Is there a difference between Essential Oils and Fragrance Oils for candles? The difference between fragrance oils and essential oils in candles is unique and often confusing. Here we explain the difference between the two, and their benefits.
Essential oils are made up of 100% natural products such as flowers, roots, fruit and even herbs. These natural ingredients are boiled and distilled until the oil is extracted. They can also be extracted using solvents. In their finished state, essential oils are not blended with any other carrier oils or additives hence have not been diluted, processed, or manipulated. Because of the natural base used in essential oils, these can vary due to the seasonality of the plants used. Pure essential oils are therapeutic and are used in candle making, soy candles, and even aromatherapy.
Fragrance oil is artificially manufactured synthetic oil. The benefits are that the fragrance oil is balanced and not volatile as is natural extracted essential oil. Fragrance oils are often blended with essential oils. Due to the inconsistency of nature, it is not always easy to reproduce essential oils synthetically. Professional fragrance creators have over 2000 scents they can use and often blend anything up to 200 ingredients in one single fragrance. A good fragrance will have both a cold (room temperature) and hot (heated during use) scent infused in it.
Natural fragrance oils are a blend of 100% natural essential oils, 100% natural solvents and 100% natural isolates which make it an alternative to essential oils. These oils work best in candles, especially with soy wax candles.
Both oils have their own strengths, but this can also be decided by personal preference. On the one hand, Essential oils can be quite potent, whilst fragrance oils can be mellow or soft.
Fragrances will perform differently once blended into a candle for many reasons such as:
- The blend of oils used
- The family of blended fragrances
- Type of wax
- Size of candle
- Quality of wick
Our experience tells us a good balance of fragrant oils with a load of around 5% to 10%, depending on the blend, throw off the best scent quality.
Koch & Co Candles use the best quality wax and fragrances. We also use high-quality fragrance oils, natural fragrance oils and essential oils in our entire candle range. You can shop our range of scented candles and soy candles online or at our Auburn superstore.