Essential Oils & Perfume
Harvesting Nature’s Fragrances
Love the smell of essential oils? Do common perfumes give you a headache when you smell them?
More and more, people are finding perfumes containing synthetic chemicals are irritating and even harmful to smell and wear.
For those who wish to turn to a natural alternative, essential oils have been a foundational go-to for perfumers and users alike.
Here are some fun facts on essential oil use in perfume and a little background on a company in northern Indiana that began using essential oils in perfumery well before knowledge of essential oils became widespread. Annie Oakley Perfumery, located in Ligonier, IN, is an American Perfumery started by a woman, Renee Gabet, who focused on blending fragrances using natural and organic ingredients.
Read on for tidbits on essential oil usage in perfume, suggestions on essential oils to wear as perfume, and an inspiring story of women entrepreneurship.
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The Smell of Success
Story by Emily LaRue, featured in My Indiana Home Magazine
Annie Oakley Perfumery is one of a kind.
Since opening its doors in 1980, Annie Oakley Perfumery has sold more than 2 million bottles of perfumes and body products. Thousands of visitors have traveled and toured the factory, and its products are distributed at more than 1,000 retailers both at home and abroad. While it may be tucked away in the small town of Ligonier, the perfumery isn’t much of a secret these days.
The Nose Knows
With the scope of the company’s success, it’s ironic that Renee Gabet, Annie Oakley’s founder and proprietor, didn’t start out making perfume at all. Gabet, a natural creative and entrepreneur, started out making jewelry in her 20s, which she sold to boutiques and art kiosks. Though she still loves jewelry design, the fragrance business is where her nose led her.
“My passion for perfume started out when my mom and grandmother took me to Wolf & Dessauer department store in Fort Wayne when I was 8 years old,” Gabet says. “They went to the lingerie department, and I took off to the perfume department to smell all the beautiful, natural perfumes from around the world.”
Even while traveling for work with her jewelry business, that early love of fragrance never left her.
“I would always inquire about perfumers and distilleries until one day I met a natural perfumer who mentored me, and then I created the first cowgirl fragrance in the world. I wanted to create with essential oils. At that time, no one really knew what essential oils were other than us, the perfumers.”
And so Annie Oakley was born. The early days were modest with Gabet, her husband and their daughters hand-blending fragrances in the kitchen of their home.
People often ask why she chose the name Annie Oakley. Born in Ohio in the mid-1800s, Annie Oakley was a sharpshooter in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show. She was the first female to gain any notoriety in that previously male-dominated field. Gabet says what Oakley represented – the spirit of America, simplicity, freshness – represented her brand perfectly.
Perfume Prosperity
Fast forward 30 years, and the days of kitchen creations are over. Today, Annie Oakley carries hundreds of products for both women and men and operates a factory and retail store. The retail store is a delightful find with its classic French feel. It’s open and airy, with muted colors and natural lighting. Clean lines abound. Earthen scents greet visitors as they walk through the door.
“Our guests bring inspiration to us to create new products and push our products to even a higher level.” – Renee Gabet, Annie Oakley Perfumery
The company offers tours of the facility, which start with a peek into the unique experience of how perfumes are blended and end with an opportunity to create your own personalized fragrance.
Gabet says the factory tours have been a success, and she feeds off the positive response from visitors.
“We are delighted tourists seek us out to visit our design studio. Our guests bring inspiration to us to create new products and push our products to even a higher level,” she says.
Gabet’s focus continues to be the use of natural and organic ingredients to create her fragrances. Elements such as citrus, honey, and lavender form the foundations of many of the products. Annie Oakley offers everything from a men’s collection to essential oils and even horse-training aids. Gabet says her inspiration comes from many different sources, “nature, American history, childhood memories, and a simple lifestyle.”
As for the future, Gabet says she’s looking forward to designing new products and growing the company.
“We’re planning on creating more amazing natural perfume and skin-care products that are effective and bring happiness and wellness to the consumer,” Gabet says. “We will also launch new packaging of our premium pure essential oils. It’s a very exciting time at Annie Oakley.”
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Annie Oakley Perfumery is located in northern Indiana for public tours. Check out their website www.annieoakley.com for more info!
Annie Oakley Perfumery
300 Johnson St.
Ligonier, IN 46767
260.894.7219
Public Tours available Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 10am – 2pm year round.
