Synthetic fragrance and health effects
Rádis-Baptista G. Do Synthetic Fragrances in Personal Care and Household Products Impact Indoor Air Quality and Pose Health Risks? Journal of Xenobiotics. 2023;13(1):121–131. doi:10.3390/jox13010010. Discusses synthetic fragrances, fragrance VOCs, indoor air quality, and reported cutaneous, respiratory, and systemic effects such as headaches, asthma attacks, and breathing difficulty.
PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36976159/
Full text: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10051690/
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/jox13010010 -
Endocrine disruption generally
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). Endocrine Disruptors and Your Health. NIEHS describes endocrine disruptors as chemicals that can interfere with the body's endocrine system.
Topic page: https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/endocrine
Fact sheet: https://www.niehs.nih.gov/sites/default/files/health/materials/endocrine_disruptors_508.pdf -
Synthetic musks and bioaccumulation
Reiner JL, Wong CM, Arcaro KF, Kannan K. Synthetic musk fragrances in human milk from the United States. Environmental Science & Technology. 2007;41(11):3815–3820. doi:10.1021/es063088a. The study analysed human breast milk samples for musk xylene, musk ketone, HHCB, AHTN, and HHCB-lactone.
PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17612154/
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/es063088a -
Synthetic musks and endocrine activity
Bitsch N, Dudas C, Körner W, Failing K, Biselli S, Rimkus G, Brunn H. Estrogenic activity of musk fragrances detected by the E-screen assay using human MCF-7 cells. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology. 2002;43(3):257–264. doi:10.1007/s00244-002-1192-5.
PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12202919/
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-002-1192-5
van der Burg B, Schreurs R, van der Linden S, Seinen W, Brouwer A, Sonneveld E. Endocrine effects of polycyclic musks: do we smell a rat? International Journal of Andrology. 2008;31(2):188–193. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2605.2007.00831.x.
PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17971161/
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2605.2007.00831.x
Eisenhardt S, Runnebaum B, Bauer K, Gerhard I. Nitromusk compounds in women with gynecological and endocrine dysfunction. Environmental Research. 2001;87(3):123–130.
PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11771925/ -
Formaldehyde
National Cancer Institute. Formaldehyde and Cancer Risk. NCI states that the International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies formaldehyde as a human carcinogen, and that the National Toxicology Program named formaldehyde as a known human carcinogen.
https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/substances/formaldehyde/formaldehyde-fact-sheet
Mainstream fragrance is fast food.
It's engineered to be hyper-palatable. Designed in a lab to hit harder, last longer, and project further than anything that occurs in nature.
It's the fragrance equivalent of a flavour built to override your appetite signals. Technically delicious. Optimised for impact. Built for performance before transparency.
Real food fades. Real fragrance fades. That's the trade-off when you stop using scent systems built to behave like industrial chemistry.
Sylvawell smells just as good. It's not built to last twenty hours, fill a room, or hide a chemical formula behind one clean-sounding word.
What you'll never find in a Sylvawell bottle.
These were never part of natural fragrance to begin with.
Natural does not mean inert.
Essential oils are biologically active plant extracts. That is exactly why we do not hide behind "fragrance", "parfum", or vague natural aroma language.
We name every essential oil, every time, so you can decide what belongs on your skin.
Every ingredient. Named.
No "fragrance." No "parfum." No hidden anything. Every essential oil used across Sylva, Aeris, Alba, and Sanctum. What it is, how it's produced, and what it brings to the skin.
Sandalwood
Steam-distilled from sandalwood heartwood. A creamy, soft, long-lasting base note that anchors a fragrance and adds quiet warmth to the skin.
Cedarwood
Steam-distilled from cedar heartwood. Dry, woody, and soft. A clean forest note that gives structure without sweetness.
Amyris
Steam-distilled from amyris wood. Soft, warm, and woody. Often used as a natural complement to sandalwood, adding depth and longevity.
Frankincense
Steam-distilled from the resin of the Boswellia tree. Clean, dry, slightly citrus-resinous. Used across all four scents as a clarifying backbone.
Myrrh
Steam-distilled from the resin of the Commiphora tree. Warm, balsamic, slightly bitter. Adds depth and an ancient, resinous quality to woody compositions.
Patchouli
Steam-distilled from fermented patchouli leaves. Earthy, deep, slightly sweet. A heavy base note that grounds and extends a fragrance on the skin.
Geranium
Steam-distilled from rose geranium leaves. Soft, floral, slightly green. A natural rose-like note without the heaviness of true rose absolute.
Ylang Ylang
Steam-distilled from ylang ylang flowers. Rich, sweet, tropical floral. Adds softness and depth to floral compositions.
Cypress
Steam-distilled from cypress needles and twigs. Fresh, green, crisp. Brings cool air and lift to heavier resins.
Petitgrain
Steam-distilled from the leaves and twigs of the bitter orange tree. Bright, green, slightly bitter-citrus. A cleaner alternative to lavender for fresh floral compositions.
Clary Sage
Steam-distilled from clary sage flowering tops. Herbal, soft, slightly tea-like. Adds a calm, contemplative layer to woody scents.
Coriander Seed
Steam-distilled from coriander seeds. Fresh, slightly spicy, warm. A sharp aromatic that lifts and adds dimension to base notes.
Bergamot FCF
Cold-pressed from bergamot peel, then filtered to remove furocoumarins, the compounds that make standard bergamot phototoxic. Bright, citrus, slightly floral. Chosen for lower phototoxicity risk than standard bergamot.
Sweet Orange
Cold-pressed from sweet orange peel. Clean, sweet citrus. A bright top note that lifts heavier compositions.
Vanilla CO₂
Extracted from cured vanilla pods using pressurised carbon dioxide. No solvents, no alcohol. Deep, sweet, creamy, and complex. Nothing like synthetic vanilla.
Jojoba
Cold-pressed from jojoba seeds and technically a liquid wax, not an oil. Non-comedogenic, shelf-stable, and the closest plant-derived material to your skin's own sebum. The reason Sylvawell absorbs cleanly instead of sitting on the surface.
The point is not that natural fragrance is magic. The point is that you deserve to know what you are wearing.
Try it on your own skin.
The Discovery Set is the easiest way in. Four scents, 2ml of each. If one becomes yours, you get a $10 credit toward the full size.