THANK YOU!! Logical facts vs the emotionally driven scare tactics that so many DIY mavens try to promote on their websites. This is such a breath of fresh air and much appreciated!!
Oh I had to learn that fraagrance oils the hard way. I have humidifier that has a little tray to add whatever scent you want, and so I added two drops of apple/cinnamon fragrance oil. It's s been several washes and soaks later and IT STILL SMELLS LIKE APPLES!! Learned my lesson. Fragrance oils belong in my candles, essentials in my humidifier.
Thank you so much! I have a lot of anxiety around “chemicals” as part of my clinical OCD diagnosis. This video really helped put some of that to rest! Keep the videos coming!
Love that you did this. I know some fragrance oils set off my allergies, others do not. Go figure. Yet, I'm lucky that I've not any essential oils allergies. As long as I don't get icked by chamomile in the long run, due to the chemical relation to some of my triggers, I will be happy. 😎 I'm of the essential oils group unless I'm soaping or being asked to make specific style perfume. (I can say I soap, that's just so cool!) This is such a great topic, Marie. So thank you.
I still find I prefer EOs, even with my new stash of FOs staring me down. I think it's mostly the stalked-by-scent thing I don't like, which may be just because I've used EOs for so long that noticeably smelling like something all the time weirds me out, haha. I do know plenty of friends who love them, though! And congrats on the soap! It's so fun watching you share your batches on The Hive! Thank you for being such an integral part of it :)
@@HumblebeeAndMe You know, I was just thinking, after so long a time formulating, creating, and shipping product, I would think you have, to a certain degree, come to associate particular fragrances with the products and the tasks surrounding them, rather than the fragrances evoking an emotion or feeling you would otherwise experience. Since you stated that a decent part of it was negative, then those scents may bring to mind those feelings of stressful tension. I am just surmising, of course, but it makes perfect sense, to me, that you felt that way. Many years ago, when I was a teenager and worked for a couple of months at one of the big hamburger chains, I could not bring myself to eat there again for the following 2+ years, because just the smell of it got to me. I know it is none of my business, but I am curious, do you feel the same way, weirded out, now that you are free of your burden and happier? I am just amazed at the wealth of information that you have accumulated and share with the rest of us, and I thank you, so much! 👏🙏💖💐
Thank you for this video. I, too, have done quite a bit of research into fragrance oils and essential oils. One of the things that concerns me greatly about synthetic fragrance oils is that one never gets a list of ingredients. That means one has NO idea what one is actually putting on one's body. None. One has no idea what chemicals are used being that the companies always say it is "proprietary". And the industry is SELF-REGULATING. That is cause for alarm. A self-regulating industry is rarely, if ever, objective. Let us keep in mind also that there are many synthetic chemicals that will not show negative consequences for 20 or so years, long past the statute of limitation for many types of lawsuits. So the companies know they are safe from the threat of being sued using many chemicals that are deemed to be unsafe in the long run. Last, but not least, I find it interesting how first, I can always tell if something is a fragrance oil or an essential oil just by smell, and second, it generally takes no more than about 20 minutes before a headache sets in when I sit in a room that is being scented by synthetic fragrance oils. There are many people affected like that by FOs. Yet I have no allergies and am a very healthy person, all around. So between having no idea what chemicals are being added to a given fragrance oil due to the claim of "proprietary information" by the company, and finding I get a headache sitting among the FOs, those are reasons enough for me to not ever use them in any of the products I make, whether lotions, soaps, shampoo, etc. I could not imagine subjecting people to all the chemicals that may be in them. And trusting the industry's self-regulation is almost comical to me. Every corporation's bottom line is profit, and most, unfortunately, have no conscience as to how it may affect the being using the product. At least with the essential oils I not only know exactly what I am getting and what chemicals comprise the oil I am using, but I am also getting the aroma therapy benefits of the oils and often the benefits of the physical healing properties as well, such as using lavender essential oil to heal skin issues. To each their own, however. I just would encourage people to really do their research before blindly trusting products where one has no idea what exactly is in them.
