Scent is an extremely important and powerful sense. Not only can your sniffer pick up one trillion distinct scents, it can also smell emotion. Our ability to smell affects our wellbeing and our inability to smell is an indication that something in the body is off (recent studies show our noses may even be helpful in determining if we could be showing signs of COVID-19)! Knowing this, it is essential (oils) that we know how what we’re sniffing impacts us. After reading this you’ll be an expert on everything that goes into your stellar smeller. 

What is Fragrance?

The FDA defines Fragrance as a blend of chemicals that gives a product its distinct smell. Ingredients used can be procured from natural and synthetic materials resulting in a customized recipe that is then listed on a product simply as “Fragrance.”

What is in Fragrance?

It depends. There are three main means through which a fragrance can be achieved. Essential Oils, Synthetic Fragrance, and Natural Fragrance. We sold some of our essential oil soaps for over four years under the impression that the pre-mixed blends we were using in a few of our bars were pure essential oil blends.  Since that time it was discovered that those blends contained pure essential oils AND a small percentage of phthalate-free fragrance oil to boost the natural scent. We had to decide whether to discontinue those bars and disappoint many of our regular customers, or to continue carrying them and give people the choices they wanted. We made the decision to carry the bars, and let our customers make their own choices in this regard.

All of our scented varieties of soap contain 2% essential oils—to add scent as well as therapeutic value—and 98% other ingredients (oils, water, clays, milks, etc.).  The few soaps that contain the uncertified blends ALSO have therapeutic grade essential oils in them. We did a lot of experimenting because we wanted to make our scents totally unique.  The fact that these soaps contain a mix of the blends in question PLUS our own essential oil additions also drives any percentage of any fragrance oil down even further (less than .5-1% of the entire batch). 

What are the different types of Fragrance?

Essential Oils

Essential oils are made up of plant compounds that have been distilled and combined with a carrier oil. Essential oils are a pure and concentrated form of fragrance that are believed to possess many different health benefits when introduced to the body through inhalation and topical application. 

Three Top Essential Oils

Peppermint

In addition to its festive smell, peppermint essential oil is used for its super “cool” benefits. Our Peppermint Patchouli Pumice Body Bar is the perfect option for skin that needs rejuvenation.

Tea Tree Oil

Tea Tree oil is thought to have antibacterial and anti fungal properties and is commonly used in the treatment of acne. We recommend the Peppermint Tea Tree Shampoo Bar as the perfect solution for a scalp that needs some TLC.

Lavender

Lavender is easily my favorite essential oil and AVNS loves it, too. When I was a little girl my mom would add a drop in the bathtub right before bed. Lavender is used to relieve stress and is a perfect natural way to aid sleep. Baths are hard to come by when you’re always pressed for time, but hopping in the shower with a bar of Lavender Silk creates the perfect ten minute stay-cation experience for otherwise busy mornings. 

Natural Fragrance 

Natural fragrances are plant-based aromatics which are produced using pure essential oils and aromatic isolates derived solely from natural, raw botanical sources. All of these natural fragrances are certified to be free of synthetic ingredients. The benefit of natural fragrance differs from pure essential oils in that it is used mainly for scent quality rather than therapeutic benefit. We have started introducing a natural plant based fragrance alternative to some of our soaps which once had the essential oil & phthalate free fragrance blend. This is ONLY happening to soaps and products where finding a scent match with essential oils is not possible. Our desire would be to only use essential oils as they give benefit to the hair and skin as well as scent, but when this is not possible, we have chosen to use natural plant based fragrances.

Synthetic Fragrance

Synthetic fragrance is a blend of lab created chemicals combined to achieve an imitation of a scent or in many cases, a totally unique scent. While synthetic fragrance may be helpful in enhancing nuances in natural scents, there are some concerns about some of the chemicals present in many synthetic fragrances, especially phthalates. Phthalates are found in cosmetics, but they are also used to soften polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic . Research has shown that when absorbed in the body, Phthalates may lead to issues in fertility and neurodevelopment. We make sure that any fragrance we use that is NOT an essential oil or a natural fragrance is phthalate-free.

AVNS wants you to know exactly what we put in our products, which is why we list our ingredients under each product. Our essential oils are therapeutic grade because we want you to benefit from every ingredient on our list. Whether the benefits are physical or simply sensory enjoyment, we hope our products improve your quality of life.

Much Love,

Nora