Help Centre

We label our perfumes as masculine, feminine, or unisex simply to guide buyers in the direction of scent-profiles they prefer. In reality, many men wear perfumes typically considered feminine, and many women wear men's fragrances. In fact there is an amusing tale from the 1960s in which a newly launched gentlemen's cologne proved highly popular with ladies; the perfume house's marketing team declared, "Eighty percent of men who wear it are women!"

Your nose should be your guide.

While most people commonly apply perfume to the inside of their wrists and sides of their neck, a trick to make a fragrance last longer is to spray into the hairline at the back of the neck and on top of the wrists (where your watch face would typically be seen). The hair follicles in these areas allow for longer lasting adhesion of the scent molecules and the warmth of the skin in the nape of the neck helps diffuse the scent.

All Frater perfumes are sold at a 25% concentration, far greater than most fragrances on the market today and, consequently, far stronger. One spray each the areas described above is sufficient for all day wearing. An extra spritz later in the day may be appropriate if you are intending to venture out for an evening of pleasure.

We do not test our products for allergens. However we do strictly follow industry guidelines and regulations regarding the use of such in cosmetic products. Our perfumes are labelled clearly according to European and New Zealand standards. We recommend looking at the ingredients listed on the outer packaging of our perfumes to ensure that they are suitable for your use. Most of the allergens listed are naturally occurring within the essential oils and absolutes we use.

Some of our perfumes contain natural animal derivatives such as ambergris, civet, and castoreum.

How we use ambergris

Ambergris is a waste product from sperm whales which is collected from beaches after decades of floating in the sea. It has an incredible power of fixation (its primary use in our perfumes) and can, when dosed correctly, add a slight barnyard scent. It is very naturalising and is one of the most profoundly beautiful materials in the perfumer's palette. Due to its high cost and scarcity it is rarely found in modern perfumes.

How we use civet

Civet is the most odiferous of all the animal derivatives. It is a substance sprayed by the civet to mark territory and it has a powerful odour which is unpleasant unless heavily diluted. In dilute form, civet brings a radiance and naturalness to florals and adds fixation and blending to all perfumes. The finest type comes from Abyssinia (modern day Ethiopia) and it is one of the oldest perfume materials still in use today.

How we use castoreum

Castoreum is an exudate from mature beavers used to mark their territory. In dilution it has a very natural coriaceous quality with smokey facets. It is sometimes used as a natural food additive in vanilla and fruit flavours. Historically castoreum was the only way to add a truly realistic leather note to perfume. Today it is used to naturalise and enhance synthetic leather notes, of which there are many beautiful types.

All of our perfumes contain natural essential oils and absolutes in addition to manmade materials. We especially treasure rare and unusual materials such as Aetoxylon Oil and Mysore Sandalwood.

If you purchased our perfume via one of our stockists, you should contact them for a return.

Because perfumes are classified as dangerous goods for shipment by air we are unable to accept returns on sales via this website. However, should your parcel arrive in a damaged state or there is some other reason that you believe a refund would be issued under normal circumstances, please do contact us and we will endeavour to remedy the situation. 

As with our return policy we cannot accept returns or exchange perfumes because they are deemed hazardous goods by IATA and couriers (domestic and international) will not carry these unless posted by a certified dangerous goods handler.

If you are a frater.com client living in Wellington, Christchurch or Auckland and need to instigate a return or gift exchange, contact us as we may be able to organise this via one of our stockists.