Have you noticed the scents change with the seasons? The shops have been filled with wonderful home fragrance following Halloween themed scents of pumpkin, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg spices. Pretty soon (if not already) the shelves will be filled with the scents of the festive season.
Have you ever thought of creating your own festive scent for your home? Did you know you can do that? Afterall, Christmas isn’t Christmas without the stunning and memorable scents of the festive season so why not build on this and enjoy the wonderful benefits of aromatherapy at the same time.
Instead of buying aromatherapy reed diffusers from a shop why not learn how to create your very own so you can replicate it in your own home in the future for a fraction of the cost of the leading brands?
I’ve been running design your own home fragrance workshops for a few years but this year the regulations have changed. I must be honest and say it was touch and go whether we could actually do this and I’m pleased to say, I’ve found a way, to adhere to the regulatory changes and most of all, designed a workshop where you can let your creative juices flow.
There’s so many fragrance companies selling fragrance oils loaded with parabens and phthalates. A popular industry-wide diffuser base also has an industrial function so has recently been tested on animals.
Going back to my aromatherapy roots, my preferred tools are natural aromatics with a vegan friendly diffuser base.
At the workshop you’ll be guided as you choose your favourite natural scents to custom make and blend your bespoke festive scented reed diffuser which will not only smell wonderful and get you into the festive vibe, you’ll also benefit from the power of aromatherapy in the days and weeks to come. Are you starting to smell the frankincense, myrrh, clove, cinnamon and orangey smells coming your way?
Sign up to design and create your natural festive fragrance for your home.
As always, I’ve spent time behind the scenes not only researching the materials we can use to ensure we’re keeping up to date with the current industry guidelines. Here’s why.
Earlier this year, The International Fragrance Association (“IFRA”, the body which sets fragrance industry guidelines), decided to move reed diffusers from the category they shared with scented candles into the section which covers laundry detergent and surface cleaners. You may be wondering why this change took place. Let me explain my understanding of the move.
If you think about laundry detergent and surface cleaners, they are scented but you’re not continually touching them like you would with cosmetics such as a scented shampoo or scented hand cream. Although they are both cosmetics with fragrance, each has a different IFRA category. The scented shampoo is designed to have skin contact and is meant to be washed off whereas the hand cream has continuous skin contact as it remains on the skin to do its function. Although both are fragranced, they have different uses.
Going back to the laundry detergent and surface cleaners, they are designed for the purpose of cleaning and as such they have contact with fabrics or surfaces.
It’s the same with reed diffusers, their function is to scent the room. You’re not necessarily touching the liquid in the reed diffusers, however, the chances are you’ll probably touch the reeds when you flip them over. There were always instructions to protect the hands when flipping the reeds but in reality, who has time to go pop on a pair of rubber gloves to flip over the reeds? It’s the skin contact with the reed diffuser liquid on the reeds which was the cause for concern. The fragrance ingredients are normally quite concentrated as that’s what’s need to give the scent throw over a period of time.
What does that mean for me you might ask? You may or may not have noticed, many brands have either had to withdraw their products from sale or close their business. Others have reduced the fragrance concentrate in their reed diffusers or are reformulating the fragrance to comply with the new guidelines.
One example is Clove (Eugenia caryophallus). It’s already highly restricted in cosmetics due to it’s aroma compound, Eugenol, which is known as a skin irritant. However, last Christmas Clove could be used at 100% in a reed diffuser (although we always diluted it). Now the maximum usage is lower than 1%. However, when combined with other aromatherapeutic oils and complying with the latest guidelines this can be achieved.
At the design your own festive home fragrance workshop you’ll be guided as you choose your favourite natural scents to custom make and blend your bespoke festive scented reed diffuser which will not only smell wonderful and get you into the festive vibe, you’ll also benefit from the power of aromatherapy in the days and weeks to come. Are you starting to smell the frankincense, myrrh, clove, cinnamon and orangey smells coming your way?
Sign up to design and create your natural festive fragrance for your home.
