What is the difference between fragrance oils and essential oils?Updated a month ago

1. Composition:

Fragrance Oils: Fragrance oils are synthetic or semi-synthetic blends created in laboratories. They consist of various fragrance materials designed to replicate both natural and artificial scents. Fragrance oils can be more customizable, allowing manufacturers to create scents that don’t naturally exist—like "Ocean". These blends are formulated to meet high safety standards, ensuring that the scent is both enjoyable and safe for use.

Essential Oils: Essential oils are 100% natural extracts from plants, flowers, trees, or fruits. These oils are obtained through processes such as steam distillation or cold pressing. Each essential oil represents the pure essence of the plant, offering not only a natural scent but also potential therapeutic properties, such as calming or energizing effects.

2. Synthetics Can Often Be Safer Than Essential Oils:

While essential oils are natural, they are also highly concentrated and contain potent compounds that can sometimes cause sensitivities or allergic reactions in certain individuals. For example, oils like cinnamon, clove, and citrus can cause skin irritation or photosensitivity when used incorrectly or in high concentrations. In some cases, essential oils can be toxic if ingested or used around pets.

Fragrance oils, on the other hand, are carefully formulated using synthetic fragrance materials that are often designed to be less reactive and safer for use on the skin or in the air. The synthetic nature of fragrance oils allows manufacturers to exclude harmful components and follow strict safety guidelines. For example, fragrance oils are often compliant with IFRA (International Fragrance Association) standards, which regulate the safety of fragrance materials, ensuring they meet health and safety criteria.

At Kirri, our master perfumers and the company itself strictly follow IFRA guidelines and go beyond these standards to ensure our fragrances are safe for everyday use. We take pride in not only meeting but exceeding safety standards, making sure our products are both luxurious and safe for our customers.

3. Our Commitment to Ethical and Sustainable Sourcing:

At Kirri, we are deeply committed to sourcing our ingredients from sustainable and ethical sources. We prioritize working with suppliers who practice responsible harvesting and cultivation to ensure that our essential oils and raw materials are obtained in ways that minimize environmental impact. Our focus on sustainability extends throughout our production process to reduce our ecological footprint while maintaining high-quality fragrances.
4. Our Approach: Using Essential Oils Wherever Possible

We strive to use essential oils wherever possible to provide our customers with natural, high-quality fragrances. Essential oils offer a pure and natural scent experience, often favored by those who prefer plant-based products. For example, many of our fragrances incorporate lavender, sandalwood, or citrus essential oils to capture the natural essence of these ingredients.
5. The Necessity of Synthetics for Unique Scents

However, some scents simply cannot be derived from nature. For example, there is no essential oil that captures the smell of the ocean or freshly fallen rain. In these cases, we rely on synthetic fragrance oils to recreate these complex aromas in the lab. This allows us to offer unique and innovative scents, like "Ocean Breeze" or "Fresh Linen," that still meet high safety standards but can’t be sourced from essential oils alone.

By using synthetics where necessary, we can craft exclusive, one-of-a-kind scents while ensuring they are safe, long-lasting, and enjoyable for our customers.