Mother's Day Gift Guide 2024: The Best Non-Toxic Personal Scents

Cultus Artem's perfumes are beautifully packaged and perfect for Mother's Day gifting.

Cultus Artem

Perfume is a classic Mother’s Day gift, and many moms love experimenting with new scents, whether it be eau de perfum, body butter, room spray, or body spray.

“Fragrance,” however, can mean a lot of things, and for some brands, it means not telling you what’s in their products. That’s because fragrance formulations are allowed protection by the FDA as trade secrets.

But many personal scent brands have taken it upon themselves to create non-toxic perfumes using sustainable ingredients, and being transparent about their formulations. That means you can make an educated decision about what goes on and near you and your family’s skin.

These perfumes, lotions, and candles are not only non-toxic, but they smell delicious. From florals to citrus notes to musky finishes, you’re sure to find a scent your mom will love.

This Poseidon perfume set comes with a rose quartz pendant that doubles as a refillable dropper so ... [+] you can refresh your scent any time.

Fiat Lux Poseidon Pendant And Perfume Set

With notes of salt, cypress, seaweed, and a touch of helichrysum, this scent is perfect for any mom who loves the sea. Named after the Greek God of the ocean, Poseidon was created by world-renowned boutique perfumer Yosh in collaboration with Marie McCarthy, owner of Fiat Lux jewelry and Rose Gold’s tattoo and piercing in San Francisco. The special edition rose quartz pendant and dropper set ($380) makes a perfect gift.

Champaca by Cultus Artem will impress even the most discerning mom.

Cultus Artem Champaca Cultus Artem Champaca

If your mom’s rarified tastes make gift-buying intimidating, Cultus Artem’s fragrances are sure to impress. The flowers of the champaca tree hail from Southeast Asia, and the brand’s founder and perfumer, Holly Tupper calls her take on Champaca ($580 for 50 milliliters, or $255 for 8.5 milliliters) an “otherworldly floral,” with notes of Indian red champaca, powdery violets and their leaves, ylang ylang, and apricots. Plus, the bottle and gift packaging are stunning.

The Kai fragrance Ultimate Signature Pampering Essentials includes a candle, bubble bath, and body ... [+] butter.

Kai Kai Ultimate Signature Pampering Essentials

Gaye Straza took years developing a perfume that evoked the gardenias of Hawaii but wasn’t so sweet as to be headache induing. The result is a scent that walks that fine balance of floral without being cloying, and clean without smelling soapy. This singular scent has sustained the brand for more than two decades, and now includes body butter, candles, linen mist, and more. The signature pampering set is now $113 (with 15% off spring bundles, down from $134) and includes a candle, body butter, and bubble bath.

Yellow Rose by LARO is both sweet and earthy for a perfect balance.

L'aromatica LARO Yellow Rose Perfum Extrait

With notes of Bulgarian rose absolute, bourbon vanilla, citrus, and warm woods, this scent is fruity, lemony, and floral. It’s tempered with an earthy quality that makes this unique among rose-inspired scents. LARO makes its all-natural perfumes in small batches in Northern California. Try a sample for just $6, a 5 milliliter rollerball for $45, or a 50 milliliter eau de toilette for $120.

Good Chemistry makes creative scents without toxic ingredients and offers a full recycling program.

Good Chemistry Good Chemistry Unknown Legend Eau De Parfum

If your mom is playful and enjoys keeping up with trends, check out the fun scents they’re making at Good Chemistry, including Unknown Legend, Coffee Cloud, Sugar Berry, Pink Palm, and many more. Full-size (50 milliliter) perfumes are just $29. Mom can enjoy the scents as travel spray, body mist, and paraffin-free candles.

As a bonus, most the perfume’s vessels can go in your city recycle bin. And for those that can’t, Good Chemistry partners with Terracycle so you can send in all the little bits like pumps and tubes that would likely be rejected by curbside recycling.

Henry Rose was created by Michelle Pfeiffer and offers a gift set for Mother's Day.

Henry Rose Henry Rose Essential Gift Set

Michelle Pfeiffer’s Henry Rose is the first Environmental Working Group and Cradle to Cradle certified collection of fine fragrances. For Mother’s Day, the brand is offering The Essential Gift Set ($140), which includes a 50 milliliter perfume, 200 milliliter body cream in an exclusive travel bag. Bonus: you get to choose the scent of each item. Take the Henry Rose quiz to find a scent your mom will love.

Missing Person by Phlur went viral for evoking the scent of someone you love.

Phlur Phlur Missing Person Fragrance Duet

The Missing Person scent from Phlur is a floral musk created to evoke the nostalgic scent of someone you love, and it works so apparently well that it has made people cry on social media. The internet went wild for the scent when it launched in 2022—it has repeatedly sold out, garnered a 200,000-person waitlist, and resold online for three times its regular price.

Fragrance notes include white musk, nuances of jasmine and orange blossom, plus a light woody finish. The perfume duet ($109, down from $128) includes a 9.5 milliliter travel size plus a full-size 50 milliliter bottle for her vanity—it’s so pretty she’ll want to keep it on display.

The Skylar Dreamy Discovery set is great for moms who might have allergies.

Skylar Skylar Dreamy Discovery Set

Cat Chan founded Skylar in 2017 after discovering that her newborn daughter was allergic to her beloved perfumes. So this is an especially great gift if your mom has allergies.

For Mother’s Day, Skylar is offering 20% off site-wide, and 40% off select items. That means the Dreamy Discovery Set, which includes five 10 milliliter rollerballs, is just $89, down from $105.

Yosh Han creates custom scents in her San Francisco studio or via Zoom.

Yosh han Yosh Custom Scent

If you’re dedicated to finding the truly perfect scent for your mom, master perfumer and sailor Yosh Han can create a personal perfume just for her. Whether your mom wants a scent for day or night, Han will take her through a series of consultations (in person in the San Francisco Bay Area or via Zoom) to determine the top, middle, and base notes for you mother’s signature scent. The process is $2,000, and mom will walk away with two 50 milliliter bottles of custom perfume. Watch her process of composing a scent in episode five of the Netflix series Humans: The World Within Sense.