Remember the sweet-smelling candles your friend lights when they invite you for dinner captivated you? You vowed to make some for your birthday or dinner date, but you are torn between using fragrance oil or essential oils. Read on to unravel the mystery behind the candle magic.
Essential oils are not the best choice when making candles since they produce less scent when burnt and evaporate quickly compared to fragrance oils. On the other hand, fragrance oils produce a better amount of scent throw and require fewer concentrations than essential oils.
You must be curious to learn the difference between the two types of oils. Read on.
What Are Essential Oils?
Essential oil is a robust oily liquid drawn from plants containing the plants’ specific chemical compounds. Essential oils cannot withstand temperatures equal to and above room temperatures, since they quickly evaporate. Simply put, they are natural oils that contain the essence and the characteristic smell of plants from which they were harvested, for example, peppermint.
People use different processes, such as distillation and cold pressing, to extract ethereal oils from different parts of plants, such as flowers, barks, and stems. Alcohol-based solvents are used in other instances.
Examples of naturally availed essential oils include orange oil, peppermint oil, and lavender oil. You should note that not all herbs produce essential oil.
As you may have learned already, ethereal oils contain the essence of the mother earth, containing certain traits of the plant, such as sweet fragrance. If you are not comfortable using synthetic fragrance oils, natural oils are the right choice. That gives them an edge over similar chemical products.
Essential oils are widely used in beauty spas since they are prevalent in the world of aromatherapy. Special machines known as diffusers are used to vaporize, mix with air, and release them into the air for therapy purposes. Inhalation is the simplest and most effective way of using these oils.
Did you know that essential oils are used to make your favorite scented bathing soap? However, they are a little bit costly.
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What Are Fragrance Oils?
Unlike natural essential oils, fragrance oils are sweet-smelling synthetic compounds manufactured in factories through scientific processes. Also called aroma oils, they can be made by diluting essential oils with other carrier oils such as propylene glycol or mineral oils.
Different fragrance oil compounds are mixed to come up with a specific smell. These oils aid your creativity since you can blend different scents at home to come with something new that will please your olfactory senses.
Certain flavor oils are used to add individual tastes in food. For example, Vanilla adds a sweet aroma to cakes and gives a delicious taste to yogurt. Blended aromatic oils are used to make perfumes since they have a wide range of scents compared to natural oils.
Examples of fragrance oils scents include sandalwood, cinnamon, rosehip, lemongrass, and Vanilla. Animals interestingly inspired civet and musk synthetic oils ideas. Many manufacturers prefer fragrance oils to essential oils since they are way cheaper. An excellent example of fragrance oils in the market includes the package by Good Essential.
Fragrance oils contain hundreds of different compounds that are easily mixed to come up with the preferred smell. Therefore, they are widely used by many candle makers.
Also, fragrance oils have a more concentrated scent than the faint scent of essential oils. Their scents stay for more extended periods since most users prefer perfumes that don’t fade quickly or last for at least a day.
Fragrance oils are generally safe, but sometimes they may contain added ingredients that may not be necessarily healthy such as paraben and phthalates.
Also, some fragrance oils produce fumes that are not healthy to breathe in. They may also arouse headaches or allergic reactions. When you go shopping for your favorite choice of candles, make sure you have made a healthy choice. Look at the advantages and disadvantages of each product and make a healthy choice.
>>>>> Best Fragrance Oils for Candle Making<<<<<
Factors To Considered When Choosing Between Essential and Fragrance Oils
Many reasons can make you choose to use essential oil over fragrant oil or the latter over the former. Essential oils are costly and for valid reasons too. For example, you will have to squeeze tons of rose flowers to come up with a single drip of rose-scented essential oil.
It is quite possible to generate different scented chemicals from various chemical compounds without necessarily destroying thousands of flowers that are beneficial for nature. It is also easier for most people to use artificial ingredients that will provide longlasting scent than crushing thousands of plants to come up with the same aroma.
Added to that, essential oils don’t allow for various flavors that synthetic fragrance oils offer.
You need to seriously think about several factors before taking a specific brand of oil off the shelves and into your shopping basket. The following are factors to consider when choosing the best raw material for your candles.
1. Price
As stated in the earlier sections of this discussion, price is a crucial distinguishing factor between essential oils and flavor oil because of several factors. It takes several hundred pounds of natural ingredients to develop the right quality of concentrated essential oils.
However, you would need to use far fewer amounts to synthetic compounds to develop the same amount of fragrance oils. This makes fragrance oil cheaper as compared to an essential oil with the same scent.
2. Type of Fragrance
Candles come with many fragrances. While some are made to mimic nature, some are just different, though pleasant. Synthetic oil offers a wide variety of scents that are not necessarily found in nature. Quite helpful to your creative self!
Natural oils offer several flavors but not as many as the synthetic ones. For example, you may prefer vanilla scented candles, but there is no vanilla essential oil. You can also combine the two types of oils through diffusion and get the best of both the natural and artificial worlds.
3. Health Concerns
Essential oils are considered safe by most people since they are drawn from natural ingredients. Mostly, they are extracted from plants that are known to have healing effects such as herbs. For example, the Lavender scent will help you relax and feel less stressed. Peppermint smell, on the other hand, can act as an insect repellant.
Some artificial ingredients blended with fragrance oils such as parabens are not very healthy when taken in large quantities. Take a choice that is best for your well being.
4. The longevity of the Scent
How long do you want the scent emitted from your homemade candles to last? Frankly, essential oils are more effective when availed through a diffuser. You would need many essential oils in a candle to produce the same effect that a diffuser would. Essential oils produce a very faint smell when burnt and are toxic in some instances.
If you want a robust longlasting fragrance for your dinner date, go for fragrance oils. They produce a harmonious symphony of sweet scents when heated. You will need to add only a few drops to your candles to produce the same effect that a bottle of essential oils would.
Fragrance Oils and Essential Oils Have Different Purposes
Most people who prefer the goodies that mother nature has availed will use essential oils in their candles. Some specific flavors are not available in nature, making some people go synthetic, thereby opting for fragrance oils.
The kind of oil to use to make your candles will depend on your tastes and preferences. Blend the two, and you will have the best that both worlds have to offer.
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