Consumers Want More Natural Products as the Cultivation and Production of Natural Ingredients Decrease

A natural product by definition contains only pure essential oils extracted from a botanical source (such as a flower, seed, root, etc.). There are also natural oils that come from the animal kingdom, such as civet and musk. The oil contains about the same chemicals in the same ratios as the original material only in a more concentrated form. These essential oils often contain hundreds of different chemicals.

Distillation was first employed in the commercial production of essential oils in France at the start of the 16th century. Combined with the addition of alcohol as a solvent, perfumes as we know them today began to take form. This was a great advance for perfumers of the time who, until that moment, had only weak solutions and a limited amount of ingredients to work with.

Until advances in the field of organic chemistry in the mid-to-late 19th century, every perfume or scented product was created from natural sources. In the mid 1800's, researchers started to examine the composition of natural aroma materials. As the practice developed, it was possible for scientists to characterize and then synthetically recreate many of the chemical components found in natural oils synthetically. At the same time, the Industrial Revolution was in full swing, and with it came the creation of a class of consumers with disposable income. The perfume industry would never have grown to the point it is at today without this event.

The problem inherent in using strictly natural ingredients is just that - nature, along with other factors such as politics and safety issues. A bad harvest year or natural disaster can have a devastating effect on crops, and can dramatically alter the market for a particular oil, sometimes for years. Many fragrance materials are harvested in countries rampant with political and economical strife. This makes not only the production of essential oils more difficult, but exporting the product becomes more difficult as well. Some natural oils are readily available on the market, while others can be difficult, as well as expensive, to obtain. Even if the oil is available, the consistency and quality are often variables, whereas with synthetic oils, you always know exactly what you are purchasing. In most fragrances today, natural oils are virtually limited to citrus and floral essences, except perhaps those of the highest quality. Because synthetics are vastly more flexible and reliable, a truly natural perfume will not have the typical structure of a modern perfume, meaning there is no distinguishable top note, middle note or base note.

According to Stephen J. Herman in his book, "Fragrance Applications: A Survival Guide," in the 1970's, sandalwood farmers in India used a great number of their trees and saturated the market. At the time, sandalwood oil prices sharply declined until supplies ran dry. Because sandalwood gives its best yield after at least 50 years of growth, newly planted trees are still 20 or more years away from maturation, and prices for natural sandalwood oil have increased consistently in the last decades. Cheaper synthetic sandalwood oil is now used in all but the highest quality fragrances.
The consistency of natural oils is not stable. It is difficult to predict the performance and stability of a natural oil in the finished product. Trace elements can change from plant to plant, and even within the same plant. Many factors affect the components of essential oils, and different suppliers will give you slightly different oils, as they all have their own proprietary materials. Variations can occur within plants and trees for numerous reasons: differing soil conditions, altitude, climatic conditions, natural disasters and other environmental factors.

In some cases, such as pine oil, the oil is distilled from various different species depending on the country of origin. For example, in Scandinavia, pine oil is distilled from Pinus sylvestris, while in France; the species P. palustris is often used as well. Of course, the constituents vary to an extent within the different pine oils.

The amount of essential oil found in the plant may also vary depending on the season however; with most tree species, the amount of essential oil found increases throughout the summer months. In drier environments, plants tend to contain less oil, but more oxidized components.

As a general rule, more oil is produced when dried plant material is used than if the plant is distilled fresh. There may also be a difference in constituents. For instance, lavender that is distilled from dried rather than fresh flowers tends to have a higher content of esters, of which linalyl acetate is the most important. Another aspect that can considerably change the nature and constituents of an oil is the part of the plant from which the oil is distilled.

Safety is another issue to be concerned about regarding essential oils. Many oils are volatile or irritating, rendering them useless to perfumers, except perhaps in the tiniest amounts. Scientists have been able to recreate many of these oils synthetically, even at times removing the toxic or harmful components of the oil while preserving its odor characteristics.
In the United States, the fragrance and cosmetic industry is self-regulated, for the most part. The best source of safety information for essential oils is the R.I.F.M. (Research Institute for Fragrance Materials) and their sister organization the I.F.R.A. (International Fragrance Research Association). The R.I.F.M. was established in 1966 by the industry to carry out research on ingredients used in fragranced products. This non-profit international organization's main purpose is to assure the safety of perfumery materials. The R.I.F.M. has evaluated over 1,300 fragrance materials since its inception.

The materials are screened for allergy and phototoxic testing, as well as general toxicity.
The results of this research are submitted to the IFRA, who then evaluate the data and formulate guidelines for safe use of the materials.