This came in as an email; I thought it was such a great question that I'm sharing my answer here as a blog post. And this is: what are scent extracts?
I thought all natural scents came from essential oils and that limits you to lavender, peppermint, orange, things like that. How do you get clean scents like honey or lilac? What is the difference between scent extracts and essential oils? Are your extracts a combination of chemicals that are not listed?
I think this is a great question! Let's answer the question "what are scent extracts?"
As the reader mentioned, we use USDA certified organic scent extracts for a wider variety of scents than essential oils would provide alone. There are many different kinds of extracts: alcohol-based (many times these are referred to as tinctures), infusions (which can be in oil or water, where plant matter is steeped in water or oil, like making a tea), glycerites (glycerin-based extracts) as well as CO2 extracts and oleoresins. While each extraction method is different and each type of extract has a unique moniker, they are all covered under the umbrella term of “extracts,” as compounds have been pulled from, drawn from, plant material.
With organic scent extracts, aromatic compounds are extracted from plant material using organic methods like steam distillation, infusion, and fractionation using no synthetic chemicals and under strict USDA organic processing conditions. Sometimes certain scent compounds are extracted from different plant materials — for example a grass that grows on hilly areas in India will provide compounds to create a scent we associate with strawberries. A coconut aroma can be extracted from compounds in vanilla extract. Some may be alcohol/water based, others are oil-based, depending on the application.
We are not the manufacturer, but purchase these extracts from a (certified organic) supplier. The scent extracts we use are not just natural but certified organic. Not only do we have their organic certificate on file, I have also spoken directly with their supplier’s third-party certifying agency to verify the organic certification on all of the products we use from them. Because it is organic, no GMO input may be used in its production, as well, and no artificial “fragrance” oils or synthetics. They’re also all vegan, free from the major allergens (eggs, dairy, corn, shellfish, etc) and food-grade.
In contrast to “fragrance” aka artificial fragrance, organic extracts do not contain phthalates and other synthetic/GMO/petrochemical ingredients. Only compounds extracted directly from plants. Essential oils are indeed extracted from plants using very specific methods to achieve a highly-concentrated result. Steam distillation is the main method used for producing essential oils (and the resultant hydrosol.) Some essential oils can be cold-pressed, but this is typically limited to citrus oils (as the oil can be pressed out of the rind.)
While the company does not disclose to anyone the exact plants used in the extracts, as it's their proprietary process (and the flavor/fragrance industry is quite cut-throat). But they're very good at answering questions if we have a customer with allergies or sensitivities. If you're considering one of our products with scent extracts but have allergies or ingredients you're avoiding, reach out and we'll be happy to dive deep and make sure that we find the right products for you! We also have many essential oil-only products as well as unscented options. We aim to please!
