The latest perfume from the Italian fashion house, Where My Heart Beats, is a bit different from the previous ones. While the previous perfumes were made from agricultural raw materials, the latest is the first to be produced using alcohol derived from 100 percent recycled captured carbon. It also turns out that this is the first product of its kind distributed worldwide by Coty, which holds the license for cosmetics for Kering’s Gucci.
The luxury fashion house Gucci has long been more than just clothing and accessories. The brand also offers its consumers watches, jewelry, and even home accessories. It is also actively developing the segment Gucci Beauty responsible for various make-up cosmetics and perfumes. Within this line you can find various fragrances for women and men. All of them are characterized by high quality ingredients and refined and luxurious bottle design.
How does it actually work?
Making this product was undoubtedly an incredibly complex process. “The challenge with ethanol and water, or any larger chemical, is that you have to bind a few carbon atoms together.” Martin Mulvihill explains it all to us. He is the co-founder of Safer Made, a fund that invests in technologies that reduce people’s exposure to harmful chemicals. And since CO2 only has one carbon, binding it and reducing it to alcohol is a complicated process.
Alcohol is a key ingredient in fragrance production because it carries the scent well and disappears into the skin. Coty has used ethanol from various raw materials, such as sugar cane and sugar beets. However, this also had a negative impact on the environment, causing deforestation. For the new Gucci fragrance, carbon captured from industrial emissions, which is then converted into alcohol. This is the first perfume made from 100 percent captured carbon.
“The Alchemist’s Garden”
“The Alchemist’s Garden” is the name of the Gucci perfume collection, which was launched in 2017. The collection consists of 14 fragrances that were created using rare and precious plant ingredients such as agarwood bark, tuberose flowers, vetiver, cedar, musk and many others.
Each fragrance in the collection has its own individual name and tells its own story. The perfume bottles in this collection also feature a unique design. They are decorated with metal labels and made of durable, dark brown glass. Now, a new, revolutionary fragrance joins the ranks “Where My Heart Beats.”
It is priced at $330 per 100 ml – similar to other fragrances from the Italian luxury house. It will be available in selected Gucci stores from April. The brand also plans to present consumers with a digital campaign about the product.
Will the use of captured carbon revolutionize the cosmetics industry?
It is obvious that all chemicals used in perfumes end up back in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. Nevertheless, the solution proposed by Gucci is a step in the right direction. The introduction of such a product to the market, and by an industry giant, has of great importance to the cosmetics sector, which is examining its supply chains and ways of creating products that generate lower emissions.
Recently, under pressure from the media, many high-end cosmetics companies are taking a closer look at their carbon footprint. Long-term strategies to reduce carbon emissions are clearly needed. Gucci’s new fragrance, in turn, is helping to raise awareness in the industry and encourage companies to do the same.