This is a hot topic for me. Frequently I hear at markets, "Do you use essential oils in your soap?" The simple answer is no. We use fragrance oils in our soap. We do use essential oils in some of our tallow products.
Let's talk about the key differences.
- Essential oils are derived from nature while fragrance oils are generally synthetic.
- Essential oils are said to have therapeutic benefits, while fragrance oils do not.
- Fragrance oils have a much longer shelf life than essential oils.
- Essential oils may cause skin irritation or sensitivities, while fragrance oils generally do not.
- Fragrance oils are more cost effective than essential oils
- Fragrance oils withstand the saponification process in a far superior fashion than essential oils
As a farm, we align ourselves with sustainability and ethical resourcing, while creating products that are skin and earth friendly. So why not use essential oils, they are "natural"? The practice of obtaining some essential oils is rife with inconsistent practices, huge variations in quality, and can be quite detrimental to the environment. To begin with, in order to produce a single pound of essential oil, enormous quantities of plants are required: 10,000 pounds of rose petals, 250 pounds of lavender, 6,000 pounds of melissa plant, 1,500 lemons, and so forth. Due to a variety of factors, large amounts of produce are needed to produce oils.
The fragrance of our soap is not intended for "therapeutic" benefits, except for the benefit of smelling fresh citrus or heady frankincense. The soap as a whole is designed to give you top-quality ingredients that are not harmful to you or the environment. Our Shea butter is ethically sources from sustainable farms, as is our olive, coconut, almond oils. Our tallow is local and grass-fed. One of our primary objectives is to use ingredients that are sustainable, sourced locally or as Australian as possible. This leaves out many essential oils.
We searched and sampled fragrances throughout Australia. We currently use two companies chosen for their manufacturing practices that use high-quality ingredients sourced both locally and around the globe. Their stringent quality control and testing ensures the highest standard of fragrances are produced. The fragrances are vegan-friendly and free from parabens and phthalates. All have IFRA documentation and are testing to be skin safe and stable through the soap making process.
Using essential oils, as many great soap makers do, is a personal choice for the consumer. We recommend you find a trusted soap maker who understands the technical issues and possible toxic side effects that come with utilising essential oils. Many essential oils are skin irritants, toxic to children and very toxic to pets. The risk to our customers is not something we chose to undertake right now. The essential oils we use in our tallow products are ones that we know are stable, come from tested facilities in Australia, and are stable within the products, so you aren't paying high prices for a poor smelling product.
Honestly, I tossed up the idea back and forth in my head and did my research. We choose to add ingredients that are the highest quality while providing affordable pricing. It isn't proven that essential oil therapeutic properties survive the saponification process. We recommend you save your money to purchase high quality essential oils to use directly on your skin, as appropriate. Because our Country Peach soap smells delicious!