Fragrance Oils Versus Essential Oils

Have you ever picked up a soap and the scent says names such as: "Island Breeze", Cherry Passion, and "Cucumber Peach" just to name a few. You smell them and you instantly fall in love with the strong scent of each. Have you ever wondered how they even come up with scents like those and where do they come from? Well to be completely honest the scents I listed above are examples of fragrance oils, and they are not natural whatsoever. The natural oils that you want are called essential oils and in this article I will tell you the difference between the two. 

Fragrance Oils

Fragrance oils are artificially composed of harmful chemicals. Even though they might smell really good, they can have adverse effects to the skin. FOs have also been known to have carcinogens in them. 

Lots of commercial soap companies and also handmade soap companies use these ingredients in their soaps. As stated earlier they might smell good, but are not good for your skin. With them smelling good this might entice a customer to just buy it. 

One hidden secret about fragrance oils is that, the FDA does not require the ingredients used to create a company's trademark "fragrance", to be listed on the label. So you don't even know what you are truly getting. I could concoct a selection of fragrances and call it "the best smelling fragrance ever invented", and even though it might smell good, you will never know what's in it unless I tell you. Furthermore,  some companies might still market their product as natural. 

This is why it is extremely important to know who produces your soap so you can get the important information needed to have optimal skincare health. 

Essential Oils

Essential oils are the essence of the plant extracted through distillation and evaporation. Essential oils are pure and real. There are no chemicals used to make them. They have many therapeutic benefits and not to mention their smell is amazing! 

For example the essential oil Tea Tree has been known to be a powerful healing oil. You can practically apply it to any insect bite, rash, fungus, etc and in 24 hours it will be almost if not completely gone. Lavender essential oil has an amazing smell and also is known to have relaxing properties making it the perfect soap to use before you go to bed. 

One thing about essential oils is that they are going to be more expensive than fragrance oils, so that means products using essential oils will be more expensive too. 

The Verdict

Now that we have analyzed both types of oils that are used in soaps, it should be easier for you to distinguish between the two. In our opinion it is a no brainer to go with essential oils. Why not have a soap scented with a oil that not only smells amazing, but will have therapeutic benefits as well. 

If you didn't know Herb'N Eden only uses therapeutic grade essential oils in our soaps. We hand pick each ingredient based on their skin healing properties and essential oils do just that. We have a standard and that standard is to only use essential oils and herbs, and never to use synthetic fragrance oils. 

We hope this blog has given you a greater understanding when you are out choosing your soaps. To find out more about Herb'N Eden's bars go to www.herbneden.com to see what type of essential oils we use in our soaps. 

Peace