Alcohol-free perfume: VOGUE Beauty boss Philipp Wehsack traveled with Dior to the Utah desert to discover a water-based fragrance. Why this place is by no means contradictory, what makes the production so complicated but also sustainable and why the alcohol-free new edition of “Sauvage” smells completely different to all its predecessors.
It is the beginning of June when we drive through the gates of the luxury resort “Amangiri” in Utah with a small group of journalists from all over the world in an old school bus. It took us a good four hours from Las Vegas to reach the remote hotel in the middle of the desert. It is this isolation that has made the five-star resort a sought-after retreat for numerous A-listers since it opened in 1998. Angelina Jolie and Ariana Grande have already vacationed here. Hailey and Justin Bieber as well as the Kardashian-Jenner clan also come regularly. Not least to use the breathtaking property with its characteristic concrete buildings that blend seamlessly into the rock formations as a backdrop for many, many Instagram posts. They never use a geotag. There is no need for one either. The 34 suites (there are no lower room categories here) are immediately recognizable by the white platform beds, from which you can look directly into the barren desert landscape through floor-to-ceiling windows.
The puristic architecture of the “Amangiri” spa complex blends seamlessly into the rocky landscape.
Celebrities like Kylie Jenner use the photogenic architecture of the “Amangiri” for their Instagram posts.
But we didn’t come here to test the hotel or to stalk celebrities, but rather to accept an invitation from Dior. The house is presenting its latest fragrance here: “Wild Water Forte“, which is inspired by the power of wild, untouched nature. The surroundings fit perfectly. Or is it? After all, it is the first highly concentrated men’s fragrance without alcohol that is based on water. And water is obviously scarce here: Utah is the driest state in the USA after Nevada. The local reservoir, Lake Powell, which has supplied millions of people in the southwest of the USA with water and electricity since the 1960s, is no longer even half full. Even though the water level has risen significantly compared to previous drought years and a historic low in 2022 – at that time it was only 1074 meters above sea level – the situation remains worrying. The lake was last completely full in 2001.
The fragrance launch will be celebrated in the secluded “Camp Sarika”, a particularly exclusive part of the hotel complex.
Why alcohol-free fragrances are particularly sustainable – and save water
Presenting a water-based perfume in this place of all places is by no means contradictory. “What many people forget is that alcohol, as the main ingredient in conventional perfumes, uses far more water in production. You need plants from which it is extracted. They have to be grown, which means they have to be watered. Avoiding alcohol in fragrances and using water instead saves resources,” explains Francis Kurkdjian, Perfume Creation Director at Dior. Dior is very committed to sustainability. The Maison’s website states that a “Dream in Green” committee, consisting of employees from various departments, meets monthly to measure and drive the progress of the efforts. In 2021, Christian Dior Couture received the globally recognized “Butterfly Mark” certificate, which confirms the authenticity of the sustainability strategy.
How giving up alcohol gives fragrances a new lightness
Sustainability is also important to Francis Kurkdjian’s employees in the fragrance department. However, with his new perfume, he was primarily concerned – and he emphasizes this very clearly – with the effect that removing alcohol from the formula and replacing it with water has on the fragrance itself: “In ‘Sauvage’, notes of lavender dominate. I wanted to compose a variant that is inspired by water and smells so fresh that it almost smells wet,” he says. To do this, the alcohol definitely had to go, because, according to Kurkdjian, it can change the smell of the fragrance mixture. “Alcohol brings out bitter notes in fragrances. It basically gives a certain dryness that can almost smell metallic,” he explains, adding: “That is an effect that can be very interesting for the design of a perfume. But it can also be annoying.” Simply removing it from the formula and just increasing the water content accordingly was impossible. “Unfortunately, it’s not that easy,” he says with a gentle smile.
