The Claims About Our Fragrance Oils

Many of you will have read this in the 'about our oils'  section of our website

Our fragrance oils are:

• Vegan
• Cruelty free
• Lilial free
• Phthalate free
• Paraben free
• Free of nitro and polycyclic musk
• Silicone free
• PEG free
• Acrylate free

Some will be aware of what this all means, some may know bits and some may not be aware so we put this blog together to explain what this is all about and the positive messages that you can pass on to your customers when using our fragrance oil to make your products.

Vegan and Cruelty free.

All our fragrance oils are vegan and contain no animal derived raw ingredients. None of our raw materials or products are tested on animals by us, or by our suppliers or on our behalf. Note that the SDS for some fragrance oils will show animal testing but this is historic data on the raw ingredients. If animal testing was performed decades ago and this data is in the public domain then this has to be stated on the SDS. 

Lilial (butylphenyl methylpropional) Free

Lilial was used in fragrance oils to give a floral, lily of the valley, type of fragrance. The European Commission has prohibited lilial as it is now classed as CMR substance. Our fragrance oil manufacturer has not used lilial for many years, since before the formation of Fragrance Oils Direct, so we can confidently state that our oils are lilial free.

Phthalate Free

Phthalates are used in the fragrance industry to make the fragrance notes last longer. Phthalates can be absorbed through the skin or by inhalation. Phthalates are endocrine disrupting chemicals. This means they can disrupt hormones which are how our bodies to function. Phthalates can build up in our bodies which can cause long term illnesses in the future. We ensure all our oils are phthalate free. 

Parabens Free

Parabens are used in fragrance oils as a preservative and have similar effects to phthalates but they can also irritate the skin and cause an allergic reaction. They aggravate pre existing conditions such as psoriasis, eczema or dermatitis.

Free of Nitro and Polycyclic Musk

Musk is used extensively as a base not in fragrance oils. Synthetic musk has been around for centuries and was originally developed due to the limited availability of musk extracted from deer glands. Nitro and polycyclic musk are persistent pollutants, they build up in the environment contaminating water and affecting marine life.  We don’t sell fragrance oils with nitro or polycyclic musks as they get absorbed in through the skin or by inhalation and build up in our bodies affecting our hormones. They can have various long term effects on our bodies but can make our bodies more susceptible to other pollutants. 

Silicone Free

Silicone is in a lot of cosmetic products. It is used to give a silky feel in shampoos, conditioners and lotions etc. It doesn’t biodegrade at all and it is not water soluble. Silicone gets absorbed in the body and builds up in our internal organs. None of our fragrance oils contain silicone. Cyclomethicone is a silicone often used in non hazardous room spray bases. Please be aware you cannot state that your room spray is silicone free if you are using cyclomethicone in your products as cyclomethicone is a silicone.

PEG Free

PEG (or polyethylene glycol) can come in many chemical forms but you will see PEG as part of the name. PEG is used as an emulsifier in fragrance oils, allowing the fragrance oil to mix easier with other liquids when used in perfumers alcohol, augeo etc. PEG often retains some contamination of other components from manufacturing eg ethylene oxide and 1,4-dioxane. These are carcinogens, they can cause cancer.

Acrylate Free

Acrylates are in many nail products, both for professional and home use. They can also be found in paints, inks and many every day products. They are suspected carcinogens. Many are contact allergens which means that the more you come into contact with acrylates, the more likely you will be to develop an allergy eg contact dermatitis.   

There you have it, in a few paragraphs. The next time you are looking at fragrance oils, home fragrance, cleaning products or any cosmetics, our ‘free from’ is a good starting point of chemicals to avoid.