Blog post

Why do we use only essential oils that we hand blend ourselves?

We frequently are offered ready made scents which are so much cheaper, no skill is required as they come premixed. They sound from their descriptions that they contain essential oils (spoiler they don’t !) Plus we could still use the catchy terms of vegan, natural, artisan, hand poured in small batches! Well in this blog we are encouraging you to....

Look behind the fancy packaging!

Have you ever heard the phrases- All style and no substance, All fur coat and no knickers?

These are expressions to indicate something is all dressed up just for appearance but without anything of substance underneath. Many realise this about scented candles, diffusers etc but dismiss it as harmless. Dig a little deeper and the truth is much more serious...

The serious Reality.

As mentioned earlier we were inspired to do this blog as we keep getting emails offering us cheap ready made fragrances to use in our candles, sure they maybe easier and a heap cheaper than mixing our own blends of essential oils, and sound alluring with names like Tonka Bean and Tobacco, Black Pomegranate, Lime, Basil & Mandarin etc but what creates these scents and are they good for you?

The following is basic info, we encourage you to educate yourself further, your families health and immune system will thank you...

Artificial chemicals are used to create these scents. Commonly emitted VOCs related to the scent in candles include formaldehyde, petroleum distillates, limonene, & esters. These harmful chemicals can cause health problems ranging from headaches, dizziness and allergy symptoms to asthma attacks, respiratory tract infections and even cancer. Are you left wondering why companies would continue to use synthetic scents if they’re so bad for our health? The answer is straightforward.

Big profit margins!

Synthetic ready made scents can be an extremely quick, cheap, easy way, to make scented products like candles, diffusers and sprays, cheap for them but not for you! Many candle brands spend all their product investment on the packaging, labels & adverts, hence the style without substance.

Why we only use essential oils.

There are no two ways about it, good quality essential oils are expensive especially for small family businesses like Lock & Latch who can’t afford to buy or store huge quantities of oil. We however feel that it is still very worthwhile. As a family with many inherited allergies such as asthma and eczema, we have never been able to use ordinary scented candles, sprays and reed diffusers as even if we hadn’t read the ingredients our bodies would quickly let us know they were harmful to us from the allergic responses they caused. We choose to use solely essential oils to fragrance our products, not just because of this, but also because if you use enough, carefully balanced and blended oils in your products (we don’t believe in skimping!) the essential oils beautifully give a highly scented, Spa-like aroma in your home, which can give many varied therapeutic benefits, from uplifting moods, reducing stress and anxiety, to promoting deep peaceful sleep (to name just a few!) for us it really is a no-brainer as they say!

Thanks for reading.

Liz & daughter Sienna

Lock & Latch  xx