Well, saying you have NO idea isn't quite accurate; if you're purchasing your FOs from a reputable supplier you should get a breakdown of some of the aroma chemicals used, but yes-many are left out as trade secrets. Your points about alarm, though... the essential oil industry is COMPLETELY self regulated, but without any sort of overseeing body like fragrance has! And don't you think EO sellers are also interested in profit? How is that not cause for alarm for EOs, but it is for fragrance? Each EO company is just regulating themselves, leaving you to trust that their oils are pure. Unless you are sending all of your EOs through a mass spec. to verify their components, the best you can say about your EOs is that you know what SHOULD be in them, and that you trust your supplier. Diluted and adulterated (often with synthetic fragrance chemicals) EOs are not at all uncommon (facebook.com/EssentialOilUniversity/), and given the high price of the source material, one could argue EO sellers have quite a lot of motivation to dilute the pure product with something less expensive and increase their profit margin-and there is nothing stopping them from doing so, and very little that would allow the consumer to figure that out. I definitely know that many people do not tolerate fragrance well; personally, I find it much stronger that I tend to prefer, and in high concentrations it'll give me a headache, too. I also find them to be quite obvious-the strength and duration of the scent is usually the dead giveaway. Now, I don't have a horse in this race-I don't care what you use, I'm not trying to sell you MLM essential oils-but I do think it's interesting that many of your causes for alarm are equally applicable to the EO industry.
Hi Lisa - hopefully you will see this, even though your post was 2 years ago. When I started making soap 8+ years ago, many of my friends and co-workers said they could not tolerate anything with scent in it...but when they tried my soap, they could! Some have eo's, some have fo's....what I learned was that what they couldn't tolerate was all the scented stuff you can get at Bath & Body works (I can't either) and several other stores where people shop and get cheap soap or lotions...why? Because these places use cut-rate, adulterated eo's and fo's. (I have found some very reputable suppliers that I buy high quality, unadulterated eo's & fo's.) So you get what you pay for. (Sadly when in a crowded room or airplane, everyone (including me) has to tolerate all the people that wear this junk - too strong perfume, lotion, deodorant. I get sick from it too.) Hope this is helpful. Sly
This is great. I was originally planning on using essential oils when I finally got around to making my own products, but I’m the kinda girl who likes a lingering scent, so fragrance oils would probably be more what I want. Can’t wait to spend all day with my hair smelling like lemon cake!
I'm glad you found it useful! Fragrances and EOs definitely both have their strengths and weaknesses. I'm starting to find I enjoy some lingering yummy hair smells as well 😊
It's mostly supply + demand; some of it in the amount of oil the plant produces, and some in how in demand that oil is. When blights hit crops prices go up, and when bumper crops happen, prices go down. Cinnamon bark used to be pretty cheap (I have a 500mL bottle of it at home) and now it's a fortune (that 500mL bottle would be over $230 today... it was $15.59 when I bought it!)
Thanks so much for your sensible evaluation. So much good hype for essential oils out there that I have found incorrect in my experience. I use both in my business. I teach soap making and will advise my participants to watch this video and read your blog. You are my go to resource and appreciate all the time and effort you put into your posts. Fantastic as always. Debbie from Oz.
Im so happy to see someone else who is suspicious of the word "natural". Im an ecologist, and trust me, natural doesnt always mean better or safer. For example, many essential oils can be harmful to pets. In fact, citrus oils can kill your cat. Even putting them into an oil diffuser can cause a pet to become very sick very quickly. Just breathing it in can cause breathing problems or vomiting, or even seizures. Plants create these oils as a natual defense against insects. A lot of these oils actually destroy the dna structure of the insect, and the strong smell is a warning to the insect that the plant is toxic. Unfortunately, the naturals industry is not as heavily regulated as the synthetic chemical industry. There hasnt been the extensive peer reviewed studies on essential oils that have been going on with synthetics since the 50's, so we dont actually know these are %100 safe. We know that lavender for instance mimics estrogen in the body. This can be very harmful for young boys, and knowing that phytoestrogens can cause breast cancer, its not a far streatch to theorize that heavy use of lavender oil can cause homorne influenced cancers. We just dont know because no one is testing it. For this reason, i wont use essential oils that are not from edible plants.
Good info! I love smells and I heard it's good for keeping roaches away and that's a plus for me but I don't want it to be harmful to anyone in my home.
