When it’s about fragrances there is always a debate about Natural vs Synthetic ingredients. Even though both are important in determining the scent profiles we love, what exactly is the difference and how do these ingredients affect the fragrance you wear? If you’re a perfume connoisseur or just enjoy the occasional perfume fix, then learning how these ingredients are sourced and how they impact scent quality can mean that you can make better decisions.
We’ll look at natural vs. synthetic ingredients in fragrance and how they work together to yield the air you breathe.
What Are Natural vs. Synthetic Ingredients?
First, it is important to know that not all ingredients are natural, and before beginning their role in the world of fragrances, we explain the difference between natural and synthetic.
Natural Ingredients are extracted from nature differently to be plants, flowers, fruits, or even products derived from animals. Absolutes, essential oils, or resins, often, are, and generally, they bring authenticity and complexity to a fragrance. For example, HBNO’s Sandalwood Essential Oil is from the heartwood of the sandalwood tree and you get a warm, earthy odor from it.
Man-made ingredients that often imitate the smells of natural ingredients are called Synthetic Ingredients. They are also able to add smells that are impossible to source from nature, for example, some fruity or aquatic ones. Sometimes they are cheaper, or more stable in a fragrance, so you get longer-lasting, more consistent scents.
The Appeal of Natural Ingredients in Fragrance
The main appeal of natural ingredients in fragrance is they are authentic. Despite being supernatural, it carries the scent of flowers, herbs, fruits, and woods. One of the charms that only comes from the knowledge that this fragrance was gathered from a flower that bloomed in a field or a herb that’s been used in aromatherapy for centuries.
Rich and complex scent profiles are often prized and sought after because they’re made of natural ingredients. Additionally, these can evolve on your skin over time to offer a more dynamic, multiple-layer experience. Ylang Ylang Essential Oil by HBNO is sweet and floral, intoxicating and soothing. One of the hallmarks of many natural fragrances is as it settles on your skin it can change, revealing different notes you wouldn’t get off the bottle.
Natural ingredients also have the advantage in that they may have therapeutic benefits. For example, Peppermint Essential Oil from HBNO has a refreshing and invigorating property that is perfect for creating uplifting scents. Natural fragrances are chosen by many people due to their calming or mood-boosting effects with Chamomile Essential Oil providing a relaxing smell, or Frankincense Essential Oil offering grounding.
The Strength of Synthetic Ingredients in Fragrance
Natural ingredients are complex and rich and synthetic ingredients are the untold workhorses of the scent world. These are all man-made components designed to be stable and long-lasting so they are very good for modern perfumes that need to last all day.
However, synthetic ingredients can provide the consistency that is necessary for fragrance houses that have a scent they wish to make the same every time the scent is worn. The fragrance stays fresh with synthetic components, so the fragrance lasts longer and doesn’t degrade as quickly, so you get a long life, and you get the fragrance at its intended profile. Build your very own wax, for example, the Mango Fragrance from HBNO, but what you’re getting isn’t available in its natural forms, so it delivers on the fresh, sweet scent of a fruit, and not what the note is in reality.
Synthetic ingredients also permit the perfumer to create notes that are either hard to acquire or too expensive to use in nature. Be it a synthetically sweet, creamy smell of vanilla, or crisp, watery notes of a synthetic ocean breeze, synthetic ingredients allow fragrances to express themselves where no natural characteristic would have.
Ingredient Sourcing: Why It Matters
When it comes to both natural and synthetic ingredients, sourcing ingredients is an essential process. The sourcing of natural ingredients is of course critical, with ethics coming first. Sandalwood and rose, amongst many other plant-based ingredients are susceptible to being either plentiful or unsustainable. Large-scale overharvests and unsustainable farming methods can damage the environment and deplete natural resources. When selecting natural ingredients, they’re ethically sourced and harvested without damaging the environment.
The downside, however, is that synthetic ingredients don’t use natural resources which makes them more environmentally friendly. With scents crafted in a lab, the manufacturer ensures less vulnerable, exotic plants and trees are not overharvested and it’s a more sustainable fragrance industry. It also reduces the environmental impact of the raw material collection as more precise control over fragrance strength and consistency can be exercised.
Scent Quality: Natural vs. Synthetic Ingredients
One of the beauty of natural ingredients is when it comes to scent quality, natural ingredients have a depth and nuance that is hard to replicate synthetically. Natural essential oils like HBNO’s Lemon Essential Oil are complex because they are composed of dozens of compounds. Rich, true-to-nature scent follows that each molecule works in harmony to deliver.
But high-quality fragrances can be formulated through synthetic ingredients too. However, they can be cleaner, have more uniform scents, and may not contain the organic complexity of natural oils. Furthermore, they also allow the perfumers to make fragrances that they might not be able to make using natural ingredients only. Bold, unusual notes and textures offered by synthetics take scent in unusual and fresh directions.
For instance, for example, a fragrance like the Mango fragrance from HBNO has a little bit of frugal sweet notes with a mixture of elements of natural and synthetic that seems to enhance better the fragrant paper itself. While the mango note by itself can be synthetically enhanced, the effect is still natural when mixed with other oils and components, in which a vivid and delicious fragrance takes place.
The Pros and Cons of Natural vs. Synthetic Fragrance Ingredients
To help guide your choices, here are the pros and cons of both types of ingredients:
Natural Ingredients
Pros:
- Evolutionary scent profiles that are complex.
- Rich, deep fragrances.
- Offer therapeutic and mood-boosting properties.
- Environmentally sustainable when ethically sourced.
Cons:
- More expensive as well as less stable.
- They may be susceptible to environmental impact, or they may potentially suffer shortages.
- They usually have shorter shelf lives.
- Synthetic Ingredients
Pros:
- Stable and consistent.
- Can recreate rare or expensive natural notes.
- Often more widely available, and more affordable.
- Nondependent on natural resources, say, environment friendly.
Cons:
- It can lack the nuance and complexity of natural oils.
- May be associated with chemical or artificial aromas.
- Not producing responsibly can become an environmental concern.
The Blend: Natural and Synthetic Ingredients Together
The best scents typically found in the fragrance world today depend on a balance of natural and synthetic ingredients. Natural essential oils offer an immense variety of notes that are full and complex and synthetics are highly stable and long-lasting — so when you mix the two you get fragrances that are niche and built to last.
HBNO’s example of an Ocean Breeze Fragrance would be taking fresh natural notes from eucalyptus and blending them with the synthetic notes of salt and water to really capture the feeling of the sea but still be wearable.
Final Thoughts: Embrace the Blend with HBNO
Natural vs synthetic perfume ingredients debate will probably never have a clear winner but what’s exciting is how both types of ingredients bring to the art of making fragrance. Whether you’re into the down-to-earth, complex nature of using natural ingredients or the longevity and stability of synthetics; the trick is to locate that perfect blend of elements that fits your taste.
You will not need to choose between sprays and fragrances because HBNO has a wide range of essential oils and fragrances to choose from. Try natural ingredients like Tea Tree Essential Oil, Frankincense, or Lemon Essential Oil for their grounding, refreshing, or uplifting properties; explore science and nature blend in the innovative aroma therapy options. Romantic options are waiting for your next signature scent!
