A fragrance oil is a manufactured blend of natural and synthetic chemicals that a label can list as one word, fragrance or parfum. An essential oil is distilled or pressed from one plant, and its main compounds are known. Both can carry allergens. Our scented jars use essential oils and CO2 extracts at studied doses, and there's no fragrance oil in any jar we sell.
If you'd rather skip both, I'd hand you Bare Silk Unscented ($34 as of October 5, 2026). It carries neither.
What's the difference between a fragrance oil and an essential oil?
US rules let a label list fragrance ingredients as the one word fragrance, the FDA explains. The agency describes these blends as complex mixtures of many natural and synthetic chemicals, and as the ingredients most likely to be trade secrets. That's a fragrance oil: a finished scent you can't read from the outside.
Essential oils don't have a regulatory definition in the US, the FDA says, though a 2016 review by Dhifi and colleagues quotes the French standard. That standard defines one as oil distilled from a plant or pressed from citrus peel.
Are essential oils allergen-free?
No: Europe's 2023 rule on fragrance allergens names some essential oils outright, among them lavender and rose. EU labels already had to name 24 fragrance allergens. The EU's scientific committee found 56 more that have clearly caused allergies in humans, and the rule adds them. Limonene's listed too, and Dhifi's review calls it the main component of citrus oils.
Hagvall and Bråred Christensson note that lavender oil's main compounds (linalool and linalyl acetate) react with oxygen in the air and form hydroperoxides that can sensitize skin. In their 2016 study, 2.8% of patients patch tested for a suspected contact allergy reacted to oxidized lavender oil. A plant source doesn't make an oil gentle, so the dose matters.
Who sets the dose?
For the fragrance industry, the International Fragrance Association's IFRA Standards ban some materials and cap the amount of others. For us, it's the research on each botanical.
Every scent we use is named on the label, and synthetic fragrance sits on our Never List. Our post on phthalates and fragrance lays out why. For a home blend, you'll find the general ceilings in our essential oil dose calculator and home recipe post.
Fragrance-free vs unscented explains the label word on Bare Silk Unscented. It's cosmetic care, not a treatment, and your provider's plan comes first. If scent keeps bothering your skin, a dermatologist can patch test you to find the exact cause.
Start with Bare Silk ($34), five ingredients and sixty days to disagree.
Questions we hear
Is fragrance oil the same as essential oil?
It isn't. A fragrance oil is a manufactured blend of natural and synthetic chemicals, and a US label can list it as the one word fragrance. An essential oil is distilled or pressed from one plant, and its main compounds are known. Both can carry allergens.
Are essential oils gentler on skin than fragrance oils?
They aren't by default. Europe's 2023 fragrance allergen rule names lavender and rose oils outright. Lavender's main compounds react with air and form hydroperoxides that can sensitize skin, and in a 2016 study, 2.8% of patients tested for a suspected contact allergy reacted to oxidized lavender oil.
What is IFRA?
IFRA is the International Fragrance Association, whose standards ban some fragrance materials and cap how much of others can be used. An independent expert panel endorses them. IFRA says they're compulsory for its members, who make around 80% of the world's fragrance.
Does Craft Tallow use fragrance oil?
No. Synthetic fragrance sits on our Never List, and no Craft jar holds a fragrance oil. Our scented jars use named essential oils and CO2 extracts, which smell like the botanical, then quiet as the balm settles in. Bare Silk Unscented doesn't carry any.
Go deeper
If you're new, start with the beef tallow for skin guide. How to read a tallow label runs six checks before you buy, and tallow for sensitive skin covers a patch test. Frankincense with tallow covers one of those extracts, and what its trial tested.
Sources
- European Commission (2023). Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/1545 as regards labelling of fragrance allergens in cosmetic products. EUR-Lex.
- US Food and Drug Administration (2022). Fragrances in cosmetics, content current as of February 28, 2022. FDA.
- Hagvall L, Bråred Christensson J (2016). Patch testing with main sensitizers does not detect all cases of contact allergy to oxidized lavender oil. Acta Dermato-Venereologica, volume 96, issue 5, pages 679 to 683.
- IFRA (2026). IFRA Standards, from the International Fragrance Association, read October 6, 2026. ifrafragrance.org.
- Dhifi W and colleagues (2016). Essential oils' chemical characterization and investigation of some biological activities: a critical review. Medicines (Basel) 3(4):25.
Brian is the founder of Craft Tallow, a small-batch tallow skincare line shipped from Cottonwood Heights, Utah, built on 100% grass-fed suet. Questions? Reply to any email from us; it lands with him.