Air Wick Essential Mist Review, Is It Worth?

Air Wick Essential Mist is a waterless oil diffuser. Unlike water diffusers, this compact device is battery-powered, which makes it highly portable. This improved model has a cleaner look and is made using less plastic.

It’s also easy to use. There are special bottles of Air Wick oils designed to snap right into the device. Once it’s empty, you simply open the diffuser, pull out the old bottle of oil, push in a new one until it snaps, and then put the diffuser base back in place.

The machine has one operating cycle. It runs for eight hours, and then rests for sixteen hours. When it’s running, you can control the mist frequency. There are three settings:

• Low: 4-second mist, and then rests for 17 minutes.
• Medium: 5-second mist, and then pauses for 15 minutes.
• High: 6-second mist, and then 12-minute pause. 

On any of these three settings, the initial fragrance released is twice as intense. This gives your room an immediate scent boost before the cycling begins.

This starter set comes with four bottles of fragrance oil blends. When used on the lowest setting, each refill can last up to 45 days. An indicator light lets you know when to replace the oil.

Pros

• It’s a cordless, portable device
• Takes up very little space
• Easy to use
• Over twenty fragrance options
• Fragrance fills medium to large-sized rooms

Cons

• Oil refills are expensive
• Can’t adjust mist cycle
• Refills are fragrance oils

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Points to Consider Before Buying an Air Wick Essential Mist

Diffusers do an excellent job of safely dispersing fragrance into the air. They’re a socially responsible alternative to aerosol sprays. And in some home environments, diffusers are safer to use than scented candles. 

But individuals who purchase diffusers are usually interested in experiencing aromatherapy benefits. Aromatherapy is solely associated with essential oils. If there are any other ingredients added to the oil, then you are not experiencing aromatherapy.

Product ingredients listed on the Reckitt website, which is Air Wick’s parent company, clearly indicate that essential mist oils are not solely made using essential oils. There are a lot of additional chemicals that make up a large proportion of the oil.

So before buying this product ask:

1. Are you looking for a nice fragrance?
2. Are you in need of aromatherapy?

If you are in need of a new scent in your home, then you might enjoy Air Wick Essential Mist. But if you want to engage in aromatherapy treatment, then this product is not the solution for you.

If this is you, you may want to skip down to the Air Wick Essential Mist Alternatives section.

Air Wick Essential Mist: Features & Benefits

There are a number of ways that the Essential Mist can prove to be useful within the home. 

Operating the Diffuser

There’s less maintenance involved with using the Essential Mist in comparison to traditional diffusers. Since water isn’t needed, you don’t have to repeatedly change it out or make sure you empty the water before storing the diffuser. If there are long periods between each use, you don’t have to be concerned with potential mold growth.

The need to clean out the diffuser prior to switching out scents is also not a factor with the Essential Mist. You can easily change out the bottles in seconds.

Only Air Wick’s oil refills fit this device. If you have natural essential oils on hand, you’ll have to use them in a traditional diffuser or dilute them to be used topically.

It’s largely silent when operating. You won’t hear any fans or vibrations. Misting only lasts for a few seconds – similar to spraying air freshener. You’ll hear a gentle spray, but that’s it.

Overall, it’s easy to use, conveniently doesn’t need additional tools or elements, and aside from the fragrance, you’ll hardly know that it’s there.

Highly Portable Container

This is a really small device that can easily be carried with a one-hand grip. It’s not much larger than solid air fresheners.

Since there isn’t a cord, you can place your Air Wick Essential Mist practically anywhere. Whether it’s on the bathroom vanity or on the back of the toilet, you can rest assured that it probably won’t fall off. 

You can place it bedside, and then carry it into your home office during work hours. It can also fit on a bookshelf without taking up too much room. 

If you want to operate this mister while doing yoga or Pilates, you can easily bring it into the room and place it near your mat. 

Battery Life

When used on the lowest setting, you can expect your batteries to last a little more than four months. If you use multiple cycle settings, you can expect for the batteries to last about three months before needing to be replaced.

The starter kit described above includes three AA batteries. But the kind of AA replacement batteries you choose will have an impact on device performance.

In order for the mister to function well, avoid using rechargeable batteries because they won’t be strong enough to support all of the device’s operations. Also avoid zinc-carbon batteries because they won’t be strong enough either.

Alkaline batteries are your best bet. They’re most commonly found in the US, but only used 50% of the time or less in most other countries. In addition to being safe to use, they have a higher energy density. They’ll be able to handle any shift in fragrance cycles without you having to replace the batteries more often.

Fragrances

There are 25 Essential Mist fragrance options. The substance inside these refill bottles are infused with botanical essential oils. But because there are additional ingredients included, essential oils are not being diffused, just a nice fragrance with a small amount of essential oils blended in. 

If you are expecting pure essential oils to be dispersed throughout your home, you may want to try a traditional essential oil diffuser.

