Aromatherapy and “natural” ingredients have each become huge trends within the beauty and fragrance industries. More and more companies are promising emotional benefits from using their products but, unfortunately, some of them just aren’t living up to their claims.
As a consumer, it can sometimes be difficult to know which products actually have evidence-based benefits and which are simply trying to profit off those on their journey to wellness! With confusing ingredient lists, rife greenwashing and huge marketing campaigns to compete with, it’s not difficult to get confused.
One of the most common and confusing aspects of the fragrance industry is the use of fragrance oils. Whilst essential oils and fragrance oils sound like they could mean the same thing – and the terms are often actually used interchangeably – their similarities stop at their names. Which one a brand uses is often the difference between buying a product that smells pretty and buying a product that smells amazing and has therapeutic benefits. So, let us break it down for you.
Essential Oils Vs Fragrance Oils
Put more scientifically though, an essential oil is a “highly volatile substance isolated by a physical process from an odoriferous plant of a single botanical species.” (Encyclopedia Britannica). This means that the oils are extracted through either the steam distilling or cold-pressing of parts of plants. These can including the flowers, stems, leaves, peel and more! For example, citrus essential oils often utilise the peel of things like oranges and lemons, whilst more floral fragrances like rose are created through distilling the petals of the plant.
In contrast to this parred-back process, fragrance oils are basically a cocktail of undisclosed chemicals, mixed together to create a particular (synthetic) scent. They often mimic the natural world, without actually containing any natural ingredients whatsoever.
Synthetic fragrance oils can be found throughout the modern world. Cleaning products, air freshers and beauty products are some of the biggest culprits. They are most often listed on products under the names of parfum, fragrant oil, fragrance oil or even simply fragrance, only adding the consumer confusion.
Synthetic fragrance and wellness
A whole host of beauty and fragrance brands offer up the promise of wellness to their customers. As we said though, a lot of them aren’t actually holding up their end of the bargain. By offering products that contain synthetic fragrance oils, they aren’t giving you much beyond something that smells good.
Aromatherapy and aromachology each look at the way that essential oils enhance our states of mind and emotional wellbeing. As such, categorising something containing synthetic fragrance as having aromatherapy benefits is a misnomer. These chemical mixes simply don’t have the same impact on the human body!
Far from promoting wellness, they have also been linked to multiple health risks. Skin irritation and drying. Respiratory issues. Dizziness. Hyper-pigmentation. Headaches. Hormone imbalance. And much, much more. Bringing synthetic fragrance oils into your wellness routine is not aromatherapy and it is certainly not healthy for you.
How to embrace wellness with real essential oils
Looking at aromachology research, it’s clear to see that real, natural scents such as those from essential oils have the potential to alter our state of mind for the better, without putting our health at risk. From lavender essential oils for calm and better sleep, to peppermint for an energy boost, these plant extracts can help in a plethora of ways.
We’ve harnessed the power of essential oils and aromatherapy whilst crafting each and every one of our products, to create scents that can help you no matter what you’re going through. We offer candles, room sprays and diffusers which have been formulated based on evidence to help you to relax, relate, renew and release. That way, no matter where you are on your wellness journey, we have a scent blend to help you.
As well as using no synthetic fragrances, our products contain no chemical nasties whatsoever. After all, your search for wellness shouldn’t mean putting yourself at risk.