Here’s What You Need to Know about Buying Natural Perfumes and Essential Oils (aka how to avoid the frauds!)
Those of us who love natural aromas and essential oils do so because we know they are gifts from nature.
Every single plant on our earth carries both chemical and energetic signatures. When our own physical and energetic bodies receive the gifts of these plants, true healing and transformation can take place on every level of our being.
The same cannot be said for synthetic fragrances.
Not only do lab-created fragrances lack the vital life force and energetic resonance of true plant materials, they’re often harmful to our health and planet.
Unfortunately, the world of aromatics is fraught with artificial and adulterated oils that are sold as “pure” and “natural”.
Why? Because of the cost. True natural plant material is simply more expensive than synthetic ingredients across the board.
While I hope that someday we stop prioritizing greed over life, as a collective, we’re just not there yet.
So how can you protect yourself? How can you make sure that the oils and products you’re purchasing are truly natural?
I’ll be honest. I’ve learned to be very discerning with my ingredients the hard way…
Yes, despite my years of training and research I’ve been fooled—I’ve probably lost thousands of dollars to fraudulent suppliers and ignorant resellers over the years.
But I’ve learned some key lessons along the way. The following are my top tips for navigating the wild world of natural fragrances.
1. If the price of an essential oil is too good to be true…it probably is.
This is probably the number one easiest and most important thing to look for. True plant material will always be more expensive than its synthetic counterparts.
Pro tip: There tend to be average price ranges for most essential oils. If in doubt, compare several companies’ pricing. Let’s look at a few examples…
How much does lavender essential oil cost?
Lavender essential oil tends to be one of the most affordable and available essential oils.
Based on a few of my trusted companies, one ounce of lavender EO tends to cost between $17 and $50—country of origin, variety, and organic certification affect the price.
The lavender EO from a popular oil supplier known to be fraudulent costs $30 for nine ounces!!! No, no, no.
How much does rose essential oil cost?
Along with lavender, rose essential oil is extremely popular—but it tends to be quite expensive. While true rose essential oil is available (and totally divine), the absolute* of rose is what most people purchase.
From my trusted companies, one ounce of rose absolute from Bulgaria (generally the most affordable rose) costs between $150 and $300 ($200 is the most common pricing).
Guess how much 1.69oz of Bulgarian rose absolute it from the popular fraudulent company? $36. Again, no, no, no.
(*Absolutes are extracted differently than true essential oils, though within the field of aromatherapy, the term “essential oil” is used as an umbrella to refer to all types of extractions.)
True plant extractions are expensive. And they’re worth it. Do your research and don’t become a sucker for a good price.
2. The same pricing rules go for “natural” perfumes, oils, sprays, candles, and fragrances of all kinds, as well.
Why is it that some natural perfumers sell a 30ml perfume for $20, and some for $300? Why is it that you can find natural perfume oils on Etsy for as low as $6 and as high as the sky?
Of course, many factors play into how a maker prices their products—experience, artistry, complexity, quality and variety of ingredients, time spent, market recognition, and much more.
But at a certain point, there is no way someone can be charging so little for a fragrance without using synthetics.
And here’s the tricky part…these makers usually aren’t intentionally being fraudulent. Instead, they’ve likely been fooled themselves and have sourced impossibly cheap ingredients. Or, they’re using a somewhat “expanded” definition of natural fragrance (more on that below).
If you want to protect yourself from synthetic aromas, trust your intuition and apply everything you learn in this article when making any purchase.
3. If a company sells both synthetics (aka “fragrance” oils) and essential oils, be very wary.
I’ve yet to find a company that sells both synthetic fragrances and good quality essential oils. And sadly, I’ve tried quite a few over the years. Maybe one exists, but in general, I take this as a major warning sign. (Not to mention, I personally don’t want to support the artificial fragrance industry.)
4. Watch out for fragrant flowers.
Rare and precious flowers delight our senses and form the heart of most natural perfumes. And, they’re very expensive. And, actually extracting essential oils (including absolutes and CO2s) is nearly impossible for many precious scents.
True rose, jasmine, ylang ylang, boronia, orange blossom, geranium, osthmanthus, tuberose, jonquil, lotus, chrysanthemum, and frangipani are a few florals that are perfectly possible to obtain naturally (though some will cost you well over $1000/oz).
Listed as ingredients, the following flowers are almost* always synthetic: lily of the valley, gardenia, lilac, daphne, any lily, honeysuckle, freesia, and hyacinth, to name a few. Anything described as “white florals” tends to point to synthetics, as well.
*The exceptions being labor-intensive enfleurage and tinctures—but you’ll pretty much never find these in commercially produced fragrances.
Any lily fragrance is most likely synthetic.
No natural honeysuckle essential oil exists.
5. Learn to identify the common synthetic descriptors.
While creative combinations of natural oils can produce a wide range of aromas, there are a few descriptors that are most often found with synthetics.
Two main categories to watch out for are one, anything described as “oceanic” or “aquatic”, and two, most fruity and food aromas.
This tip is definitely more of a general guideline than a rule. A talented alchemist can create marine notes, fun fruits, and sugary sweetness using naturals. I certainly do, and I even use these descriptors.
