Why Did My Favorite Scent Change?
an article by Dana Gass (Kamala) edited 5/24/17
Having been in the aromatherapy and scent business for over 30 years, I often hear anguished cries of “My favorite scent changed! Why???” In the early days of my business, I proudly and naively told my customers that their favorite creations of mine would never change. However, as the years have gone by, I have had to change my tune. I often equate blending oils with cooking. I do my best to keep my hundreds of recipes safe and follow them perfectly each time I blend something. However, any of you who cook know that you can make the same dish and follow the recipe perfectly each time, but the the dish will always be just slightly different. Your ingredients are never exactly the same and your cooking techniques are always slightly different.
In the world of pure essential oils, these oils are like wine because they are sourced from plants. Organically grown Lemon from Israel smells different than conventionally grown Lemon from the USA. Frankincense from Somalia smells different than Frankincense from India. Weather and climate changes from year to year also affect the scent quality of a pure essential oil. When I am blending aromatherapy products, they always come out somewhat differently depending on the batch of each essential oil I am able to find at that moment.
For fragrance oils (synthetic oils used for scent only, not for aromatherapy), the picture gets even more fuzzy. Despite the fact that I source my ingredients from over a dozen suppliers, some of them have gone out of business over the years. Some of them randomly change a scent that I buy from them without telling me beforehand. Some of them also randomly discontinue a scent that I have bought from them for years. I have learned that it is very difficult to match a scent from one manufacturer to a scent from another manufacturer with the same name. I spend much time and effort trying to keep my blends from changing, but sometimes it is just a lost cause.
I decided to write this article for you, my customers, because I have just had to change another one of my scents in the past few days. I thought it would be useful for you to understand why I make these choices. The latest scent change was African Violet. Having spent over a year now trying to order African Violet from my usual supplier, and getting no response, I had completely run out of the old fragrance oil. My usual supplier continues to not have any idea when they will stock this fragrance oil. In addition, several customers have expressed that they’re not thrilled with the original scent in the first place. Faced with these challenges, I decided to create a blend for African Violet which is close to the original scent, but with added depth, and composed of ingredients I’m fairly confident will be available to me more readily.
This article was originally written in 2015. Now, in 2017, I am having to change the fragrance oils Lilac and Rain. Notes about those changes can be found on their individual product pages here on the website.
Should you have questions about this article, or whether or not your favorite scent is liable to change in the future, always feel free to email me at kamala3@kamala.com or call toll-free at (877) 424-1963.