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Essential Oils
Where do
essential oils come from?
Bronnley uses
essential oils from sources all over the world. From the East Indies and
China comes Vetiver. Patchouli, a most important ingredient in perfumery,
comes from Indonesia, as does Ylang Ylang. Rose, Bergamot Oil, Lavender and
Neroli (from the orange flowers) are found in profusion in the
Mediterranean.
Essential oils
can be obtained from blossoms, fruits, barks, leaves and roots. Bronnley is
very aware that these oils must be purchased from renewable sources to
protect the environment. One drop of pure Otto of Roses or precious Jonquil
completely transforms a perfume.
The most usual
way of separating oils from a plant or fruit is by distillation because it
is do commercially viable.
The quality of
a fragrance can sometimes be determined by the percentage inclusion of
essential oils.
Perfume - These
are the original "heady" fragrances and usually have a 15-30% concentration
of perfume oils in solvent, which if often alcohol.
Espirt de
parfum - A slightly lighter style, these usually have a minimum dosage of
15% perfume oils.
Eau de parmum -
This usually has an 8-15% concentration of essence.
Eau de toilette
- Most men's fragrances fall into this category, and they usually have a
4-8% concentration of essence.
Cologne - This
is lightly fragranced water, which originated in Germany, hence the name,
"eau de cologne". It usually has a 3-5% concentration of essence.
Ann Rossiter,
Chairman, Bronnley: "At Bronnley, we develop and blend all our fragrances
in our own factory. This keeps our costs down and ensures we can assemble
all the many ingredients needed to create a new scent. You may be
interested to know that we make our fragrances with a much higher
concentration of essential oils than is usual. We do this to ensure that
our customers receive only the highest quality products where the fragrance
will last for a good period of time. It is our endeavor to produce natural
and pleasing scents."
"Guide to Fine Fragrances by Bronnley of
London"
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