High-Quality Home Fragrance: What to Look For and Why It Matters

With so many home fragrances available these days, how can you be sure you’re buying the highest quality? And why is it even important? Well, have you ever heard of the saying “you get what you pay for?” Quality does, in fact, matter and here’s why...

IT STARTS WITH THE FRAGRANCE BLEND

It’s fairly obvious, but bears repeating, you’re inhaling the scent molecules diffused in the room, and what you inhale comes in direct contact with your lungs. So, inhaling a lower quality fragrance can increase the potential for respiratory irritation. A high-quality fragrance is simply better for your health.

Here are some things you can do to ensure you’re buying a top-quality fragrance for diffusing:

1. Buy high-quality blends made from high-quality ingredients.

Think of it as you would when buying food. You want the best ingredients to make the most delicious meal. That’s how you should think of diffusing a fragrance. You want to make sure the fragrance blend is made of the highest quality ingredients so you can have the best scent experience possible.

2. Look for information about how the fragrance ingredients are obtained.

Ideally, the ingredients come from suppliers who know their source and have a relationship with distillers and ingredient producers. Ingredients that have been ethically and sustainably sourced are an indication of these close and conscientious relationships.

3. Make sure the fragrance blend is made of ingredients that don’t cause allergies and are safe to inhale.

High-quality fragrances don’t contain ingredients that cause allergies and do contain ingredients that receive a safety clearance from IFRA, the International Fragrance Association.

4. The fragrance ingredients shouldn’t be harmful to humans or the environment.

It’s ok if the fragrance blend is made from only essential oils or blended with synthetic molecules. Just like some synthetic molecules can be harmful to your health, so can certain natural materials. Quality ingredients are about identifying and using only what’s safe.

5. Only buy from a company that is transparent about what’s in their fragrance oil.

Check that the company provides full ingredients lists on their website. If there’s nothing to hide, they won’t hide it.

IT’S ALSO ABOUT THE DIFFUSER

The fragrance alone can’t produce a superior fragrance experience. You also have to take into consideration the device you use to diffuse the scent. To create a high-quality diffusion experience you want to use a diffuser that gives you a consistent, clean, safe and enveloping feel.

Here’s what to look for in a top-quality diffuser:

1. The device should have an excellent output.

What does this mean? Output is the scent molecules that are actually emitted into the air by the diffuser. There are two things you need to look out for:

• First, the diffuser should have a clean distribution of the scent in the air. You’ll notice that traditional air care products, like plug-ins and candles, can produce soot and leave residue on surfaces.
• Secondly, the diffuser should ensure an output that’s safe to breathe. Again, what you’ll find with traditional air care products, like scented candles, is that they diffuse scent by burning the fragrance oil. Combustion can range from 75%-90% which leaves the rest to go off as soot and isn’t safe for continuous inhalation.

2. Ideally, the diffuser shouldn’t heat the fragrance.

Heat is generally not a friend of fragrances. Heat is meant to move things, and with that it can also alter the chemistry of the fragrance and thereby the scent quality. Choosing a diffuser that doesn’t heat the fragrance ensures you’re getting exactly the scent you paid for and love.

3. The diffuser gives an immersive scent experience.

A high-quality diffuser will let you experience the scent consistently no matter where you are in the room. Generally, candles, by design, don’t provide good room scent coverage and plug-ins can often be aggressive and inconsistent in smell.

4. The fragrance is experienced as a whole.

A fragrance blend is like a mosaic, each ingredient has its own scent, but put together there’s a beautiful, yet complex bouquet that can, and should, be enjoyed in its entirety. Most diffusers release fragrance ingredients in the order of volatility. What does that mean? It means that most fragrances aren’t diffused as a whole, but rather in parts: first you’ll smell the top notes like citrus, then maybe some middle notes like lavender, and eventually you smell the bottom notes like sandalwood.

For a superior scent experience, all of the ingredients in the fragrance should express themselves in unison. The Microdroplet Technology used in the Aera diffuser is unique in this way as top, middle and bottom notes are forced to release together!

5. The diffuser maintains a consistent scent experience over time.

This means that the fragrance doesn’t change as it’s diffusing. What you smell at the beginning is exactly the same as what you smell after 5, 10 even 15 minutes of diffusing.


So remember, getting a superior scent diffusion experience relies on having both high-quality fragrance ingredients and a top-notch diffusing device. It’s the perfect match.

Frauke Galia is a Certified Professional Aromatherapist, member of the National Association of Holistic Aromatherapists and founder of F.A.L.K Aromatherapy. Frauke is passionate about educating and empowering people to engage with their sense of smell and harnessing this under-appreciated sense for our wellbeing.