Thank you Marie ..for putting g this out here...you do a great job! I love both essential oils and fragrance oils...they both have a place as far as I'm concerned. I used a fragrance in your basic lotion recipe and it is beautiful ..( I used Jasmine ) ..well I must say it turned out great...I used it in the last recipe for beginners too...the deodorant..which really works great ! and hey I just realized ..I guess I'm a graduate from the humblebeeandme ?(beauty academy)? ...lol
I appreciate that you provide valuable knowledge and insights and also promote the edict of self awareness, proper research, individual responsibility and self awareness, well done. Love your content
You are fantastic!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! I've been wanting to get into making different soaps and things and wasn't sure if I was going to be able to find the scents I wanted to use. You're the best!!!!
thank you! you are to cute with your stories. I have just ventured into fragrance oils so far I am just trying them out in small amounts. I am not sure if you have a video on labeling products and also about how to post the weight of the product in the bottle . I am super confused if its volume or oz or total oz plus the jar! Thank YOU Marie your the bees Knees !!!
I don't discuss labelling as it varies so much from country to country, any anybody selling their products really needs to be able to stand on their own two feet in that regard, but the weight listed on any package should be the weight of the product you are paying for-the jar is irrelevant!
Have you used aroma molecules...or some people call it aroma chemicals? I started using Timbersilk and it has been a game changer for me! My formula is a mixture of fragrance oils, essential oils and aroma-chemicals. I use Timbersilk IFF as my base. It has a woody warm profile. It really helps bring your blend together!
If only cotton candy farms were a thing... Great video. I am also torn on the whole topic, though I do love and prefer EOs. Also I really liked how you did that sort of presentation style segment were you inserted your notes but were turned to the side to look at them like they were there. Thought that was a nice touch. looking forward to your next video!
Thanks, Kristiyn! I am finding I still prefer EOs, even with some FOs to choose from. Maybe it's familiarly, maybe it's my general dislike of always smelling like something. Eh. At least I'm not being wilfully ignorant, and that's enough for me :)
I am trying to make beard and hair oil with jojoba almond and argan oil. I just want the mixture to have Amber scent. I like that smell but i dont know i shud use fragrance oil in hair or beard.
$100 per teaspoon hahaha 🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂 This was such a helpful and informed video!!! I’ve been wary of fragrance oils too but I hate how the essential oils scent fades and they are so expensive... I may try a fragrance oil but separate from my main diy in case.
Awesome video !! Thank you so much, since as a newbie to the >clean< world am getting just a little overwhelmed. This video helped clear things up tremendously!!! Please keep up the good work !!
Im sensitive to smells, but since I started making things (hand sanitizer, sprays) I'm even more sensitive to store bought stuff now because theres a stench i can smell in the store bought stuff that I don't smell in my stuff.. so I do think there is something to being less sensitive to one more than the other. The craziest fragrance oil i smelled was at a festival and it was dirt, i don;t know why they had dirt fragrance but it smelled just like dirt. Weird, but pretty cool. I wouldn't buy it but was still neat they could do that. Btw, i love smelling like cotton candy, wear it all the time, no one has ever had a problem with it like other perfumes, it's a pretty non-offensive smell.
Flavour oils are food/lip-safe fragrance oils designed to fool you into thinking you're tasting something when you're generally just smelling something quite strong. Flavour oils may also have an added sweetener, like stevia :)
at what temperature are you suppose to add EO? sometimes I get that burnt smell after applying beard balm. my wife tells me it smells like I was smoking cigarettes outside. this is especially when I use cedarwood EO. weird...
This one's a bit tricky. Yes, many of the chemicals that make up essential oils are quite volitile, and heat exposure can damage them or cause them to dissipate. However, we also have to dilute them to use them safely, and in order to do this in a product that will be solid, the EOs must be added while it's still liquid. So... aim for about the coolest you can get before adding them, after you've removed the pan from the heat. Extended heat is much more damaging than added while hot and then immediately cooled. Hope that helps!
