How essential oil scents feel different to synthetic
Most home fragrance is designed to smell nice. Mine is made to both smell nice and feel nice.
I make home scents from oils extracted from plants, instead of synthetics because plants delight me in a way that synthetics don’t.
Synthetics are designed to serve a purpose in much the same way that processed food or fast fashion are designed. To be versions of an original material that are reproducible at scale, for wide availability.
And just as I would prefer to eat real food, or wear clothes made from cotton or linen, instead of polyester I prefer plant oils to perfume.
They feel nicer and truer to my senses.
In what way do they smell nice?
Essential oils come from plants that grew outside in nature, through hot summers and cold winters. Because of this they have an aliveness and clarity to their scent that is unmistakable.
In what way do they feel nice?
Oils extracted directly from plants bring a small bit of living nature into your home.
It’s well known that interacting with the scents, sounds and scenery of nature is beneficial to wellbeing.
Forest bathing, putting hands in soil, and hearing birdsong, have all been shown to reduce stress and boost wellbeing.
Because essential oils don’t just imitate nature; they are distilled plant material, many people experience them as similarly restorative.
“But artificial scents are everywhere; they must smell good?”
Similar to tastebuds adjusting after years of processed food, or realising how different a well-made garment feels after fast fashion, more experience of the real thing often leads to sensory refinement.
Many of us are desensitised to the overpowering scents that we encounter all day.
Synthetic fragrance is in everything: detergents, cosmetics, cleaning products, and even food, so of course our senses tune it out.
Slowing down and making intentional choices about what we bring into our homes often leads us towards things that are more genuinely supportive, including the scents we live with every day.
As I’ve gradually removed synthetic scents from my life, I’ve noticed how intrusive and noisy they can feel.
It’s a case of you don’t know what you got ‘till it’s gone. Or, as Nigella once put it when turning off the food processor ah, it’s like that glorious moment when people stop playing bagpipes.
Bonus info nugget: Your nose knows
Aromatherapists often believe that our attraction to certain scents isn’t random — that we’re drawn to aromas our bodies find supportive. There’s a reason it feels so grounding to take a deep breath of something beautiful.
I have seen this in practice with horses
