Education
ETHOS Grooming Essentials Aroma Profile
In an effort to bring our customers a diversity of Aromas in all our grooming products I believe in the practice of Aromatherapy and Aromachology and use both when developing scents for ETHOS products.
Aromatherapy
The practice of holistic healing treatments using natural plant extracts to promote health and well being, also referred to as essential oil therapy. Aromatherapy uses aromatic essential oils medicinally to improve the health of the body, mind, and spirit. It enhances both physical and emotional health. Aromatherapy in relation to how a person feels or reacts after smelling an Essential oil is more generalized. So, in an effort to explain the difference between Aromatherapy and Aromachology lets use Peppermint Essential oil for example. Aromatherapy will kind of dictate what you will feel when smelling Peppermint oil. It will use words like Awakening, Stimulating, Energizing and Refreshing are some common ones.
Aromachology
Aromachology states different wearers feelings induced by odor are thought to have unique physiological and psychological responses to scents. Using Peppermint Essential oil again as an example, an individual may be taken back to Christmas time and candy canes hanging from the Christmas tree or eating a Peppermint Patty while sitting on a bleacher watching a baseball game. So, with Aromachology there is a connection to evoking memories and feelings like emotions relaxation, exhilaration, sensuality, happiness and well-being brought about by odors stimulating the olfactory pathways in the brain and, in particular, the limbic system. Aromatherapy can also give you some of the same connections so that is why ETHOS believes in the practice of both Aromatherapy and Aromachology and uses both when developing scents for our products.
ETHOS scent development for its products uses many different Essential oils, Absolutes, Aromatic blends, Isolates, Exudates such as Natural Resins like Agarwood. For example, Aroma Chemicals both naturally derived and man made, Distillates like Sandalwood, Rosewood & Sandalwood wood chips along with Vanilla and Tonka beans to name a few.
Hydrosols and Floral waters, Fragrant Plant extracts and Volatile concentrates are also used and sometimes mixed with both Essential oils or Aromatics to achieve and compose the desired scents. At ETHOS we don’t limit ourselves, in an effort to offer our customers a diverse selection of aromas from very simple one-note scents to complex aromas and everything in between. Our goal is to please our customer's olfactory senses.
Very much like musical notes make up a song and various shades of colors turn into a painting, fragrance notes are necessary to make an aroma for a products like Shave Soap, Aftershave, Cologne, EDP, Skin care, bath, body & hair products. Overall, there are three note scales that, when blended together, create the aromas fragrant accord. Each of these levels has its own primary purpose.
Top Notes
Also sometimes referred to as the opening notes or head notes, the top notes of a fragrance are generally the lightest and most volatile of all the notes. They are recognized immediately upon application and the first impression of an aroma in a product. The top notes are also the first to fade given their light molecular structure, but this does not mean they aren’t of utmost importance and in some cases, you may want to have them continue to be detected for the entire longevity of the scent. This is not always possible, but things can be done to help extend life of the top note in a scent. It’s also important that the top note smoothly transitions into what is referred to the heart or middle note of the fragrance. Some common top notes include citrus and fruit notes alone with some herbal notes. Some examples include Grapefruit, lemon, Lime, Orange, Rose, Basil and Clary sage and some Berry notes to name a few.
Middle Notes
The middle notes or often referred to as the heart notes, begin to emerge once the top notes start to evaporate. The middle notes are considered the heart of the fragrance and in some cases, it’s their job to try and retain some of the top notes while introducing new notes to deepen the olfactory experience. They usually last longer than the top notes and have a strong influence on the base notes to come and are sometimes referred to as the buffer for the base notes that may not smell as pleasant if they were on their own. An aroma’s heart generally is well rounded and usually makes up about 60 to 70% of a particular fragrance. Middle notes are often full-bodied Aromatic notes of oils such as Jasmine, Neroli, Ylang –Ylang, Pine, Lemongrass, Lavender, Cardamom and sometimes spicy notes like Black Pepper, Cinnamon and Nutmeg.
Base Notes
The base notes form the foundation of the fragrance and help to boost all the lighter notes and are the final fragrance notes that appear and add depth and resonance. The base notes are typically associated with the dry down and very rich and heavier with longer lasting notes that work together and mingle with the middle notes to create the full body of the fragrance. Also, since they sink into your skin deeper, their scent lasts the longest. The job of the base notes is to provide the lasting impression and often linger on the skin for hours after the top notes have dissipated. Common fragrance base notes include Cedarwood, Sandalwood, Vanilla, Amber, Patchouli, Oakmoss and Musk.
Many believe that without the combination of the three levels of notes, a fragrance just wouldn’t be aromatically appealing but that is proven to be not always true. For example, a single note of pure Lavender or Sandalwood can create a beautiful aroma. The same can be said for a two-note scent where just a middle note and top note or middle and base note are combined. ETHOS keeps an open mind when developing a scent for one of our products.
NOTE: ETHOS infuses certified natural ingredients in our formulas and from time to time there may be a slight variation in the color or scent of the products due to the differences in batch to batch. This does not affect product performance or freshness, it’s just nature.