Hello Marie ♥️, Ahmm can I use Fragrance oils for my diy Lip balms? Or what should I use Fragrance oils to make sure that it is safe for my lips? Thank you so much... Sending you love from the Philippines ♥️
On my first breakout I was scared to death. I thought it was bed bug bites... until I saw a doc, but I googled and read a lot and realised the painful part is the blisters. For anyone who got the herpes virus the best thing to do is contact (doctorojie1@yahoo.com) . And live healthy. let your immune system do the fighting
This was informative, thank you. I recently bought yellow Shea butter, I would like to mix some essential oil for texture and fragrance purposes. I am worried that oil might cause acne breakouts if used on the face. What essential oil woukd recommend for hair and skin to be mixed in yellow shea butter?
Every product goes through a safety assessment and challenge test. This can be quite expensive. How did you manage the finances for a range of products?
Hi, can I just add a few MIllileters to an already made lotion that I made a few days or do I have to heat it up again and and add more preservatives to it ?
Thank you so much! Don't forget to check out my blog (humblebeeandme.com)-I've been blogging for over 8.5 years while I’ve only been on RU-vid for about 4, so there is TONS more content on the blog!
Hello, I loved your content. I find myself learning so much and in detail. I had a question. I want to make homemade lip balm and gloss using lanolin that smells like peach 🍑 and I was not sure whether to use peach kernel oil or peach fragrance oil. I cannot stand the smell of lanolin and wanted info on which one will smell better and which will be safer. I really hope you read this and respond. Thank you!
It varies; up to two years for each, though you'd do best to check with your suppliers. That said, they don't spoil like a carrier oil will-they break down and become weaker over time, and the scent may change as certain constituents break down.
Hi Marie, this video was very very informative. I always had this strong belief that frangrance oils are bad for skin and I am not sure if they do. My question is can I add fragrance oils in soap making? Also it would be really kind if you make a video where you can give some cool recipes for making fragrances using a blend of essential oils and fragrance oils. Thanks in advance.
You definitely can use fragrance in soap, just be sure to purchase your fragrance from somewhere that tests it in soap so they can tell you if it accelerates trace or now. I do have a couple recipes that use a blend of the two, but I find that fragrances are typically already blended (things like "Amber romance" and "tropical beach")-they often aren't single notes, which makes them harder to blend.
On my first breakout I was scared to death. I thought it was bed bug bites... until I saw a doc, but I googled and read a lot and realised the painful part is the blisters. For anyone who got the herpes virus the best thing to do is contact (doctorojie1@yahoo.com) . And live healthy. let your immune system do the fighting
I never had too much of a problem with fragrence oils till I read a bunch of the msds on bramble berry. There was a lot that were severe toxic in aquatic environments. And of those a fair few were long lasting in the environment. More scarily these oils frequently stated the possibility of interacting with major organs and reproductive organs ( especially in males) in humans. It was just something I didn't expect to read in an msds for a fragrence oil.
Interesting! I didn't even try to address the environmental angle in this video, but it does make sense that many synthetic compounds are not going to be particularly biodegradable. As for the organ interactions; that hasn't been covered in any MSDS I've looked at (they typically say "No information available."). Can you link me to some good sources on that? Most of what I have found has been very fear-mongery without any scientific sources, and I'm really curious!
Humblebee & Me these are just a few MSDS from bramble berry. I love her transparency and I have a lot of respect for her for it. I note that most of these risks to humans do require repeated exposure, and I think that is likely much more of a risk for those of us making and working with and testing our products, rather than a customer who likely uses it for a while then switches to a different scent or product. It's the aquatic effects that concern me, since I primarily make soaps, and well they are going strait down drains and into waterways via sewage, and granted my soaps are at 2-3% BUT I'm not the only person in the world whose making soaps... These things that are accumulative, they do just that. And if they're persistent... I wish I could find the documentary I was watching a few weeks ago on curiosity about deep sea trench exploration, they took samples of mud from the deepest ocean trenches and the presence of made man chemicals was actually 5-16x higher than at sea level. I'm sure if you google it you might find it? The organ toxicity I found for these ones was relating to skin, kidneys, liver and the sexual organs of foetuses. I only did a quick look this time, last time I was looking for scents for my products I searched through most of them this time I just left it at the letter C but there are others and they do say specify other organs such as lungs, brain and male reproductive organs. Again these would be time and dose dependant. Anyway here are some links. www.brambleberry.com/Download.ashx?daid=2197 www.brambleberry.com/Download.ashx?daid=2198 www.brambleberry.com/Download.ashx?daid=2157 www.brambleberry.com/Download.ashx?daid=1713
Thank you for a great video. Apart from the ingredients that create the scent in a fragrance oil, what is the base if there is one? If so, is it a mineral oil?