Annie Oakley’s success was marked by its novel incorporation of natural ingredients, such as essential oils into its signature perfume. Why is this a healthier and more enjoyable alternative?
Read on for more tidbits and facts:
WHAT ARE ESSENTIAL OILS?
Essential oils are obtained through highly labor-intensive processes which extract the vital essence of aromatic plants from the flowers, fruits, sap, seeds or skin of the plant, as well as the bark, leaves, roots, resins or wood of certain trees. These oils are often referred to as the “life force” of plants and contain unique and varied therapeutic properties.
WHAT ARE SYNTHETIC FRAGRANCES?
Synthetic Fragrance oils are primarily made from petrochemicals and attempt to duplicate the smell of a specific plant. By dismantling the unique chemical compound of an essential oil, chemists re-assemble a “Frankenstein” fragrance. A 1986 report by the National Academy of Sciences reports that 95 percent of the chemicals used in synthetic fragrances are derived from petroleum and include benzene derivatives, aldehydes and many other known toxins and synthesizers capable of causing cancer, birth defects, central nervous system disorders and allergic reactions.
WHY WOULD SOMEONE PUT SYNTHETIC FRAGRANCE IN PERFUME?
The simple answer is money! It is incredibly cheap to scent a perfume artificially, and those scents tend to have a stronger odor with much less oil. In addition to being hazardous to your health, without the complex chemical components of the unadulterated natural essential oil, the aromatherapeutic effects are not present.
WHAT AREN’T THEY TELLING US?
The FDA does not require fragrance manufacturers to disclose the ingredients of synthetic fragrances because these formulas are regarded as “proprietary.” Such “proprietary” ingredients commonly include numerous known carcinogens but are protected under the FDA’s “trade secret” law.
HOW HARMFUL ARE THESE FRAGRANCES?
Even after banning methylene chloride (a known carcinogen that also causes autoimmune disease) in 1989, an EPA study two years later listed the chemical as one of the 20 most common chemicals found in fragrance products. In a 2001 study, the EPA reported that synthetic fragrances were shown to cause “possible mutagenic and genotoxic effects.” Synthetic fragrances have also been shown to contain hormone disruptors which are linked to abnormal cell reproduction and may result in tumor growth.
HOW CAN WE DIFFERENTIATE THE “REAL THING” FROM MISLEADING CLAIMS?
Many companies blend a minimal amount of essential oils with synthetic fragrances, perfumes, chemical enhancers and boosters in an attempt to cut costs and create a stronger, longer lasting odor. “Made with pure essential oils” often translates to an ingredient list with a small percentage of essential oils and a majority of the scent coming from a number of carcinogenic and toxic petrochemicals.
Unless a company discloses that they only use pure essential oils, there is a possibility that instead of an aromatherapeutic candle, you are igniting a chemical cocktail that is anything but healthy.
Checking with the perfumer or manufacturer is the best way to find out what exactly they use in their products and blends. Reputable brands, like Annie Oakley, are known for producing high quality natural fragrance products.
Also, there is nothing wrong with using pure essential oils themselves as a perfume for you. Add them to a glass roll-on bottle or put a couple drops in a diffuser necklace and presto, you’re ready to go!
Here are a few essential oils known for making great perfumes:
• Rose
• Jasmine
• Lavender
• Lemongrass
• Tangerine
My personal favorite among all the ones I have used, Rose (Moroccan) Essential Oil by Eden’s Garden. This smells remarkably sensual, and is lovely in my diffuser necklace. I wear it all day, and can’t get enough!
On a personal note, in my own life, I have always had a hard time with common perfumes. As excited as I was to step into Bath & Body Works at the mall as a little girl, I always walked away with a headache and feeling nauseous. Essential Oils have made all the difference in allowing me to finally wear fragrances and not sneeze or feel lousy upon doing so. I hope they do the same for you, too!
Try them and let me know what you think.
What is your favorite essential oil fragrance? Tell us in the comments below!
Looking for great hypoallergenic and tarnish resistant diffuser necklaces? Check out our store, Eupterrae, for handmade creations found nowhere else!
Sources Cited:
Neurotoxins at Home and In The Workplace (Report 99-827) Committee on Science & Technology Sept. 16, 1986.
1991 Environmental Protection Agency Paper #A312.
Candles and Incense As Potential Sources of Indoor Air Pollution Environmental Protection Agency January 2001.
Original article and pictures take www.eupterrafoundation.com site
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