Are Essential Oils a luxury you deserve compared to Fragrance Oils? Is there a Difference?

Do you know there is a great debate amongst those in the skin care industry? We want to know do our customers know or care about the benefits of Essential oils vs fragrance oil?  Let's talk a little about both, look at the pros and cons and why we choose to deliver therapeutic SoulOshun's( get it ~ solutions) that your body can recognize and trust. This is by no means a comprehensive look at both but a summary of each (and these opinions are my own:).

Essential Oils

These oils come from mother nature ie. plant material and the oil is extracted out of each type of plant. There are steam distilled, chemically distilled either using hexane or another material to coax out the oils from the plant. Steam distilled generally costs more because this is the purest way to extract the oils from the plant. Essential oils come from all over the world. There are essential oils which are expensive and for good reason. They are highly concentrated and more potent then essential oils. In beauty products you only need a small amount of absolutes to have a fragrant product and we reserve these for personal care essentials that nourish and absorb into your skin with ease; such as serums, oils, salts etc.  We include rose and jasmine absolutes in our deodorants and moisturizers.

Pros: They come from nature and are completely natural. They smell amazing. They have aromatherapy benefits especially in leave on products.

Cons: They cost more then fragrance oils. You can't get a lot of scents like Blackberry, Pineapple, Apple Blossom etc. Various oils have caution warning ie. not safe for pregnancy, phototoxic meaning they are light sensitive. Many Citrus oils are safely protected under this umbrella.

Fragrance Oils

These oils are synthetically made in a lab by "man" for mass production and uniform commercial purposes, some have been approved to be less toxic or "skin safe" (not all are skin safe many of us experience adverse reactions to the unnatural elements assembled together to manufacture a fragrance). These oils are less expensive and due to the synthesizing process, the scent has been artificially magnified and often don't require as many drops to scent your favorite bath and body products. Many industry brands use these cheaper alternatives to catch your attention with strong bold scents that exclude therapeutic and or aromatherapy benefits.  Virtually any scent is possible with fragrance oils which is why they are so popular.

Pros: You can get any scent that isn't available in nature like Black Raspberry Vanilla, Pink Sugar, Pecan, apple, pineapple, strawberry, blueberry,  etc.  It is true the fragrances provide a wide variety of options, they are cost effective for the manufacturer, they do establish consistency in a bath and body product (this is an attribute that cannot be guaranteed when creating therapeutic personal care with pure essential oils.) and they can immediately capture your attention with a strong bold fragrance.  

Cons: They are not natural. They have no therapeutic or aromatherapy benefits, the  can contain questionable chemical irritants like Phthalates (a family of chemicals that come from plastics), Nitro Musk (several synthetic compounds that mimic a musk smell). These contain toluene with isobutyl bromide in the presence of aluminum chloride. There are many phthalate free and nitro musk fragrance oils on the market so ask the person you buy from if they are using this type of fragrance. Another con is a lot of people can't tolerate the smell of fragrance oils as the scent can be overwhelming, it can make some people ill or cause them headaches and many have reported negative skin reactions.  

We create and deliver therapeutic personal care SoulOshun's made with plants you have come to learn and trust. A few years ago we embarked on a journey of whole body wellness, this inspired us to source the purest plant based gifts mother nature has to offer.  Once we experienced the positive difference we easily became obsessed with the complex synergy harnessed in delicate essential oils. Naturally we began the process of phasing out our inventory that included fragrance oils and for the past 2 years we have only used essential oils. This post isn't about what is right or wrong because it's all personal preference. There are many customers who love fragrance oils and essential oils.

The question is how do you as a customer know the difference between fragrance oils and essential oils? Well you can always ask the person you are purchasing from or look at the list of ingredients on each product. Fragrance oils are usually labelled fragrance or perfume. Essential oils are listed as essential oils.  An example of an essential oil listing for Lavender would be Lavandula officinalis or Lavandula (Lavender) officinalis. There are various types of Lavender so this may vary greatly.

What are your favorite scents?  Do you have a preference fragrances or essential oils? Have you smelled both in one setting and experienced how your body naturally reacts or responds to both?