Think of fragrance oils like spices; good spices shouldn't be cut with anything, and neither should good fragrance oils. They should be pure spice (or in the case of fragrance oils, fragrant chemicals).
I have to confess that I really love your channel because it's so informative. If you don't mind my stupid question. Since chemicals are added to essential oil to create the fragrance, will it possible for us to purchase just the plant extract for its medical effect without the smell? I am just thinking it could be cheaper than essential oil.
I'm not entirely sure what you're asking here. "Since chemicals are added to essential oil to create the fragrance"-that's not really true. Essential oils ARE chemicals-they are comprised of many fragrant chemicals. If they have been adulterated with additional chemicals they're no longer pure essential oils. Some of the chemical compounds present in essential oils are available for purchase as isolated chemicals, but they are typically still aromatic.
Hi Marie!! I was looking for the information about the chemicals on essential oils (the ones that produces allergies) but I can't find the UE document, can you give me a hint on this? Do you have the source? Please, that would be great. Thanks a lot
OK I keep hearing essential oils are toxic, so are fragrance oils better like not toxic, I'm just learning how to make candles, and I don't want to use something toxic, I have a cat and a dog. Any advise?
It's a lot more nuanced than that, unfortunately-each essential oil and fragrance oil will have a different chemical composition that may or not prove harmful to different animals/people at different usage rates. If you are worried about your pets I would speak with your vet. Check out Robert Tisserand to learn more about essential oils. I generally like fragrances in candles :)
Great video! I have been purchasing 10 ml bottles of pure fragrance oils and was wondering, in trace amounts, how many bottles of shower soap could 10 ml make? Or, is it impossible to use due to the stronger bond (of the scent)? I'm also curious, in the same way, about soap bars per 10 ml. If it's a "no", all around, I may have to use my oils strictly in creating perfumes (EDT and EDP). Thank you for all your knowledge!
Watergirl 007, well.. when you notice a rash that is red then becomes scaly and it hurts, you are curious what is causing it... because something it’s affecting your skin. Whether it’s a reaction, sensitivity, it’s affecting you in an unpleasant way. That’s how I found out it was mineral oils in eyeshadows... I also figured the same mineral oil was causing me to have acne breakouts on my face. On the eyelid it was pretty bad... acne it’s something no one wants to have so yeah if one uses 15 different products on their face from washing to makeup, they want to make sure one ingredient it’s not going to mess up their skin. Also gluten it’s a big one for me, very strong reaction internally and I do have a breakouts almost like blisters on my face. So should I take a chance on using anything with it on my face, I’m not willing to take that chance. That’s where making my own products comes in handy.
We are going to make Ozonated Olive Oil but the smell is quite strong and it is going to be used for wound/dead skin healing. So, which fragrance oil can you suggest for this purpose? (It will be like petroleum jelly)
On my first breakout I was scared to death. I thought it was bed bug bites... until I saw a doc, but I googled and read a lot and realised the painful part is the blisters. For anyone who got the herpes virus the best thing to do is contact (doctorojie1@yahoo.com) . And live healthy. let your immune system do the fighting
As an Aromatherapist I've had the unfortunate circumstance of clients who have broken out in chemical burns from the use of fragrance oils diluted in bath water. I really highly do not recommend them to be used on skin for this very reason. Fragrance Oil companies also often have manufacturer's instructions that will explain the safest way to use the fragrance oils. Essential oils are not even entirely safe however, since the FDA does not regulate the industry and only 3% of the pure oil is required in order for the manufacturer to claim that the bottle is a "pure" essential oil. But, that being said, even essential oils should be researched and used carefully, as they are known to interfere with medications, including diabetic medication. Please do your research!
