It is so important for creators to have options. You need to know where ingredients come from and how they work, so you can choose exactly what you want on your skin.
That’s why we are so excited to introduce our line of natural fragrance oils! They are made from plants, but they offer more fragrance variety than essential oils.
They might be the perfect option for you. Learn more about natural fragrances below.
Buy natural fragrance oils
They come from natural sources like cucumber, raspberry, and lavender – but how they are made is unique.
Plants are composed of multiple aromatic components. For example, let’s look at Bulgarian lavender. Some of the major components are linalyl acetate, linalool, b-caryophyllene, and terpinen-4-ol. Together they give lavender its distinctive floral scent.
To make a natural fragrance oil, one of these substances is isolated from the plant. These single aromatic chemicals are called isolates. They are ISO 9235, which means they are classified as natural by the International Organization for Standarization.
Then that isolate is mixed with others from a variety of plants. Linalyl acetate from lavender, which smells floral and citrusy, can be mixed with ethyl acetate from orange, which smells sweet and fruity. These can also be mixed with essential oils.
This process has several advantages. Because natural fragrance oils are composed of multiple components from different plants, they smell more complex and can be more interesting than a single essential oil. They are also more consistent because they are not as affected by batch variations.
There are also more natural options to choose from. Certain things, such as vanilla and strawberry, do not produce essential oils. However, they consist of components that can be isolated. That means you can enjoy a crisp apple scent that is all-natural.
However, natural fragrance oils do not work in hot or cold process soap. Some do well, but in our tests all the scents faded as they cured. However, we recommend them for everything else, especially for skin care such as serums and masks. That’s where they really excel.
There are some important differences between these three, as well as unique advantages and disadvantages.
Essential oils
These too come from natural sources. They are extracted from plants, herbs and flowers, often using steam distillation. That process involves heating the components until gas is released, and then condensing that gas back into a liquid. It is a gentle process, which means that the sensitive ingredients are not broken down.
Unlike natural fragrances, essential oils use every aromatic component of the plant. This results in a pure and fresh scent that many people love. You can also make your own unique blends with other essential oils.
You can use them in cold-pressed soap, although the lighter citrus oils tend to fade.
As noted above, there are fewer options because certain plants do not have essential oils. There will also be natural batch variation.
Fragrance oils
Geurolies are synthetic. They are made with a blend of aromatic chemicals and natural ingredients such as extracts, essential oils and resins.
A single fragrance oil can consist of 40-80 substances, which means you get complex mixtures that cannot always be replicated in nature. They also work well in all projects, including cold and hot process soap.
But even though they contain plant-based ingredients, they are still considered synthetic and cannot be listed as natural on a label.
How do you use natural fragrance oils?
They are perfect for skin care projects such as masks, scrubs, serums and moisturizers. Again, they are not recommended for cold or hot process soap.
For facial products, we recommend using the light or medium scent. The smell comes right to your nose, so less is more in this case.
A scale works best for measuring out the grams. You can also use droppers for smaller recipes.
If you plan to sell your products, you can put “natural perfume” or “natural fragrance oil” on the label.
