Delving into the world of natural fragrance with VAHY

It was a clear lack of fragrances in the market that fulfilled all of these qualities, which prompted longtime friends Anna Weatherlake and Kate Macdonald to establish the 100% natural fine fragrance house, VAHY at the height of the pandemic.

Passionate about clean living and transparency, and leaning on their respective backgrounds in healthcare law and marketing, Anna and Kate sought to provide consumers with an alternative to the many commercial and synthetic perfumes currently on the market.

Fast forward to 2025, and the now award-winning VAHY products can be found throughout Australia, including the nearby One Fine Secret, as well as the US and Asia.

The range has also grown to include home fragrances such as candles, and hotel amenities – perfect for the conscious traveller – are on the horizon.

Here one half of the founding duo, Anna chats with us about VAHY’s multi-layered product ideation and development process, commitment to all-natural, sustainable practices and shares her favourite fragrances, as well as scent selection tips.

How did you first meet, and what’s it like working together as both close friends and business partners?

Kate and I have been great friends since our university days, when we were housemates.

We’ve always shared a love of beautiful things, nature, and wellness, so when the idea for VAHY started to take shape, it felt like a natural evolution of our friendship.

Working together has been deeply rewarding. We bring different skillsets to the table – Kate with her background in law and mine more in marketing, but at the core, we’re both values-driven and aligned on what we want VAHY to represent.

Like any partnership, there are challenges, but we have a deep respect and trust in each other that underpins every decision.

What inspired the launch of VAHY?

The inspiration came from a place of curiosity and concern. While working as a lawyer in the healthcare space, Kate uncovered loopholes around fragrance ingredient disclosure, which is something most people don’t realise.

For me, I’ve always been passionate about natural, clean living and animal welfare, and when we started researching what’s actually in most commercial and synthetic perfumes, we were shocked.

It became clear that there was a gap in the market for a natural fine fragrance brand that didn't compromise on sophistication, performance or design. That’s how VAHY was born – out of a desire to create transparent, luxurious fragrances using only the highest quality natural ingredients.

Could you share with us the steps involved, from concept ideation, in bringing your vision to life?

For a natural fragrance, the journey often begins with inspiration, which tends to come from a place either Kate or I have visited. We then create a brief centered around how we want the fragrance to smell, what memories we want to evoke, and how we want it to make the wearer feel.

Then, its months of research – from studying fragrance notes, to ingredient sourcing, to sustainability and understanding formulation regulations.

We work closely with expert perfumers from around the world, refining each scent until it is aligned with our vision: refined, genderless, clean fragrances with depth and longevity. This often means many, many rounds of sampling.

How has the business grown and evolved since your 2020 launch?

We launched right in the middle of the pandemic, which was a shocking time to launch a fragrance business that people needed to smell.

Covid-19 had far better marketing and reach than we did at the time! While it was challenging, it forced us to think creatively about how to reach customers. Since then, we’ve grown from a small direct-to-consumer brand to a globally recognised natural fragrance house with stockists across Australia, the US, and Europe.

We’ve expanded our product range beyond fine fragrances to include scented products, and are now in talks with hotel amenities to roll VAHY scents out into the travel space. We've seen strong traction from both luxury retailers and conscious consumers who are seeking transparency and craftsmanship in what they wear.

VAHY is wholly committed to using natural ingredients. Can you tell us a little about your product development process?

Our product development is slow and considered, and proudly so. We don’t rush our formulations, because creating natural fragrances that are well-balanced, complex and long-wearing takes time. And, when you remove synthetics entirely from your formulations, it means you are working with a smaller offering of different scents, which is much, much more challenging for our perfumers.

We collaborate with skilled artisans and master perfumers to craft our products, carefully sourcing the finest natural ingredients from across the globe. Sustainability and ingredient traceability are core values for us. For instance, our organic orange oil is sustainably upcycled from the organic orange juice industry.

Similarly, our Australian sandalwood is sourced from an incredible Indigenous community in the Northern Territory, where they cultivate mixed-generation trees on their plantation, a practice spanning over 20 years. They also use recycled water and what’s even more special is their eco-friendly approach to managing weeds and insects – they use goats for the job, ensuring ethical practices at every step.

Each VAHY formulation goes through rigorous testing for stability, skin safety and scent performance. And we never use synthetic fillers, preservatives or anything animal-derived – staying true to our ethos of clean, conscious luxury.

What sets VAHY apart from other fragrance brands?

VAHY sits at the intersection of luxury and transparency. There are very few brands in the fine fragrance space that can genuinely claim to be 100% natural.

We also disclose every ingredient in our formulations and don't hide behind catch-all terms like 'fragrance', 'parfum, or 'alcohol denat,’ which are all umbrella terms used to hide nasties such as hormone disruptors, petrochemicals, phthathlates and other harmful ingredients.

We don’t believe you should have to compromise on aesthetic, performance or ethics – and we pour a lot of energy into ensuring our products deliver on all three. From ingredient integrity to minimalist design, everything we create is crafted with intention. Our scents are genderless, layered, and unlike anything you’ll find in the synthetic-heavy mainstream fragrance market.

What’s your favourite VAHY product or range, and why?

That’s such a hard question – it’s like choosing between your children! But if I had to pick, I’d say Ember Haze holds a special place in my heart. It's our number one selling scent and has won four international awards.

On the other end of the spectrum, Tarkine is incredibly grounding – it’s an ode to the Tasmanian rainforest, where Kate is from, and it captures the earthy stillness of that wild, natural place.

What are your recommendations when it comes to selecting the perfect fragrance?

Let your fragrance choose you. Don’t overthink notes – see how something makes you feel. Fragrance is so personal and emotional. We always suggest trying a scent on skin, living with it for a day, and seeing how it evolves with your body chemistry, especially if it's a natural fragrance.

Pay attention to what you reach for instinctively as often, that’s the one that resonates the most. And don’t feel confined by traditional gender categories. At VAHY, all our scents are unisex and designed to evoke mood, not identity, and given their natural formulations, are designed to evolve with your skin. Give them time to journey through their notes.

What’s next for VAHY?

We have some very exciting things in the pipeline – new scent launches, international retail partnerships, and continued growth into lifestyle categories. We’re also focused on deepening our sustainability commitments and further embedding our values into every part of the business.

Find your scent

Make the most of our reader exclusive! Enter the code BEVERLY20 when you reach the checkout out on the VAHY website to receive 20% off all 50ml and 10ml fragrance products between 1st – 31st August 2025.
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