From the OEHHA website: 

"Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, was enacted as a ballot initiative in November 1986. The proposition protects the state's drinking water sources from being contaminated with chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm, and requires businesses to inform Californians about exposures to such chemicals.

Proposition 65 requires the state to maintain and update a list of chemicals known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity."

What does that mean for our perfumes? Well, whenever a certain chemical, natural or synthetic, is shown to potentially cause cancer or reproductive harm, we have to claim that on our website.

Our perfumes are formulated with the utmost care and attention to the scientific data. Many chemicals listed on the OEHHA website are naturally occurring in foods, drinks, plants, and other things that humans regularly come into contact with. Our perfumes are of comparable safety and quality to other perfumes which conform to the IFRA guidelines.

You might have noticed that we're open about including all IFRA-restricted chemicals and ingredients in our fragrances. These restrictions are mainly because some folks might have allergic reactions to them. But don't worry! Following IFRA guidelines usually means most people won't have any issues. However, there's a chance that someone might be extra sensitive to a particular allergen, which could lead to a rash or some redness. If you know you're sensitive to fragrances, we suggest doing a quick patch test before diving in completely—just to be on the safe side!

At Hoshi Gato, we blend both natural and synthetic ingredients in our fragrances. While there's a common misconception that natural ingredients are inherently safer for the body than synthetic ones, the truth is they're often composed of the same aroma chemicals found in synthetic perfumery. Whether sourced from nature or created synthetically, we prioritize safety in the utilization of all our ingredients, ensuring they're used in the most secure manner possible.

Natural materials are derived from legally determined "natural processes". These processes require that the material is extracted from a natural source in a way that involves minimal processing and does not create unnatural products. Natural aroma chemicals include naturally extracted isolates, essential oils, absolutes, resinoids, concretes, and similar extractions. 

While synthetic ingredients can be chemically identical to naturals, they are not derived in a natural manner. For example, alpha pinene is found in many natural materials, but can be synthetically created as well. When alpha pinene is artificially synthesized, it is considered synthetic. Synthetic materials, of course, can also be exclusively synthetic and not naturally occuring. Basically, anything that is not extracted from a natural material in a "natural" manner (as described above) is synthetic.

All of our fragrances are 25%. Eau de parfum, parfum, and extrait de parfum are all very unspecific terms, but they are industry standard. EDP in our perfumes stands for "extrait de parfum". 

No, most perfumes do not contain pthalates, to my knowledge. Pthalates are cheap diluents used mostly in fragrance oils and some home fragrance products that are not intended for direct skin contact. Our perfumes are diluted in alcohol and, occasionally, our aroma materials will come pre-diluted in IPM, TEC, or DPG.

Nope! Our perfumes are fragrance oil-free! We make our perfumes using quality perfumery ingredients like natural and synthetic isolates, essential oils, resins, and absolutes! All perfumes are formulated by the perfumer and owner of Hoshi Gato, Ember Bennett. 

Since my process is so long and meticulous, I don't see it as economically feasible to create a custom fragrance. I don't formulate perfumes by mixing pre-made accords together, because I think it negatively affects blend quality. My fragrances take months to complete and I wouldn't want to sell a product that is not as good as what people would expect from me.

We recommend getting professional allergy testing done to determine which materials you're allergic to specifically. We cannot determine this ourselves.

We list all known allergenic materials in our ingredients lists. However, it is possible that things which are not known allergens can be allergenic to some people. If you would like a full ingredients list, please contact us with the contact form!