DOLMA

Vegan and Cruelty-Free Fragrances

Be the first to review

Vegan Perfumes
SkinCare & Candles

Dolma Fragrances offers 100% vegan, cruelty-free fragrances for men and women. Our perfumes and colognes contain no parabens, palm oil or phthalates.

All ingredients are sourced sustainably and ethically. Dolmas fragrances are held to high safety regulations to make sure they are not only safe for animals and the environment but you too.

VEGAN | CRUELTY-FREE | PARABEN FREE | PALM OIL FREE | PHTHALATE FREE | MADE IN THE UK | INDEPENDANT SMALL BUSINESS

The History of Dolma by April Farnath

After leaving Sheffield University, Jim worked as an Industrial Chemist followed by teaching Chemistry, Maths and Music. He also obtained the London College of Music diploma in Composition. Before he retired, he worked as a Lecturer.

In his thirties, he became a Buddhist. He was a Vegan for around 55 years and a member of the Vegan Society. Jim believed we could all survive fine on a Vegan diet. Suffering feels the same, whether it is inflicted on an animal or a person.

Jim played the bass clarinet, saxophone, piano and organ and enjoyed writing music. Over his lifetime he formed four Bands, which often performed local Concerts. He particularly liked Jazz. He also enjoyed formulating cruelty-free (Vegan) perfumes and toiletries. A lot of the perfume names were related to music. He was very interested in animal welfare and supported various animal charities.

Jim was an industrial chemist until he was in his forties. He was very interested in blending essential oils, and at that time there were hardly any perfumes available which were completely vegan, so along with further research and his previous knowledge, he started experimenting. Eventually, he created a few perfumes which he asked friends and family to test. The feedback was good so around 1982, he occasionally advertised in the Vegan Magazine. He received regular orders from about 25 loyal Vegans. He did this as a hobby; he was not a businessman. The money he received from the Sales was used to buy more ingredients for further experiments. He never went on to promote the perfumes elsewhere.

His first perfume could have been Sarabande (which was previously called ‘Niamh’) or ‘Cushie B’. Some of his early ones were called Tara, Mambo, Lavendula & Early Autumn. When I became involved, he was selling six perfumes which were Cushie B, Opus in Pastels, Prelude, Raga, Rondo & Sarabande. The labels were photocopied on different coloured papers. Over the years, new perfumes were gradually introduced. These included Quintet, Sonata, Anahita, Calista, Vegamusk, Amethyst Mist, Compassion and Andromeda. ‘Quintet’ was initially sold as a unisex perfume. The formulae were revised, and the finished product was changed to the aftershave now called Freedom. Sirius aftershave followed shortly after.

It was a lot harder in those days as everything had to be done by post, fax or phone. I don’t think the internet and emails started until the early nineties, and not many businesses or individuals were online until years later. After a while, I got in touch with the BUAV, Dr Hadwen Trust, Animal Aid and Naturewatch and eventually got them to sell perfume alongside their other products. Unfortunately, Dr Hadwen and The BUAV finally stopped selling merchandise. I also got Honesty Cosmetics on board. Around that time we decided to go for a website on the Vegan Village. With this and the various charities promoting our perfumes, we reached the stage where the fragrances were selling well.

We did not have any problems, at the start, getting accreditation from the various animal charities we dealt with. The hardest part was getting all the information together from multiple suppliers to prove we did not use any animal-derived and animal-tested substances in our products.

Some of the big challenges we had over the years was keeping on top of the Cosmetics regulations and Trading Standards labelling regulations. The ethical difficulties we came across were sustainable sourcing ingredients such as Sandalwood but were successful in sourcing ingredients that fitted our ideals. We sold the business in August 2015 when I was 60. I knew in the right hands it would prosper.

Our Vision and Mission

Mission

Dolma is an independently owned, 100% vegan brand. We are a team  who believe deeply in the cause. We aim to offer an alternative to commercial fragrances that is ethical while retaining quality and beauty. We believe in our brand as offering a unique set of fragrances that won’t be found anywhere else.

Our core values are honesty, transparency, continuous development, helpful customer service and above all commitment to animals and nature.

