Essential vs Fragrance Oil (or Why Apple Crisp EO Doesn’t Exist)

Fragrance OilsWe’ve decided to address the reason we don’t use Essential Oils in our candles and to provide information on what essential oils really are and how they should be used. In our experience, they have no place in candle making and should be used in aromatherapy applications instead. Much of the information supplied by cosmetic, candle, soap and bath/body manufacturers about essential oils is misconstrued. I don’t believe this is done maliciously but instead, misinformation migrates from company to company as truth. It stems from laziness to find the facts.

There has been an influx of essential oil companies on the internet and home party market as of late. With this influx, has come an increase of confusing information and not all of it is factual. Marketing ploys are running rampant; it sounds wonderful to offer an apple crisp candle made with pure essential oils whether it’s true or not. That being said, why trust what we’ve written here? Well, we do our research and have been since the 1980s. Our founder has used EO and FO for herself since the 80s and has continued to learn about both oils over the years.  We love EO for so many things but not in candles. But don’t just take our word for it – listen to what the true experts have to say in the links we’ve provided below.

As a student of the study of essential oils, you will learn they are pure and distilled from certain plants and not all plants have essential oils. Essential Oils, EO, by nature are volatile and dissipate quickly. This quality makes using EO in candles difficult, if not impossible, to do if a quality candle is to be produced. Not only due to the dissipation of the oil, the cost of many essential oils would make the finished candle costs high. For example, an ounce of bergamot FO is about $1.28 and EO is $26 at the time of writing this article; an ounce to ounce and a half is the standard per pound of wax.  If we used essential oils, our Bergamot Large Country Jar would cost $128.00 retail.

EO are derived from some plants and this is why you will NEVER see a pineapple, cake, apple crisp or brownie scented candle made from essential oils. It’s simply not possible since those EO do not exist. There are just over 100 known EO and we’ve included a link to them below.

We trust the companies and sources listed below as they have a long track record in the EO field; some have decades of experience. Please take a moment to educate yourselves on EO so you can make better decisions about your bath & body products as well as candles. These resources will allow you to see through the misinformation on some candle companies pages.

  1. www.auracacia.com
    1. Essential Oil Basics
    2. List of essential oils
  2. www.aromaweb.com
    1. What are Essential Oils
    2. Essential Oil Uses
  3. www.nowfoods.com
    1. Now Foods EO Info
    2. EO Info Chart PDF
  4. www.byvalenti.com
    1. strawberry essential oil, and its shocking greenwashing truth

Fragrance oils, FO, are made up of a number of synthetic imitations of essential oils creating a fragrance that will smell like a flower, herb, plant or other item. Perfumers use this technology to make fragrances every day for perfume, lotions, bath products, and so much more. Fragrance oils are safe to use at the appropriate concentrations, which all manufacturers, who are experts in their fields, do. Fragrance Oils are stable in candle making applications whereas EO are not. This characteristic of FO allows for a beautifully scented candle from start to finish as long as the manufacturer creates a quality product, such as those we at Soy Works Candle Company produce.

If you would like to use EO in your candles, our Unscented Candles are a great option to use as a carrier oil & warmer.