In a day and age of olfactory overstimulation, where mass-market fragrances often arrive with all the subtlety of a spotlight, VAHY offers something altogether rarer: a scent that feels like a memory gently resurfacing. It doesn’t clamor for attention. It lingers. In linen. In sunlight. In the stillness after rain.
Founded by Anna Weatherlake and Kate Macdonald, VAHY is a quietly radical proposition: a 100% natural fine fragrance house rooted in transparency, balance, and restraint. At once modern and elemental, their creations are not crafted to impress - but to resonate. They carry the calm complexity of nature: salt-kissed skin, a eucalyptus breeze through the Tarkine rainforest, the mineral hush before a thunderstorm. Each scent is an invitation to slow down and return to something essential.
More than a perfumery, VAHY is an olfactive philosophy - a kind of emotional architecture built from the raw, unfiltered language of botanicals, resins, and woods. Where synthetic fragrance may mimic, Váhy remembers. It honours the natural character of its materials and the integrity of its origins. Every note earns its place. Every composition is the result of curiosity, care, and a refusal to compromise.
A symphony of scent and style - where nature’s raw elegance meets artful design.
And while their eau de parfums are what first draws many to the brand, it's often the home fragrance collection that proves indispensable. VAHY’s candles, hand-poured in Melbourne using cruelty-free soy wax and lead-free wicks, are nothing short of atmospheric instruments.
Tarkine, for instance, layers velvety woods with warm vanilla and dry amber - a scent that doesn’t simply fill a room, but transforms it. Their sculptural lava rock diffusers are equally evocative: Ember Haze channels the quiet crackle of alpine firewood and smoked resin, elegantly contained in minimalist vessels that become part of the architecture of any space.
These aren’t accessories. They are sensory companions - fragments of place and feeling, composed with intent and soul. To live with them is to recalibrate your relationship to scent: not as adornment, but as atmosphere.
In this conversation, Anna Weatherlake reflects on the alchemy of naturals, the emotional intelligence of scent, and the uncompromising ethos that makes VAHY feel not just like a fragrance brand, but a way of being.
Because when purity is no longer a compromise, it becomes the most luxurious gesture of all.
1. IF VAHY COULD BE DESCRIBED AS AN ATMOSPHERE RATHER THAN A FRAGRANCE - WHAT WOULD IT FEEL LIKE? A HUSH BEFORE DUSK? A MINERAL TIDE? THE SOFTNESS OF LIGHT ON LINEN?
ANNA WEATHERLAKE: VAHY is the distinctive, earthy scent of petrichor - so familiar to Australians after a long, dry spell. There’s a quiet, grounding energy to it, like salt-dusted skin after a swim at Bondi Beach, or the crisp air of the Tarkine rainforest, or the warmth that radiates from a roaring fire. It isn’t one atmosphere, but a layered mood - authentically natural, subtly transportive, and deeply rooted in place.
2. HOW DO YOU RECONCILE THE PARADOX OF CREATING SOMETHING INVISIBLE THAT LEAVES SUCH A LASTING IMPRESSION?
ANNA WEATHERLAKE: That’s the magic of fragrance. We think of scent as emotional architecture - unseen, but deeply felt. It shapes how someone experiences a space or connects with themselves. Fragrance can anchor memory, stir emotion, and shift energy. With VAHY, we’ve always aimed to leave a lasting impression - not just through scent, but through purpose, passion, and purity as well.
3. IN A MARKET OBSESSED WITH NOVELTY, VAHY FEELS QUIETLY ETERNAL. WHAT VALUES GUIDE YOUR CREATIVE RESTRAINT?
ANNA WEATHERLAKE: We don’t chase trends. Our palette is deliberately refined and shaped with intention. Every raw material is purposefully sourced and has earned its place - whether through aromatherapeutic benefits, sustainability credentials, or the personal memories Kate and I associate with that note. We value patience, purity, and precision. If a scent doesn’t evoke that “oh wow” moment, it doesn’t make the cut. There’s a quiet strength in restraint, especially in a world that leans so heavily into excess and overconsumption.
