Essential Oils Vs Fragrances
When developing our Surf Soap, shampoo and conditioning salves, we did a lot of research on how to scent them. The natural cosmetic and personal care industry is booming - and with it, scents advertised as "natural" and "organic". But just how natural are these products? How sustainable are they? What effects does the production of natural and synthetic scenting oils have on our world as the demand grows larger?
Our mission was to create Surf Soap to be as sustainable as possible, from the ground up. Fragrance oils are not regulated, which means the fragrance oil companies do not have to disclose their proprietary blends. While this is understandable, this also means that we are not privy to exactly what is in our bars, which isn't going to work for us.
So, we chose to take a closer look at essential oils. Researching essential oil manufacturing revealed a collection of issues, which we try to mitigate as much as possible. Both Essential Oils and Fragrance Oils have their pros and cons, so when choosing how to scent our bars, we had to come up with a plan.
We try to balance the issue of sustainable scenting of our products by asking ourselves these questions:
- How much of the plant does it take to make a bottle of oil?
- Once the plants for the oil are harvested, what is the impact and length of time to re-plant and start again; and how does this production help or harm the environment around it?
- Does the company we buy from practice sustainable and organic farming to produce their oils?
- What are the effects of the oil and do they counterbalance the consumption as it relates to Surf Soap?
Once we ask ourselves these questions, and are happy with our choices, we move on to blending our oils into scents that are not only delightful and refreshing, but also maintain aromatherapeutic properties that contribute to an overall feeling of wellbeing - so you can take that bliss from the ocean to your desktop.
The result of this careful preparation means that each bar will have a varying scent, and our bars don't smell as strongly as other bars on the market. While we love smelling good as much as anyone else, it's imperative that we live our brand standards, and that means every drop in our bars has to count.
See you on the break!