While the short bursts of fragrance followed by rest periods helps to preserve the oils, if you want the oils to last, you should solely use the low, four-second mist cycle.

While operating, they produce a strong fragrance throw that can fill even large rooms. 

There are multiple starter kit combinations. Some even have just one fragrance for those who prefer one scent over the others.

But the scents included in this starter kit are:

Happiness

• A blend of pineapple, peach, and wild mint to help energize and uplift your home.

Rejuvenate

• Bamboo, bergamot, and cardamom combine to lift your spirit.

Sleep

• This is a calming fragrance blend of lavender, eucalyptus, and sage.

Unwind

• A harmonious blend of jasmine, green tea, and water lotus blossom.

Some additional fragrance options include:

• Apple Cinnamon Medley
• Coconut & Pineapple
• Eucalyptus
• Fresh Waters
• Lavender & Almond Blossom
• Lemon Thyme
• Mandarin & Sweet Tangerine
• Peony & Jasmine
• Vanilla & Pink Papaya

A lot of their fragrance titles are suggestive. For instance, Eucalyptus and Lemon Thyme paired with “Essential Mist” can lead you to believe that you are buying a natural product.

Here is a promotional video related to their fragrance offerings:

What concerns me is their tagline, “Connect to Nature,” as well as the phrasing that they use in the video. Phrases like, “a soothing blend of essential oils curated with eucalyptus and lavender” can sound misleading.

While both essential oils are part of the fragrance formula, they’re only a small part, as indicated on this Eucalyptus refill ingredients list ​from the Reckitt website.

It’s also disconcerting that customers and influencers are referring to this product as “releasing essential oils” when that’s not what is truly happening. This product releases a fragrance oil mist, not an essential oil mist. The company could benefit from doing a better job of being transparent about their ingredients list.

To me, it seems that they’re engaging in greenwashing by convincing customers that their product is more natural than it truly is.

Essential Mist Customer Feedback

Customers have left mixed reviews about Air Wick Essential Mist. I’ve researched customer experiences to help you get a more balanced perspective about this product before buying it. Here are some of the things customers have had to say:

• This device runs quietly and is extremely easy to use.
• The oils smell nice, but they rarely last a full 45 days, even on the low setting.
• Customers love the variety of fragrance options and that they smell like a spa experience.
• Being unable to change the operation cycle is a frustrating fact for some customers. Eight hours on and 16 hours off doesn’t seem all that practical considering that people are usually home for more than eight hours in more recent years. 
• The portability of this mister is a preferred feature across the board. Customers enjoy the fact that their diffuser isn’t tethered to a cord, having to largely remain in one place.
• Essential Mist doesn’t and won’t ever smell like pure essential oils. If that’s what you’re expecting, you’ll be disappointed. This is an air freshener, not an essential oil diffuser.

Air Wick Essential Mist Alternatives

Considering alternatives to Essential Mist really depends on what you expected to experience when using this device. 

If your goal is to try out a new air freshener, then the first alternative might be what you’re looking for. But if you want to be diffusing essential oils, I would suggest the second or third alternative below.

Air Wick Botanica Plug In Scented Oil

If you want to stick with the Air Wick brand, another somewhat natural option is their Botanica oil warmers. You can plug them into the wall and not have to worry about them again for about two months. This set includes two oil warmers and six oil refills.

The oils have some essential oil content but aren’t completely natural. But what might make these a better choice than typical wall warmers is that there aren’t any phthalates, dyes, or animal testing.

ArOmis Nebulizing Diffuser

But I think that the best alternatives to Air Wick’s Essential Mist are devices that actually diffuse natural essential oils.

Also waterless, the ArOmis diffuser solely disperses an essential oil mist throughout your home. If you pour pure essential oils into the diffuser, you can be certain that you are inhaling all natural ingredients. And since there’s no heat or water used, the machine preserves the integrity of your essential oils.

As a nebulizing diffuser, a pure mist is generated by the machine’s vibrations. This creates a more concentrated fragrance that can fill a large room, but won’t be too overwhelming for a small room.

Pure Enrichment Pure Spa Natural Essential Oil Diffuser

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Nebulizing diffusers have a steeper price due to their delicate mechanics and all natural glass and wood design elements. 

If necessary, it’s okay to resort to an aroma diffuser that operates with water. This one is larger than the Essential Mist container because it has a water reservoir, but you can drop pure essential oils into the device, which is most important for aromatherapy treatment.

In Closing

While the product overall seems to operate well and even distribute nice fragrance, I am disappointed in the way that this product is marketed. 

If you are looking for a compact, portable air freshener that distributes spa-like fragrances on a cycle without much effort on your part, then you might enjoy using Essential Mist.

But if you’re looking for a natural essential oil product to use for aromatherapy, workouts, relaxation, and such, this is not an accurate representation of that, even though it’s been marketed that way.

Overall, the only way you’ll know if you like the product is by trying it for yourself.