Our Brand

About The Rising Phoenix Perfumery

 If you don’t know us, Rising Phoenix is an artisanal perfumery based out of Atlanta, Georgia. Although we’re a small outfit, we’ve won acclaim from leading perfume critics, including the famed Luca Turin, for our perfumes, one of which was nominated for the Independent Perfume award of the 2016 Art and Olfaction Awards.

We do things differently from the big perfume corporations – every perfume we make is painstakingly made by hand using natural, rare raw materials, many of which we distill or produce ourselves, such as precious Oud oils from the Far East, Sandalwood oil from India, Indonesia, and Timor Island, and Frankincense Oils from Oman, Ethiopia and Somalia. Our fragrances are naturally minded and we have done our best to eliminate unnecessary chemicals that produce a toxic burden - both on the individual and on the planet. Most of our attars are 100% natural these days unless otherwise stated.

What have we eliminated, you might ask??

  • Parabens
  • Sulfates
  • Phthalates
  • Silicone
  • PG, DPG, and DOP
  • Triclosan
  • Nitro Musks

Why is eliminating these chemicals from fragrances important?

Several synthetic ingredients such as nitro musks (banned in the industry already), phthalates and some fixatives can cause headaches, which is why I chose not to use these materials in my fragrances.

Many of us have begun to worry about the cumulative effect of these chemicals on our health and on our environment - so many have begun to try to limit their exposure to them. Research indicates that phthalates are a type of endocrine disruptor, and in the past few years, studies have linked these plasticizers to asthma, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, breast cancer, obesity and type II diabetes, neurodevelopmental issues, autism spectrum disorders, altered reproductive development and male fertility issues. Parabens, which are commonly used as preservatives, are also known to interfere with hormone production.

As a medical practitioner...this is very meaningful. The list of problems above sounds like a good deal of the people walking into my clinic.

So how does Rising Phoenix go about doing things differently?

Now, when I say “we”, let me be clear: I’m talking about the team of artisan distillers across South East Asia, Africa, and the USA that I have put together over the past 6 years.

Rising Phoenix is a small business, and we do our best to keep the work we do “in the RPP family”. Granted, not every material Rising Phoenix uses is produced in house – but we do our best to keep our supply chain personal and use it as a way to employ countless people who need the work and support, and do our best to support local movements around the globe moving towards total sustainability.

My father and grandfather have worked in the corporate world for many years, and I am lucky to be able to draw on their enormous banks of experience. Their work has touched the lives of countless people across the globe, and I’ve taken it upon myself to continue the family tradition of ingenuity and excellence.

Me, I come to perfume by way of Chinese Medicine: I am actually a licensed physician in Chinese Medicine, and I still treat patients through the week. My time spent working in leading hospitals in China and studying the effects of herbs and botanicals on the human body gave me great respect for the natural raw materials in our world and their effect not only on the Body, but on the Spirit and Mind, too. Making naturally-minded fragrances is a natural extension of that, for me.

But I’ll tell you what the most important lesson my Dad taught me: he taught me the value of hard work. We are a family of bootstrappers. We are not wealthy people, but damn, we know about hard work. We might be cash-poor, but we’re knowledge-rich, and I know that counts for something in this day and age.

Mother Nature is the Best Perfumer

At Rising Phoenix, we believe that the best perfumer is mother nature herself. That no creation made by man can capture the depth of experience in smelling perfume materials in the real world. We showcase the oils, resins, and other fragrant essences extracted that have been extracted from natural raw materials. At Rising Phoenix we also have collections of artisan Oud oils and Sandalwood oils which are complex enough to be enjoyed as perfume on their own.