Essential Oils?

emdub23 · Post by **emdub23** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 9:26 am

How many or more so which shaving creams use essential oils as there primary scent rather then parfume? I recently received some T&H Sandalwood and compared it to my AOS and there is a huge different in the scent. I much prefer the essential oil scent.
Thanks,
Matt

jdtx3302 · Post by **jdtx3302** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 9:53 am

Matt - To my knowledge (which is much considering I have just learned about all this stuff in the past 3 months) parfums are made of essential oils in different concentrations, at least good ones any way. Natural sandalwood EO is pretty darn expensive stuff, 1/2 oz for around $40-70. I know that a lot of the sandalwood scents are synthetic because of the price of the natural EO. And as with everything, the different type of carrier for the scent, may make the actual smell of the scent become slightly different. Some of the company's use just one scent in their creams and some use several. This i what gives us the great variety of excellent creams that we can choose from. Hope this helps.

Here is a price quote for you guys - 32 oz. for $1,457.39 - This is for the sandalwood EO.

emdub23 · Post by **emdub23** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 4:37 pm

True, though that being the case a lot of Sandalwood scents are synthetic. I was just curious if the like of trumpers violet and such are used from the plant or made in a lab?

fisherc · Post by **fisherc** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 4:49 pm

Most of the English products are synthetic fragrance oils, not essential oils. AOS has incorporated SOME EO's exclusively in to their creams. For example, their lavedner cream is I believe 100% EO. Sandalwood, however is not. It is synthetic largely due to the cost barrier I am sure.

The refreshing thins is that Charles is introducing three new shave soaps based on 100% EO's (lavender, sandalwood, and lime). To my knowledge, this wil be the only 100% EO Sandalwood shave soap/cream on the market.

Chris

emdub23 · Post by **emdub23** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 5:43 pm

The Art of Shaving products are Aromatherapy-based , scented with 100% pure essential oils selected for their therapeutic skin properties and specifically blended for a variety of skin types.

-I got this off their website, so I am under the impression that they don't use synthetic frags in their cream.

fisherc · Post by **fisherc** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 8:22 pm

Likely true for AOS Lavender and Lemon, but not Sandalwood. The Sandalwood EO is too expensive for it to be 100%. also, you can tell from the smell that it contains synthetics.

emdub23 · Post by **emdub23** » Sun Apr 24, 2005 9:11 pm

So do any of the top of the line english creams use essential oils for their fragrance?

fisherc · Post by **fisherc** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 10:03 am

In most cases the English products are blends of both fragrance/synthetic oils and essential oils. I do not know of any that use 100% essential oils. This is one of the exciting things about QED's soon to be released shave soaps. Many of them use 100% essential oil for fragrance.

Chris

hedonist · Post by **hedonist** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 10:12 am

fisherc wrote: Many of them use 100% essential oil for fragrance.

Chris

Many? Does this mean not all of them will?

fisherc · Post by **fisherc** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 1:52 pm

You should ask Charles just to be sure but I believe Rose and Violet are based on very high quality fragrance oils. True Rose Absolute or EO is very, very expensive (even more so than Indian Sandalwood) and I don't believe Violet EO even exists. There are some flowers that simply do not yield EO in any reasonable amount under distillation, ie Jasmine.

Chris

mcollins · Post by **mcollins** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 5:44 pm

A friend from Bologna came to the US from Italy over the winter and he and the family came up to Vermont for some skiing. He grew up in Sardinia which he claims is the violet capital of the world. I knew him from our Scottish University days and he was the first one to introduce me to the London shave shops. He claims any essential oil from this particular flower is not even worth the effort-no yield. I have a feeling though that the fragrance oils in the QED's rose & violet will be real winners-almost as good as the real thing. Max

fisherc · Post by **fisherc** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 6:22 pm

One correction to my previous posts regarding "English" shave creams. I do believe that Castle Forbes Lavender and Lime creams are based on 100% EO's.

Chris

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 6:27 pm

fisherc wrote:One correction to my previous posts regarding "English" shave creams. I do believe that Castle Forbes Lavender and Lime creams are based on 100% EO's.

Chris

That would certainly explain why they are some of the most expensive creams on the market...makes sense.

emdub23 · Post by **emdub23** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 10:12 pm

I appreciate the feedback. I have very sensitive skin and sometimes get irratation from certain synthetic fragrances. So far so good, but just curious.

JohnP · Post by **JohnP** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 2:28 pm

FWIW,
My understanding is that Crabtree&Evelyn uses genuine sandalwood EO in making their sandalwood shave cream, as does AOS. The AOS doesn't surprise me, as they make a big deal of using EO's in everything, but the C&E was a nice surprise. If you have some of Charles' soap (I recommend them HIGHLY if you don't have one btw) the C&E smells to me almost exactly like the QED sandalwood soap, although I use his soap far more frequently, it is just so convenient. The blessings of a hard soap with the portability of a cream. Hard to travel around with shaving bowls, and most shave soaps require you also bring a mug....so the packaging alone is worth trying them out. (If you are like me and travel a lot)
John P

Austin · Post by **Austin** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 3:34 pm

C&E Sandalwood is one of my favorite creams. I have tried a sample of Vulfix Sandalwood and like it as well. Although is does smell synthetic, it still has a nice scent as well.

Third_Rail · Post by **Third_Rail** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 8:42 pm

I make soaps, and some EOs are truly expensive - not only that, they're harder to use properly than FOs or synthetics in water carries.

I think I'll try some sandalwood soap, given how much I like the scent.

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 8:23 pm

Evening, As was pointed out, quality rose absolute is extremely costly, no one could use it to scent shaving products. Sandalwood EO is less pricey, but it still ain't cheap. There's clearly some in the Trumpers and Coate's creams, but blended with other things. You might not even WANT a shave cream that was scented with straight Indian sandalwood EO. In it's pure form, it's VERY balsamic, strong, and sharp. When it comes to scents like lavender and lime, however, the EOs are much less expensive. Coate's insists that they use 100% quality EOs for these creams, and they might be telling the truth. I trust them at least as much as I trust AOS, anyway. Castle Forbes has already been mentioned. For me, a shave cream doesn't have to be scented with 100% EO to make me happy, so long as it's discreetly scented with a quality mix, and not with powerful, obviously synthetic ingrediants ( like most current 'designer' colognes ). All the best rose creams and Trumper's Violet are quite delightful despite not being scented with real EOs. Regards, Gordon

northadams · Post by **northadams** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 8:52 pm

As a Coates fan looking forward to their (traditional??) repackaging I am a little bit stunned to hear they may actually use 100% EO's for their lavender & lime creams. Their lavender is still my personnel favorite. (100%EO!?) Mr. Carter repackage soon.

Max

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 11:28 pm

Max, Actually, they claim that also for their sandalwood ( but not rose ) cream, but personally, I doubt it. I'm sure you're aware, there is still some Coate's shave cream available, here and there. Regarding their 'repackaging', I certainly hope that the do keep it traditional. One of my ongoing bad dreams is Coate's reappearing, looking like AOS! Regards, Gordon