subject: What Are The Differences Between Essential Oils And Fragrance Oils? [print this page] Fragrances are used in a wide range of products, which include candles, incense sticks, soaps, perfumes, etc. Everyone likes a good scented product. There are a wide variety of these products available and there is no limit to the number of ways that they can be used.
These products are normally scented with essential oils or fragrance oils. Products, which come under the first category contain fragrance oils, which impart the particular scent in that product, whereas, the second category contains essential oils, which are added for fragrance. It may also happen that both essential oil and fragrance oil are used in a single product. Even though, essential oils have become so popular and are used in a variety of products, most people are still ignorant of the basic difference between essential oils and fragrance oils.
Essential oils are pure natural plant essence. The fragrance from the oil actually comes from the substance which it is composed of. These substances include all parts of the plants, like, flowers, petals, roots, bark, leaves, stems, etc. For example, essential oil of rose is extracted from its petals. Patchouli essential oil is extracted from the leaves of patchouli plant. The scent of oranges or lemons is extracted from the rinds of those fruits. Essential oils are not oils, in the true sense, but are the natural chemicals found in the plants, which are extracted as aromatic and volatile essences. They normally are in the form of a thick pasty base. Oil is the substance used to mix this substance because it is the best agent for carrying there substances. The way fragrance is generated is by the actual substance being held in suspension in the oil.
There are various methods to extract essential oils, like, CO2 extraction, cold pressing and stem distillation. These products are pure and do not contain any color or other ingredients, like carrier oils. Essential oils are highly concentrated and have to be diluted several times before using. The fragrance of essential oils is retained even after diluting several times. For example, a drop of rose oil is extracted from thirty petals and 1000 pounds of jasmine flowers are used to make one pound of essential oil. Read more on essential oil uses.
The chemical compounds in plants are natural compounds. They occur naturally and do not have to be altered in order to produce a fragrance. Synthetic oils are man made oils which are enhanced with man made compounds. Most of the fragrance oils (otherwise known as perfume oils) are made this way and are synthetic in nature.
Fragrance oils can be natural, partly natural and partly artificial or fully artificial. If the product contains essential oil mixed with carrier oils at varying strengths, it can be called natural. The second category contains products, which have both essential oils and artificial fragrances (chemical compounds that mimic essential oils). Those products which contain only synthetic or artificial fragrances can be referred to as fully artificial. Most of the fragrance oils often contain several components, which produce a different fragrance, when blended. Even essential oils can be part of fragrance oils. It has been observed that many perfumes contain more than hundred components. In short, most of the fragrance oils are a mixture of aroma chemicals, some of which can cause fragrance allergies in people.Fragrance Oil Express