Overall though, these fragrance families are commonly synthetic. With oceanic and aquatic fragrances, this is because these descriptors were used to describe the aldehyde-based fragrances that became popular in the 1990s.
As for the foods, the frequency of synthetics is partly because there simply aren’t natural oils that smell like fresh peaches or plums, and partly because even food flavorings found in essential oils are often synthetic for cost reasons. Cinnamon and vanilla are a few of the most commonly adulterated essential oils (scientists are even piloting a vanilla flavoring made from plastic).
6. Beware of “clean fragrance” and natural isolates
“Clean” Perfume Houses
With growing awareness of the harmful effects of synthetic fragrances, many perfume houses market their perfumes as “clean”. These companies have a lovely list of EWG-approved ingredients, as well as a promise to be free from cruelty, phthalates, and all sorts of other known carcinogens.
This might be exactly what you’re looking for—in which case, shop away!
Just be aware that clean does not mean natural. These companies use what are called “safe synthetics” in their perfumes. So, if you’re looking for truly natural perfume and all the benefits it offers, be sure to look beyond greenwashing.
Natural Perfume Brands
Many perfumers call themselves “natural perfumers” because they know this is what people are looking for. These perfumers will use mostly natural perfume ingredients, but they rely on synthetics to make their perfumes. If you’re avoiding synthetics for any reason—especially health ones—this defeats the purpose. When in doubt, reach out to the perfumer and ask nicely, but very directly.
Isolates?
If you read the natural perfume ingredient lists of the most popular perfume brands today, you’ll often find words like cedrat, benzaldehyde, and alpha-isomethyl ionone.
Wait—you might as yourself-–how can something natural sound like it comes from a laboratory?
Because it does. Isolates are molecular extractions from plant origin, and the Natural Perfumers Guild includes them in its list of acceptable natural ingredients.
Since these chemical components come from plants, you might feel totally fine with using them. They certainly expand the perfumer’s palette!
Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing how these isolates were extracted (i.e. what process or chemicals were used), or what plant material they originated from. GMO origin is extremely common here, as well.
I personally do not use isolates, as I blend energetically as well as fragrantly. This means that bringing the whole, energetic presence of a plant into my blends is just as important as how it smells. Isolates contain none of the life force and spiritual blueprints for healing that whole plant materials do.
7. Parfum, perfume, and fragrance: A tip for purchasing natural products.
As with many of the words in this list, these terms are used for both synthetic and natural fragrances, meaning that there are no hard and fast rules here. However, if you see any of these terms on a natural product—think shampoos, body lotions, candles, etc—there is a 99.9% chance that synthetics are involved.
(FYI, I’ve found “Clean at Sephora” to be one of the worst offenders here. Bath and Bodyworks aromatherapy products might have some essential oils, but they most definitely have synthetics, as well.)
8. Be careful when sourcing from various countries.
First, there are plenty of unscrupulous companies in the US, where I live, as well as throughout the world. And, my worst experiences personally have been from when I tried to buy oils directly from suppliers in India and Egypt.
While I don’t like calling out specific countries or companies publicly, I’ve seen enough harm that I feel the need to specifically address these two places in particular.
First, India is home to many of the world’s most precious raw aromatics. Beautiful oils and true natural perfumes come out of India and I’m eternally grateful for all the amazing pure oils I have sourced from this country.
India is also home to a disproportionate number of online oil suppliers that sell blatantly synthetic oils as pure and natural. Too often, I see people think that costs are lower because they’re buying directly from the supplier.
This isn’t true. First, the prices are far too low even for a direct supply (yet just high enough to make you sorry if you buy too much…speaking from experience). Second, any experienced nose will be able to tell how fraudulent these oils are from a mile away.
Next, Egypt. I’ve seen many magical makers of anointing oil claiming to source their oils directly from Egypt. Maybe they have a good connection there…but I have my doubts.
I remember visiting perfumeries and oil houses during my own travels to Egypt. Time and again, I sat down to smell all these wonderful pure, natural oils. And time and again, my nose was disappointed.
Sure, if you like synthetic aromas (and many people do—our noses are trained to at this point), you’ll like what you smell. But these oils are not natural. While some, especially the florals, do smell close to the natural versions, any trained nose will pick up on far too many synthetic aromas in the mix.
So please, just be careful if you’re either sourcing directly from these countries or purchasing sacred oils from someone who claims to have gotten their oils from these locations.
9. Trust your nose.
Finally, trust your nose.
This is easier said than done for most folks. Modern life is filled with so many synthetic aromas and fragrances that most people have lost touch with what “natural” really smells like. But you can learn. The more you smell natural fragrances, the more you’ll be able to identify their synthetic counterparts.
Making the Shift to Natural Perfumes
If you’re worried that letting go of synthetics will leave you smelling like a patchouli-drenched hippie—think again. (Although, I do love a patchouli-drenched hippy myself.)
Elevated natural perfumes and anointing oils are far more than the aromatherapy blends you might be imagining. Give true natural fragrance a try and see what you think ;)
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