Making Sense of Scents: Essential Oils vs. Synthetic

Due to the nature of the industry, the world of fragrances can be filled with secret formulas and proprietary blends. If you look at the ingredients on your favorite moisturizer, body wash, or even household cleaning products, you’ll likely get no further than “fragrance” when trying to decode the ingredients behind your favorite scents. 

There are two main distinctions between popular fragrance additives: essential oils vs. synthetics

Essential Oils

Essential oils are (essentially) plant extracts. These fragrances are extracted from flowers, bark, leaves, or fruit through a process of steaming or pressing. Why not always opt for natural? Natural scents don’t last nearly as long as synthetic fragrances do, and they often give inconsistent results. Furthermore, with any harvested ingredient, deforestation and environmental impacts can result. 

Synthetic Fragrances

Synthetic fragrances are man-made to mimic nature, without the same harmful environmental implications. 

Immediately, we’re trained as consumers to think natural=good, synthetic=bad. We’re all about debunking common misconceptions, so read our latest post on the crackdown on chemicals: the good, the bad, and the ugly! You’ll learn that manmade can oftentimes be best, because we have more control over how the consistency of an ingredient and the impact harvesting has on our environment. 

When it comes to OLIKA products, our clean fragrance blend is optimized to work in harmony with our other ingredients. We use only skin-enhancing, performance ingredients with proven skin biocompatibility, which means our ingredients are compatible with your skin without being harmful or toxic to humans and the planet. Simply put, our products work and are good for your skin.