What "Natural" Fragrance Actually Means
Natural fragrance typically comes from essential oils — extracted directly from plants, flowers, fruit peels, bark, or resin through methods like steam distillation or cold pressing. A lavender essential oil, for example, comes directly from the lavender plant itself.
The honest limitations of natural fragrance:
- Some scents simply don't exist in nature in extractable form — there's no "rain" plant, no "linen" flower, no "clean cotton" bush. Many beloved, popular scents are impossible to create naturally
- Natural fragrance tends to be less stable and can fade faster, both on the shelf and when burning
- It's often significantly more expensive, since yields from raw plant material are low
What "Synthetic" Fragrance Actually Means
Synthetic (or "fragrance oil") blends are created in a lab, combining aroma compounds to build a specific scent profile. This doesn't automatically mean harsh or artificial-smelling — high-quality fragrance oils are often blended by perfumers with real skill, and many synthetic components are actually molecularly identical to compounds found in nature, just produced more consistently and affordably.
Why fragrance oils are so widely used, even by quality-focused makers:
- They allow for scents that simply can't exist naturally (think "fresh linen," "rain," or more complex layered fragrances)
- They perform more consistently and predictably in wax, giving a reliable scent throw
- They're significantly more accessible in price, without necessarily compromising quality
It's Not Really "Natural vs Synthetic" — It's About Quality
The real distinction worth caring about isn't natural versus synthetic, but high-quality versus poor-quality. A cheap, poorly-formulated synthetic fragrance can smell artificial or overpowering. Equally, a poorly-sourced "natural" essential oil blend can smell thin or disappear quickly. What actually matters is the quality of sourcing and formulation, not which category it falls into.
What We Use at S7
We use high-quality fragrance oils, carefully chosen and tested for how they perform in soy wax specifically — not just how they smell in the bottle, but how they actually throw scent once burning. This lets us offer a genuinely broad range of scents, including ones that couldn't exist as purely natural extracts, while still keeping every ingredient GMO-free, vegan-friendly and cruelty-free.
Our Recommendation
Don't assume "natural" automatically means better, or that "fragrance oil" means lower quality. Instead, look at how a candle actually performs — does it smell good, does it throw scent well, does it burn cleanly — and trust a maker who's transparent about what goes into their products, rather than chasing a label alone.
All of our candles, diffusers, and wax melts are hand-poured or hand-filled in Scotland, vegan-friendly and cruelty-free.
Curious which of our scents might suit you? Browse our full collection.