The difference between Fragrance Oils and Essential Oils

In this article, we are going to highlight the differences between Fragrance Oils and Essential Oils, so you have all the information to be able to decide which one would work best for you, your customers and your wax melt and candle business. 

What's the difference between fragrance oils/essential oils? 

Fragrance oils are synthetically made in a lab whereas Essential oils are natural in origin. 

Choosing which type of oils to use for your business can be a minefield. How do you choose? There are advantages and disadvantages to using both essential oils and synthetic fragrance oils. 

Advantages of using Fragrance Oils  

They can provide an exact scent match to a lot more items 

When working with scientists in a lab, there is truly nothing they can’t do! If you are looking for a particular scent a manufacturer/fragrance house can definitely make something for you. 

From a scent description, right through to nose testing synthetic fragrance oils can get as close to a scent profile match as you could imagine. This makes it easy when trying to create products around certain themes. 

Fragrance oils are often vegan friendly and cruelty free

Fragrance oils are more often than not 100% vegan friendly, meaning no by-products of animals are used in any part of their manufacturing process, and most reputable fragrance houses do not test their ingredients or fragrances on animals and actively ensure none in their supply chain do either. 

Cost effective 

As fragrance oils can be used for a wide range of products that you may produce such as wax melts, candles, room sprays, reed diffusers, bath bombs, soap, etc they can be a cost effect option. For most applications in home fragrance and cosmetic products you’ll very likely not need to go above a total fragrance load of 20%, making fragrance oils cost effective. 

Compatible with a variety of waxes and cosmetic bases 

Synthetic fragrance oils are typically compatible with a very wide range of hazardous and non hazardous bases. A hazardous base would be something like a reed diffuser or room spray base and a non hazardous base can often be wax. 

Disadvantages of using Fragrance oils 

They are made from chemical compounds 

Whereas essential oils are made from harvesting natural plants, fragrance oils are not. There can be anything from 40 to 200 individual ingredients in any one fragrance oil. These are made inside a lab so are synthetic. 

If you are striving to create a brand all around natural products, synthetic fragrances may not be for your business. 

They can cause skin irritations 

This is something that is true for both essential oils and fragrance oils. As with almost anything in life there is the potential to have skin reactions to the ingredients within the chemical compounds. 

Advantages of using Essential oils 

They are often vegan friendly and cruelty free

As essential oils are natural and made from plants they are typically vegan friendly. Most reputable fragrance houses ensure that their processes are completely free from any animal cruelty and often display that as so. 

Safe to be used in a wide range of applications

Essential oils are safe to be used in a wide range of applications such as wax melts, candles, room sprays, reed diffusers, bath bombs, soap, etc. Typically used in aromatherapy products but not limited to those. 

Disadvantages of using Essential oils 

Can be harmful to animals, to use during pregnancy and babies.

Cats are especially susceptible to the effects of essential oils since they do not possess the required enzymes to break down and metabolise them. You can read all about how to ensure your pets are safe and still use essential oils here: https://www.essentialoilsdirect.co.uk/essential-oil-safety-diffusing-and-using-essential-oils-around-cats

If you are pregnant you must seek the advice of your doctor, midwife or aromatherapist before using any essential oils. Once your doctor has given their approval they should be used only after the first trimester, and then at only a 1% concentration, which is half the normal strength. 

Essential oils best avoided throughout your pregnancy include:

• Camphor (Cinnamomum camphora)
• Rosemary (Rosemarinus officinalis)
• Sage (Salvia officinalis)
• Savin oil (Juniperus sabina)

You can read more about what essential oils to avoid when here: https://www.quinessence.com/essential-oil-safety 

Limited with scent choices for essential oils 

Essential oils are natural and found in parts of plants, such as leaves, berries, roots etc. As there are only so many types of plants it limits the amount of essential oils that can be produced from those plants. 

They can cause skin irritations 

This is something that is true for both essential oils and fragrance oils. As with almost anything in life there is the potential to have skin reactions to the ingredients within the chemical compounds. 

So what should I choose to fragrance my products?

That is a question only you can answer. 

You need to decide how you want your business to operate. 

Do you want to be known for being natural and holistic in nature? Then it’s likely essential oils are the way forward.

Do you want to have a wide range of choices for your customers? Then synthetic fragrances may be the way forward for your business. 

As with all products you are planning to release it is important to test and ensure that you are happy with the quality and above all the safety of the product you are placing onto the market. All information in this article is, to the best of our knowledge, true and correct.

Here at Craft HQ our preference is Fragrance Oils, simply so we can ensure the scent is an exact match of what we're trying to achieve. You can view and buy fragrance oils here.