Luxury Body Care

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"