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Hello my fellow makers,
I’ve only discovered this blog a few months ago and was wondering about essential oils. Prior to this blog I’ve only really used essential oils to scent my laundry and to make homemade cleaning supplies. My question is if people have a preference for particular brands of oils.I’ve made both the mint julep cleansing oil as well as the lime in the coconut cleansing oil and am a bit disappointed that the lime isn’t coming through as much as I’d like. I’ve even made the mint julep oil without any mint but still the lime isn’t as strong as I’d like it to be, its very subtle, and generally my sense of smell is pretty good. I know with essential oils there is a maximum you can use for safety sake and I don’t want to exceed that.
The oil I have is lime distilled from Aura cacia. I purchased it no more than 3 months ago. Any ideas on getting a stronger lime scent? One time I did add some lemon balm with the lime hoping for more of the citrusy notes but didn’t really seem to do much. I know Marie seems to like New Directions, and I will be putting a rather large order in soon to get many of the ingredients from the book, but I can’t in general count on ordering $100+ in supplies. Other brands you like?
Honestly, when it comes to citrus, I go crazy usually double what Marie suggests. And even then the scent doesn’t seem to last all that long if at all. And I find lime and lemon to be the worst of the citrus family.
I have been experimenting with fragrance oils in face products as I seemed to always use essential oils not for their properties, but for their scents. I have to say that I am quite impressed by their staying power especially the citrus. And I am saving a fortune as I may only need one drop of fragrance oil instead of 20 for the same scent.
Two little tricks I’ve picked up:
1) use orange wax for an orangey scent
2) use sea buckthorn fruit oil for a fruity scent profileHopefully this helps, but
I haven’t noticed any difference in lime smell from the two brands I have bought. I have both Aura Cacia and New Directions and they both smell the same to me. Cynnara here on the forum likes and recommends Plant Therapy oils. Maybe she will chime in with her opinion on lime oil, if she has it *snorts sarcastically at this comment…*. Cyn is an essential oil fanatic so I’m pretty sure she has it!!
I’ve found that essential oils are finicky. And the scents don’t last as long as I like them too. Then I figured out I only really add essential oils to scent something, so stopped using essential oils and began using fragrance oils in my products. Perhaps this is something you might be interested in doing too if you are just looking to scent a product? (Note: for face stuff, I generally use .01-.02% of fragrance oil)
Cyn is the essential oil whisperer, like Belinda said, I am sure she will comment when she is free!
I agree with Barb. Essential oil scents don’t stick around long, especially in soap. Especially citrus scents. If you’re adding it to something that is staying on your body for any length of time, you don’t want to go over the recommended usage rate due to irritation. If you go outdoors a lot, you also have to worry about photo toxicity. Fragrance oils are much better suited for these types of products, in my opinion.
I think my concern about using fragrance oils is two fold-1. the safety and 2. the strength.
Over the past 12-15 years I’ve really moved away from products that aren’t as eco friendly and pretty much every bodycare product I have has only a mix of essential oils on the label (maybe they are lying who knows) and scents seem to last long enough for me. I know Maire made a video or had a blog post about essential oils and how they aren’t regulated for purity, which I found to be disappointing, but I guess I still feel a bit more comfortable with these since they are derived from a natural source, again assuming they are unadulterated.
My second concern is the strength. I have a sensitive sense of smell, especially since switching to things with only essential oils and am concerned about fragrance oils being too strong. Years ago I got some lipstick from Sephora and they gave me a sample of shampoo. Used it in the morning and at work had regretted my decision. It was so fragrant that it was starting to give me a headache. All I could think about was getting home to wash that shampoo out of my hair.
I guess all I want is a whisper of scent and not a punch in the face. I go to the movies pretty regularly and find that many people wear stuff that is super, super strong. I don’t want to be one of those people whose products you can smell from 5 rows away.
