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What's in a fragrance oil?

Not all fragrance oils are created equal, but here at CandleScience we've developed and curated some of the very best for our line. All CandleScience fragrance oils are extensively tested and rated for performance in soy wax, as well as being excellent performers in other natural waxes, wax blends, and paraffin wax. This rating indicates which fragrances throw well in soy, a wax that is historically more difficult to fragrance than paraffin.

But CandleScience fragrances aren't just for candles and wax melts—they are also compatible for use in reed diffusers, and most (though not all) are approved for use in bath and body products like soap and lotion. For easy reference, we include the approved usages on the product page for every fragrance, as well as on the fragrance oil bottle itself. 

Our fragrance oils are a combination of natural essential oils and synthetic aroma chemicals. They are never diluted, so each has a strong concentrated aroma that doesn't disappear when burned in a candle.

Essential Oils

Essential oils are pure liquids containing aroma compounds that are removed from the seeds, flowers, leaves, roots, and stems or bark of plants through methods such as distillation, expression or extraction. These oils carry the distinctive essence, or scent, of the plant it was made from and are frequently used in perfumes, flavorings and medicines. The only way to scent candles naturally is with pure essential oils. We are currently testing to determine whether we can offer a high quality line of essential oil fragrances that work well in our natural soy waxes.

Aroma Chemicals

Because essential oils are not available for every scent we'd like to use, we draw on synthetic aroma chemicals which come in powder or liquid form. We use these concentrated compounds when no essential oil is available - like in Chocolate Fudge or Blueberry Cheesecake fragrances.

Solvents and Diluents

Solvents are dissolving agents. Diluents are diluting substances.

When a synthetic aroma chemical is in powder form, a solvent is required to convert it to a liquid for use in fragrance oil. Solvents help the components of a fragrance burn more easily, blend better, improve fragrance throw, and increase fragrance longevity.

If an essential oil is in a highly concentrated form, a diluent is required to thin it so that it will remain suspended in the liquid fragrance oil. This substance adjusts the density of fragrance oils so that it's easier for the wax/fragrance mixture to be pulled up through the wick to be burned at the flame.

Some diluents are used to "cut" fragrance oils after they are produced so that an expensive fragrance oil can be sold at a lower price with a weaker strength. Once CandleScience fragrances are developed, they are NEVER diluted or "cut" in any way.

The Cost of Fragrance Oils

Because of the variety of essential oils and synthetic aroma chemicals used to produce the quality fragrance oils in our CandleScience line, the cost of each will vary. When a fragrance has several essential oils or contains distinctive aroma chemicals, the cost will be higher. Since the price of a scent is determined by its components, some of the more unique complex fragrances are more expensive to develop. CandleScience is very particular about the quality of fragrances in the line, so there are no poor-performing fragrance oils. Wholesale fragrance oils are available in bulk sizes with volume discounts. 

Most of the fragrance oils are infused with essential oils and are listed on each fragrance page. The components of our fragrance oil blends are proprietary information, but when we can share those, we do.

What About Phthalates and Other Hazardous Chemicals?

As of August 2019, our fragrance oil line is 100% phthalate-free

We've always adhered to the strict RIFM (Research Institute for Fragrance Materials) standard regarding fragrance safety. But we also think these safety standards could go even further, and in July 2020, we announced our CandleScience Clean Scents™ initiative. 

CandleScience Clean Scents™ are fragrance oils free from carcinogens, toxins, and other hazardous chemicals commonly found in fragrance oils. While our entire line of fragrance oils are non-toxic when used for their intended purpose and in approved percentages, CandleScience Clean Scents gives you the peace of mind of working with the safest supplies available.

CandleScience has always been committed to maintaining the safest, highest quality, most thoroughly tested fragrance line in the industry. We want our community to experience the joy of creating something amazing, confident that they are using the safest, highest quality supplies on the market.