Behind the Scenes of our Sustainability Journey

Sharing my personal story has been at the heart of STORIES Parfums since day one - and I believe it's important to remain open as the brand grows.

As a STORIES customer, you are an integral part of our narrative - without you, we simply wouldn't be here. Remaining an open book and inviting you on this journey with us seems the very least I can do as a thank you for your loyalty.

Authenticity

As a luxury brand, every STORIES product is handcrafted, beautifully packaged, boxed and presented into your hands. The reality is that behind the scenes, a lot of blood, sweat and tears go into making all of this happen - and I'd like to share a little taster of this with you today.  

STORIES Parfums is an independent brand run by a small, handpicked team, led by one woman - that's me, Tonya... a mother, daughter, wife, friend and champion of other female founders.

Award Winning

The team and I are always striving to do better - and I'm proud that our great strides to date have been acknowledged by accolades including:

• Get the Gloss Wellness Awards Winner 2023
• Social London Best Beauty Buys 2022
• Marie Claire Sustainability Awards, Highly Commended 2021 & 2022
• Pure Beauty Global Awards, Gold Winner
• Beauty Bible Awards, 2020
• Pure Beauty Awards, Bronze Winner 2019
• Indie Beauty Expo Best in Show 2019

Accreditation

We are currently working towards accreditations that provide brand credibility in an increasingly competitive market, such as:

• Positive Luxury Butterfly Mark certification - which validates luxury brands contributing to the future of the planet.
• B-Corporation - certification of a brand's social and environmental performance.

Although we already tick the required boxes, acquiring publicly recognised accreditations costs time and money. As an independently owned and financed company, competing with larger corporations can be challenging; we have begun the process and are committed to pursuing full accreditation.

Sustainability

For a small brand, prioritising sustainability comes at a significant price, yet its importance is too great to ignore. We believe in taking small steps forward rather than none at all - and are committed to making sustainable choices.

Combining sustainability with delivering an excellent, cost-effective premium product, made by traditional methods is so important to us, yet brings its challenges.

There is so much more we want to do, and as quickly as possible, but we are still a growing perfume house - with a dedicated vision.

Our Journey to Net Zero

This month is Plastic Free July® - a global movement that helps millions of people be part of the solution to plastic pollution, so we can have cleaner streets, oceans, and beautiful communities. It is our mission to remove plastic from our packaging and supply chain - bringing luxury and sustainability together.

Our commitment to minimising our environmental footprint began when we first launched in 2018, focusing on refillable bottles. In 2020, we took a significant step by eliminating plastic from our perfume packaging and discontinuing the use of cellophane on our boxes.

Our glass bottles are refillable, reusable and recyclable. Our bottle caps are made from 100% recyclable Zamak and our bottle labels are made from marble mining waste.

We've just launched new sustainable packaging for our Hand & Body Collection, which we've switched from plastic to aluminum containers and tubes. Watch this space for more info in our upcoming journals.

Positive Industry Role Models

We greatly admire brands like Floral Street and Sana Jardin - outstanding examples of human, social, economic, and environmental-conscious perfume houses. As a small independent brand without external investment, we are inspired by them as we forge a unique path at our own pace. We're committed to staying true to our values and making meaningful progress in our sustainability journey.

Pushing Boundaries

It's disheartening to see the lack of sustainability initiatives within so much of the luxury niche cosmetic industry, despite the capacity to make a significant impact.

As a small player in the industry, we endeavour to make significant strides towards becoming the most sustainable brand we can possibly be. While current budget constraints limit our ability to use our voice and influence as much as we'd like, we're determined to continue pushing boundaries and creating positive change.

It's about doing what you can, when you can - and I'm hugely proud of what we've achieved to date.

Imperfection

While it brings me joy to share our successes, I'm first to admit that our journey has not always been smooth and had its own imperfections. Using plastic perfume caps was the main one; we've switched these up for Zamak caps in the past year - a 100% recyclable material, which provides a heavy touch and luxurious feel.

Creating the tapestry of our sustainable narrative has at times required unravelling sections and re-weaving them.

It's important to us to bring you, our customers along on this journey. Your feedback matters to us - we really do listen and make changes.  Please leave a comment below with your thoughts on how we can improve things further.