Vision

Our vision for Dolma is simple. We want to become a leading fragrance brand in the UK and Europe. Our vision is for continuous development in the face of new ingredient and material development so that we can maintain high standards of quality and ethics.

Our vision is to listen to our consumers and fulfil their needs for an ethical, sustainable and animal-friendly fragrance. We know that each year new information and new understanding comes out and we promise to keep us as far as we can within our means and growth as a company.

Ethics

All of us have a shared love of animals. Just like you, we don’t belive in using animals in any sort of way, whether it’s for food, clothes or smelling good.

Thats why we are certified vegan and cruelty free. We want you to purchase our fragrances knowing that we are committed to a product that is free of any animal ingredients and definitely not tested on them.

We believe that beauty products should be cruelty free. We are proud to be Leaping Bunny approved. A global programme, Leaping Bunny requires cruelty free standards over and above legal requirements. 

All of our own brand cosmetic and personal care products are approved under the Cruelty Free International Leaping Bunny programme, the internationally recognisable gold standard for cruelty free products. We adhere to a fixed cut-off date policy and proactively monitor our suppliers to ensure that our products continue to adhere to the Leaping Bunny criteria. Our supplier monitoring system is also independently audited. 

For more information about Cruelty Free International, Leaping Bunny and Leaping Bunny criteria, please visit www.crueltyfreeinternational.org

Trusted Nature Ltd

We are an independent British company. There is no parent company and we have no association with any organisation that conducts animal testing or uses animal derived ingredients.

We have no intention of selling in any country that requires animal testing and are committed to using products that don’t use ingredients harming the planet such as palm oil. There is always new literature and studies coming out about new things, we hope to be on the times and keep up where we can. We aim to uphold our brand:​ Trusted Nature.

Dolma Is a Climate Positive Workforce

Dolma is enrolled in an initiative with Ecologi, a company that plants trees every month to offset each of our employees’ personal carbon footprint. Our footprints are calculated by national averages with a healthy margin on top to surpass the minimum requirement. You can view Dolma’s Profile to see what we are doing.

“You’ll be funding the world’s best climate crisis solutions. Our climate projects include renewable energy generation, forest protection, and community initiatives such as providing access to clean water.”

For Every Single Sale, We plant a Tree.

For us, it’s not just about the tree. It’s about what that tree offers to all the life around it. Reforestation of areas that have lost natural forests is essential to preserving biodiversity and strengthening the resilience of our ecosystems. For this reason, we pledge to buy a tree for every sale Dolma makes. Where are our trees planted? Ecologi has partnered with incredible people around the world, making a difference. See all the projects we are supporting.

Our Delivery Partners

We aim to work with the best. And by the best, we mean people with a vision. Our delivery partners are committed to being part of the solution. They actively incorporate measures to not only ensure they are delivering our products to you in the most sustainable way, but also implementing sustainable projects within their own company such as cycle to work days, video conferencing over travel, working with other partners who are committed to sustainability and last, but definitely not least, ensuring the resources they use are minimal, ethical and sustainable.

Our Ingredients

Dolma follows the strict regulations set out by Europe’s largest Fragrance Association – IFRA (International Fragrance Association).

IFRA aims to continue the beautiful tradition of fragrance within an environmentally conscious framework. See more about IFRA-IOFI Sustainability Charter.

Recycling

We aim to keep our packaging to an absolute minimum. For this reason, we do not sell our perfumes in boxes but rather apply ingredients to the bottles – fewer resources and less waste.

Our perfume bottles are entirely recyclable except for the tiny pipette inside the bottle serving the spray function. Unfortunately, an environmentally sound option is not yet available. As for the rest of the bottle, the glass, caps and pumps are all 100% recyclable.

Dolma’s candles are made from soy wax, the cleanest burning wax, and 100% biodegradable. They are housed in glass tumblers that are easily reused at home.

All of our bath and body items are in 100% recyclable bottles. If you choose not to reuse them for another purpose, we ask if you can please recycle them. Dolma has set out targets for ourselves, and being 100% plastic-free is part of our growth framework. We have recently updated our plastic discovery sets to FSC Certified cardboard and aim to have our bath & body range in glass with our next round of developments.