Fragrance Oils vs. Essential Oils in Soap: What's the Difference?
You'll hear a lot of people say "avoid synthetic fragrance." I want to give you the honest picture, because we use both fragrance oils and essential oils in our soaps, and each one has its place.
What Are Essential Oils?
Essential oils come straight from plants, like lavender flowers or eucalyptus leaves. They smell natural and fresh. Our PURE collection is scented with essential oils. Our French Lavender & Oats bar, for example, uses pure lavender essential oil.
What Are Fragrance Oils?
Fragrance oils are made to smell like things that can't be turned into an essential oil, like champagne, peony, vanilla or bourbon. Our Signature soaps use fragrance oils so we can make scents like Champagne Kisses.
The fragrance oils we use are phthalate-free. Phthalates are chemicals some people choose to avoid, so we leave them out.
Is One Better Than the Other?
Not always. "Natural" doesn't mean it can't bother your skin. Both essential oils and fragrance oils can cause a reaction in people with very sensitive skin. Some essential oils are actually stronger than fragrance oils.
How to Choose
- If you love plant-based scents, choose our PURE collection.
- If you love fun, sweet or rich scents, try our Signature bars.
- If scent bothers your skin, test a small spot first and check with your doctor.
Our Tip
No matter the scent, every bar we make has the same good base: shea butter, coconut milk and kaolin clay, and no sulfates. The scent is just the finishing touch.
A little about us: I'm Gracie, a third-generation soap maker. My grandmother started our family's soap making, and I'm proud to carry it on. We're a small, faith-centered family business in Waddell, Arizona, and we make everything by hand in small batches.