I have a lime bergamot deodorant (didn’t make it but I love it) and it has a bit of a lime smell when I open the jar, so I’m just wondering why it has a smell with essential oils and my stuff doesn’t. I definitely want to stay withing safe usage rates with essential oils and actually like that the scent eventually fades away and I don’t have to smell like whatever for 10 hours.
I do want to make some lotions that would have a subtle lingering scent so if I used fragrance oils are there brands that are better or worse? Brands you prefer? Do the fragrance oils tend to be really strong and linger all day? I don’t want to give myself or anyone else a headache from what I’m wearing.
I, too, am sensitive to smells. Anything overpoweringly strong gives me a headache. I still use both essential oils and fragrance oils because it’s the strength of the smell, not the source, that is the issue. Yes, some fragrance oils tend to be stronger smelling, but I like that I can use a drop or two, literally, and get a nice fragrance that doesn’t overpower me. Since I can control the amount because I am making the product, it works out well for me. I also have allergies and I react negatively to different essential oils, depending on the plant source. I tend to be cautious with essential oils since I have had some very bad allergic reactions after using them. Allergies are so lovely!!😝
I’ve used fragrance oils from Brambleberry, New Directions, and From Nature With Love and I think it just depends on what the scent is made of which determines how strong it will be. Barb has said she feels that New Directions fragrance oils tend to be stronger and hold their scent better than the ones she bought at From Nature With Love. She uses much more of this type of product than I do since she is a small business owner, so I tend to trust her judgement on these things.
If your concern is being eco friendly, then you need to look at your reason for using essential oils, because the making of some essential oils is not eco friendly in my opinion. You are using tons of plant material, some of it from rare plant sources, to make one tiny bottle of essential oil. Also, as the world population gets bigger and bigger, diverting farm land that could be used to feed people to grow plants that are then used to create essential oils is wasting valuable limited resources. With people still starving in the world, growing tons of plants for a scent, to me, seems wasteful and less eco friendly than using a lab created scent. Just food for thought. At the end of the day, you have to make the best choices and the ones you are comfortable with for yourself and your body.
What I love most about fragrance oils, is the scent LASTS. Not quite so well in soaps when it comes to citrus but in lotions and anhydrous products its there. I made a Cucumber Mint Toner a few months ago. I added in peppermint essential oil and maybe 4 drops of cucumber fragrance oil. For the first week to two weeks, the scent of peppermint and that oomph on my skin was all I could feel or smell of the peppermint. And this was peppermint essential oil from a reputable French company (Aroma Zone). After a week or ten days, the scent and the tingle factor are gone leaving me with a faint peppermint scent and a clean cucumber scent as well.
I find I have begun to trust fragrance oils a lot more in the past year than essential oils. There are way too many lawsuits happening these days regarding essential oils and purity, various ingredients/claims, and even just simply how do you know you are getting what you pay for? Fragrance oils are great as they are always giving me consistent results. And I find that I only need a few drops to scent a lotion so I get an echo of a smell, or a few more for a more potent scent. I get to control that, and I know it will be like that a month later without worry.
I’m noticing that I am using essential oils more for scent too. They are supposed to have therapeutic properties but I find myself questioning how much of a benefit am I really getting at such low doses. I am noticing fragrance oils are much less expensive. I love scenting soap but it uses up so much to get a good scent that I am finding myself leaning towards fragrance oils for at least soap making.
If you are only looking for scent then price point doesn’t matter and maybe check out fragrance oils. I normally used EO’s for their individual properties like healing or antibacterial and that’s where brand matters. Different brands definitely smell difference though
Im thinking that when ur getting of storebought stuff, it may take some time for your sense to get used to the more softer and finer smells.
Maybe its a matter of “re-boothing” your senses? (dont know how to say it correctly in English).
I used to use parfum and now they are easily too much for me. Like with sugar or salt, since I use less, my taste is getting more sensitive for it. In the same way when you want to go No Poo and your hair needs to adjust.?
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