I've also found cases of people getting burned by essential oils in bathwater; the issue there is that they aren't properly diluted as they float on top of bathwater, not EOs vs. FOs. The dose makes the poison, so not recommending using FOs based on a basically undiluted usage of them isn't very useful. I wouldn't recommend eating salt, either, if I based my recommendation on eating pure salt! I've been finding Tisserand & Young's Essential Oil Safety: A Guide for Health Care Professionals to be extremely helpful researching EOs, and the Essential Oil University Facebook page/website is a great resource for learning about which brands one should trust :)
since few days im searching information about EOs and FOs, so i can say that i get the main points but its still confusing, are FOs tottaly safe as room freshners in reed difussers and oil diffusers? will citrus fos make us photosensitive, i read that continiously using lavender eo can lead to hormonnal changes, citrus eos make us photosenstive and etc.., so seems like its dangerous to use eos lol, we can use them for therapy and fos for daily usage?
Everything has risks if used improperly-we cannot say anything is "totally safe". Citrus FOs will not cause photosensitivity. Give this a read on lavender: roberttisserand.com/2013/02/lavender-oil-is-not-estrogenic/. Essential oils do tend to require more care and knowledge to work with than fragrance oils. They are complex, volatile, and very versatile chemical compounds. To learn more I'd recommend this book and the previously linked blog.
Your local manufacturers should be able to tell you. If they can't, don't shop there! You wouldn't buy meat from somewhere that couldn't tell you if it was pork or beef :P
Great info!! I tried to find peony essential oil but it doesn’t seem to exist, how is this possible? Why is it possible to make essential oil from a rose but not from a peony? It’s both flower petals! If you have any explanation for this I’d highly appreciate it as my mind can’t stop wondering why! 😂
Most flowers don't have essential oils-rose is more of an outlier than anything else. I'm not sure if it is a "it's not possible" thing or if it's a "it's not financially sensible" thing. It takes about 2000 rose petals to yield 1 drop of rose essential oil, and it typically sells for $100+ for 5mL. If the yield of peony is lower, and the demand is not there, I can understand why nobody would want to take on that job. If it's not possible, it could be that the fragrant compounds of the flower do not stand up to the distillation process. The word "peony" doesn't occur anywhere in Tisserand's Essential Oil Safety for Professionals, and he's got some very obscure EOs in there :/
You can, but you'd also need a solubilizer and preservative. It would be easier to use cyclomethicone as the carrier-check out the "Quick n Easy Linen & Room Spray" formula linked here: lotioncrafter.com/products/lc995-cyclomethicone.
It will vary with the absolute; I'd likely start around 0.5%, but you should refer to a good reference text like Essential Oil Safety for Professionals to learn more!
Yes, though you will need some sort of emulsifier depending on the project as they have different solubilities. The FO will also be much stronger than the hydrosol, so err on the side of less.
I don't know, I'm afraid. I would bet those plug ins are diluted with something, but I have no idea what and they don't have to disclose it since it's not a topical product.
Don’t do it. I tried it and the plug in was burning. We had to replace the whole outlet and have a electrician come in and check to make sure everything was still safe. So don’t do it.
Thank you so much..very useful video.. I make herbal hair oil at home for fast hair growth and to control hairfall..Planning to promote the oil as well.I need to add something to make the oil smell good...and it should give a good fragrance whenever applying on the head..please suggest me something to add for my hair oil which is free from chemicals and harmless for hair or skin.I don't want cheat on customers by adding harmful ingredients..I want to do it genuinely..I checked the essential oils,it's so expensive..So I want to add something what I can make it at home with low cost which will make my hair oil smell good.. Please advise me Mam.. I saw you have replied almost all the comments..I was so glad to see you've replied each and every one..So thought that I also could get an advice from you.. Please advise me what should I add for my herbal hair oil to smell good something what I could make at home at low cost.. Thank you so much.. Love from Srilanka 💗
It sounds like essential oils are your best option. Yes, they're expensive, but you don't need much, and with what you're looking for they are your best (and possibly only) option. Also, please remember that literally everything is "chemicals", so please don't dismiss/malign ingredients for their "chemical"-ness :) And when it comes to essential oils-they absolutely CAN be harmful to the skin if not used properly, so make sure you understand things like sensitizers and maximum usage rates. You may wish to enrol with Formula Botanica: www.humblebeeandme.com/my-formula-botanica-review-diploma-in-organic-skincare-formulation/. Good luck +happy making!