4. WAS THERE A PIVOTAL SCENT MEMORY - A PLACE, A PERSON, A RAW MATERIAL - THAT FIRST GAVE RISE TO THE IDEA OF VAHY?
ANNA WEATHERLAKE: For both Kate and me, scent has always been intertwined with memories and place. Tarkine, for example, is a tribute to the Tasmanian rainforest where Kate is from. But VAHY wasn’t born from a single fragrance - it came from a place of concern and curiosity. While working in healthcare law, Kate discovered serious gaps in ingredient transparency in the fragrance industry. I’ve always been passionate about clean living and animal welfare, and when we delved into what’s actually in most commercial perfumes, we were genuinely shocked.
That’s when we realised there was a real need for a natural fine fragrance brand that didn’t compromise on luxury, performance, or design. VAHY was created to fill that gap - born from a desire to create something elegant and transparent, using only the highest quality natural ingredients.
Infusing Spaces with Pure, Natural Elegance and Lingering Atmospheres Crafted from Hand-Poured Soy Wax and Thoughtfully Balanced Botanicals.
5. NATURAL FRAGRANCE OFTEN FACES THE MISCONCEPTION OF BEING SIMPLE OR SHORT-LIVED. HOW DOES VAHY RESPOND TO THAT WITH ITS OLFACTIVE ARCHITECTURE?
ANNA WEATHERLAKE: That’s a myth we’re more than happy to challenge. Natural ingredients are anything but simple - they’re alive, nuanced, and evolve beautifully on the skin. We structure our fragrances with the same care as traditional perfumery: top, heart, and base notes, thoughtfully layered for depth and longevity. We often use wood-based notes as the foundation, which naturally extends the wear time. All of our fragrances are rigorously tested and exceed six hours of wear.
6. VAHY’S AESTHETIC IS AS CONSIDERED AS ITS FORMULATIONS. HOW DO DESIGN, PACKAGING, AND LANGUAGE WORK IN HARMONY WITH SCENT IN YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS?
ANNA WEATHERLAKE: The name VAHY means “balance” in Czech, a nod to Kate’s heritage. That idea of balance runs through everything we do - from our visual identity to our formulations. Our design language is clean, modern, and tactile, with packaging that feels substantial and protects the natural ingredients within. Everything - our branding, our messaging, our scents - speaks the same quiet, elevated language. It’s about coherence and integrity.
7. WHAT IS THE GREATEST CHALLENGE - OR JOY - IN WORKING WITH NATURAL INGREDIENTS COMPARED TO SYNTHETICS?
ANNA WEATHERLAKE: Nature is beautifully unpredictable. Raw material availability shifts with seasons, climates, and harvests. That’s the challenge - but it’s also the gift. It keeps us grounded in the real, in the rhythms of the earth and the traditions of perfumery.
Working with natural ingredients is more soulful. They’re not lab-constructed or health-compromising. You know what they are - and they evolve on the skin in incredibly personal ways. Our scents don’t smell the same on everyone, and we love that. Who wants to smell like everyone else, anyway?
8. IF VAHY COULD COLLABORATE BEYOND THE FRAGRANCE WORLD - IN ART, ARCHITECTURE, OR PHILOSOPHY - WHO OR WHAT WOULD BE THE DREAM COUNTERPART?
ANNA WEATHERLAKE: We’re drawn to the quiet elegance of minimalist architecture - spaces where light, material, and texture speak louder than embellishment. Philosophically, we feel aligned with wabi-sabi - the Japanese aesthetic of imperfection, impermanence, and authenticity. That’s the spirit of VAHY.
9. DO YOU RECALL THE PRECISE MOMENT A FINAL COMPOSITION FELT COMPLETE - NOT JUST CHEMICALLY, BUT EMOTIONALLY?
ANNA WEATHERLAKE: With Tarkine, definitely. We went through many iterations before we landed on a version that captured the forest’s quiet majesty - its damp air, its dense woods, its stillness. With naturals, you’re working with a more limited palette, so the process can be slow. But when it’s right, you just know. The scent finally clicked - and it transported us. That’s how we knew it was ready.
10. WHAT DO YOU HOPE SOMEONE FEELS THE FIRST TIME THEY WEAR VAHY - AND WHAT DO YOU HOPE THEY NEVER FORGET?
ANNA WEATHERLAKE: We hope they feel more themselves - just more attuned, more connected. Like slipping into something familiar yet elevated.
More than anything, we want VAHY to become part of their personal story - a scent tied to a feeling, a place, a version of themselves they want to carry forward. And we hope they never forget that purity, transparency, and beauty can coexist - without compromise.
Words and questions by AW.
Photos courtesy of Váhy.