What's the difference?

What is so different between aromatherapy and perfume. Loosely we could say perfume is an indulgence, is a pleasure or is hedonistic whereas aromatherapy is a medicine or a therapeutic aid.

The materials used in the natural field have a lot in common. Essential oils are the backbone of both natural perfumes and aromatherapy. Perfumery favours standardised materials whilst aromatherapy concentrates the more natural and variable organic materials.

Historically perfumes have often also been medicines such as Eau de Cologne and Queen of Hungary Water. They have also been entwined with religion, its priests and shamans also being connected to the healing sciences.

The turning point for perfumery was the invention of alcohol. In the 8^th century CE an Arabic alchemist Abu Musa Jabir ibn Hayyan designed the alembic or pot still, a technique that allowed for the effective distillation of alcohol. The “alembic” itself is the big kettle-shaped vessel where a primary fermented liquid such as wine is heated up. The evaporated material, Ethanol evaporates before water, traveling into a cooling tube and back into another vessel to condense. Without the wine, the same principle applies to steam distillation of aromatic plants. Placed in water that is heated to boiling point the steam draws out the volatile elements which are then condensed.

But alcohol – oh so much can be done with it! The main components of perfume are a perfume oil, an alcohol, and water. 

Perfume oil can be broken down into two diverse types. A synthetic oil, or a fragrance taken from a specific source through methods such as headspace analysis or pure invention. Headspace is the smell from something (even such as manure or metal) directly vacuumed from a sealed container. The smell from the object is then analysed to find its chemical equation to recreate the smell. Oils and so smells can be extracted from flowers, plants, animals, etc. A tincture is an extract in alcohol, an absolute is made by washing plant material in hexane and then distilled with alcohol, a maceration is when a plant is placed in a vat of fat or liquid oil which over time absorbs the fat-soluble aroma molecules. 

The oils have three parts: The top note, the heart note, and the base note. The top note is what you smell immediately. The heart note is what you smell 3-4 hours after applying and it evaporates slowly. The base note sticks easily to the skin and can stay for up to eight hours! The chemical analysis for a perfume oil completely depend on what the oil was taken from.

Do not confuse a perfume oil or compound with a maceration. You see this a lot on inferior quality internet sites that talk about buying perfume oils rather than alcohol based perfumes. What they are talking about are macerations or fat-soluble perfumes not what a perfumer would understand by the term.

Perfumes should be enjoyed for the character they can bring enhancing the mood of the moment or giving a signature to a personality. They are described in words in the same way as wine is described for we do not have a language for perfume. We always must say some smell is like something, it reminds me of x or y. Just as we describe wine effusively so too fragrance is described similarly. So if a wine is said too taste of blackberry that does not mean it has any in it! Likewise perfume, if it reminds you of rose, there is no guarantee any rose is in the perfume!

Over the counter perfumes are sold according to how much perfume oil is dissolved or carried in the base. So, Perfume extract: 20%-50% aromatic compounds, Eau de Parfum/Parfum de toilette: 10-30% aromatic compounds, Eau de Toilette: 5-20% aromatic compounds, Eau de Cologne:  2-5% aromatic compounds.

Fragrance smells different on different people. This can be due to body chemistry, condition of the skin, the individual’s diet, medication, lifestyle, stress, and the environment in which we live. how a perfume smells is not only what it comes from, but also how a person is chemically wired to perceive it. If everyone smelled the same way and had the same “favourite smells” then everyone would also have the same favourite perfume. Depending on your genetic code, you could have different smell receptors which cause a smell to be different to you than someone else.

History shows us that fragrance has been used everywhere from the sails of Anthony and Cleopatras war fleet, to the horse, the furniture, the wall hangings, clothes, handkerchiefs whilst today we fragrance all personal care items and we are moving toward more environmental fragrance. Just enjoy it and know you will not like everything. Fragrance free hardly such a thing nearly everything around us has a smell we just don’t always perceive it. 

www.fragrantearth.com

Organic - The Real Meaning

Organic – The Real Meaning

Buying Organic is fashionable. Organic products are increasingly sold. Organic products are more expensive than other products whether essential oils, cotton clothing or food. But what is so good about Organic and why is it real?

The most often quoted reason is that Organic material is not produced by spraying it with pesticides and herbicides which although regulated still pose threats to human and other wildlife. This is true. Organic products are not grown or processed using harmful chemicals. Whilst Agribusiness argues that all the chemicals they use are safe, year after year, new evidence emerges that this is questionable if not untrue. So new replacement chemicals are found and the round begins again.

An example is glycophosphate (Roundup) weed killer ‘safe’ but now strongly implicated in the decline of honey bees through the chemicals passing through the food chain. The National Academy of Sciences reports that 90% of the chemicals applied to foods have not been tested for long-term health effects before being deemed "safe."

So, a good reason for buying organics is to safeguard health not only of humans but also wildlife and plant diversity especially in the wild.  Organic food is produced using more environmentally friendly and animal friendly farming methods meaning it’s better for people, animals and the planet.

Talking about farming, organic farming methods are less dependent on non-renewable, fossil fuel-based fertilisers and pesticides. Organic farming also stores higher levels of carbon in the soil. The farming methods of production restore the quality of soil by using natural methods, in particular the support of microbes, bacteria and fungi from compost to return nutrients to the soil. Organic farming supports eco-sustenance, or farming in harmony with nature. Preservation of the soil and crop rotation keep farmland healthy, and chemical abstinence preserves the ecosystem. Wildlife, insects, frogs, birds, and soil organisms can play their roles in the full tapestry of ecology.

Organic beauty ingredients are produced without the use of as many artificial fertilisers, pesticides, or other synthetic chemicals as conventional beauty ingredients. By using organic skincare, you make sure that the ingredients have not been treated with the same number of synthetic pesticides or fertilisers. Organic materials are not available for every aspect of formulation so many good Natural brands use organic ingredients where possible plus other quality non-organic materials.

The same principles apply to Organic Beauty finished products which are also produced without the use of many artificial fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides. Organic Skincare and Makeup have less or none at all doubtful synthetic chemicals as do conventional beauty products.  At FEI we favour organic beauty products and ingredients. One of the best sources of Organic agriculture in Europe is Poland and many of our brands come from there. Organic standards are sets of requirements that describe what practices can be considered organic. Typically, organic standards address various aspects of organic production, general farm production requirements, crop production requirements and requirements for the collection of wild products, animal welfare requirements and so on. There are strict requirements to obtain a certificate of meeting organic standards. Overall, organic operations must demonstrate that they are protecting natural resources, conserving biodiversity, and using only approved substances.

Fragrant Earth have always offered many organic Essential Oils and Vegetable or Carrier Oils but increasingly their range of Organic Colour Cosmetics or makeup from Lavera are proving popular. 

Type in Organic at the Fragrant Earth website to see a vast array on offer from Tampons to dental care, Skin care to Deodorants.