UNFORTUNATELY, many products that are labelled “NATURAL” and even “ORGANIC” are not as ‘Natural’ or ‘Organic’ as you think!
1 / FDA & cosmetic labeling laws
Any manufacturer can make an product and say they use ‘all natural’ essential oils & add up to 2 % fragrance oils. This means you could be having an allergic reaction to synthetic chemicals in a product that is labeled ‘natural’ or ‘organic’.
How can companies get away with this ? Fragrance is considered proprietary knowledge and companies are allowed to keep their formulas a secret.
2/ Ask for Purity !
Check to see if the product you’re buying has undergone GC/MS testing (gas chromatography-mass spectrometry ). This is the only way to test to see if essential oils have been adulterated. Many companies add synthetic oils to essential oils in a dubious attempt to make more profit. Because synthetic perfumes oils have been perfected in smell, even a trained nose often cannot tell the difference.
GC/MS testing is rather expensive, so many companies do not do it. There is also a question of honesty in the perfume world. Unfortunately, this means that a lot of people with pure intent end up selling oils to their customers that are not 100 percent natural.
3 / Oils on the HOT LIST
Even amongst the natural product world, there are many fragrances that I watch out for. These oils are rare, expensive or endangered and often FAKE! Sorry to break it to you, but it is a sad reality. So, it is don’t cost an arm and a leg, it’s probably not the real thing,
Here’s my list of fragrances that are often synthetic :
ROSE
TUBEROSE, LILAC , PIKAKI, PLUMERIA, JASMINE
SANDALWOOD
NEROLI
4 / Question long lasting smells!
Candles – are poured when hot and essential oils are sensitive to heat. you can bet that your 50 dollar candles are using synthetic fragrances EVEN if they use some essential oils
Soaps, Lotions, Perfumes, Hair Products – Does your product smell for hours? If so, it is probably synthetic. Natural fragrances diffuse quickly and do not generally last more than 20 minutes depending on concentration.
read more about synthetic fragrances, allergies and phthalates here
next entry : my favorite perfumers : strange invisible perfumes, aftelier, gaia perfumes, signature scents by kane
