Essential Oils
Fragrance Oils
Also known as aroma oils are blended synthetic aroma compounds. They can be made with both synthetic and natural ingredients.
I once was the person who could spend hours in a Yankee Candle store. I loved all the different fragrances, the strawberry, pumpkin, lemon chiffon, milk & honey, winter snow, ocean mist and baby powder. Back then, I didn’t know anything about essential oils. So twenty years ago, when I first started to make soap, I used fragrance oils. I had so much fun ordering them. The descriptions sounded delicious. I couldn’t wait till they arrived so I could smell them and make a new soap.
Soon though, I started getting frequent headaches. The debilitating kind of headache where I couldn’t eat, think, or function. I would have to go straight to bed. And sometimes, even after I woke up, the pain was still there. I noticed my house smelled like Bath and Body Works. All. The. Time. and although I liked walking past the store, I didn’t like living in that fragrant type of environment. It didn’t take me long to realize the headaches were caused by fragrance oils, and they had to go. Using them in such a concentrated form was no good for me.
I started playing around with the essential oils and found they didn’t bother me at all. And even though my house is still fragrant, the atmosphere didn’t give me headaches.
There’s nothing wrong with fragrance oils, I just can’t work and live with the scent in my house. When people requests a soap made with a fragrance oil, I’ll refer them to one of my soap maker friends who use them. That way my customer is happy, she gets the soap she wants. My friends are happy, they’ve made a sale. And I’m grateful to be headache free.
What are you grateful for this week?
Yours in Gratitude,
Angela