You Can’t Patent Nature: The Truth About Synthetic Fragrances $

When most people shop for perfume, they don’t realize there’s a hidden truth behind the fragrance industry: the dominance of petroleum-based synthetic aroma chemicals isn’t about artistry, quality, or even safety.

It’s about patents…

You Can’t Patent Nature

A rose, a cedar tree, a sprig of lavender — nature already created these wonders. That means no company can own them or file patents on their essence. As beautiful and complex as natural botanicals are, they can’t be locked down as intellectual property.

But You Can Patent a Lab-Made Chemical

In the late 19th and 20th centuries, chemists discovered they could invent entirely new aroma molecules in the lab. These molecules could be patented, which meant exclusivity, control, and—most importantly—profit. The fragrance industry quickly shifted its focus toward petroleum-derived synthetics, which were cheap to produce, consistent in supply, and legally protectable.

Profit Over Purity

Today, the majority of perfumes on the shelves are dominated by synthetic aroma chemicals. They’re marketed as “innovations” or “modern breakthroughs,” but the truth is simpler: they exist because they can be patented and monetized, not because they smell better or connect us more deeply to the natural world.

Your Body Knows the Difference

Here’s something most people don’t realize: natural fragrance molecules can often be recognized, metabolized, and integrated by the human body because they are compounds found in nature — like terpenes, esters, and alcohols that plants produce and we encounter in food, herbs, and the environment.

Most single-molecule, petroleum-based synthetics are different. They don’t exist in nature, and the human body doesn’t always have the pathways to process them in the same way. That means they linger, behave unpredictably, and don’t harmonize with us the way true botanicals do.

Why GLO Chooses Nature

At Great Lakes Olfactory (GLO), we choose a different path. We craft perfumes entirely from nature — using essential oils, absolutes, resins, and botanicals that cannot be patented, cannot be owned, and cannot be truly replicated by a lab.

Our scents are alive, complex, and ever-changing, just like the Great Lakes that inspire them. They remind us that beauty doesn’t need to be invented — it already exists all around us.

Discover What Can’t Be Patented

If you’ve ever felt that mainstream perfumes smell flat, synthetic, or overpowering, it’s because they’ve been engineered for profit, not for connection. With GLO, you’re experiencing the richness of nature itself — untouched, unpatentable, and unforgettable.

Explore our collections and rediscover perfume the way it was always meant to be: pure, natural, and alive.

-Connie