Scentient Nature provides 100% pure and natural high quality aromatics, be it essential oils or other raw materials. The same goes for blends.
Our own productions are entirely organic, and produced without any mechanization. They also are encompassed within long term ecological and social sustainability programs that we developed and implemented ourselves over the years in collaboration with all our local partners. We are present for the whole chain of transformation, from the orchards, to the harvesting, distillation / drying, conditioning and shipping and everything is quality controlled at each stage.
Projects I support, likewise, beyond the quality of the goods themselves, also have ecological and, usually also social visions I find important to support in today’s troubled world.
For the materials I “just” source, many are wild, some others organically certified, some of are organically produced but not certified, and rarely some are produced with integrated methods. Refer to each specific product for the relevant information. I look for small scale producers who use high quality raw materials, who defend distillation techniques that prioritize quality over productivity and who are ecologically conscious. If you are such a producer, please do not hesitate to get in touch via the contact page.
I also strive to share "no bullshit" information: that is facts as I understand them or found them, with references, subjective opinions and views presented as such and, last but certainly not least no mythomaniac, aggrandizing, dishonest or over-promising marketing that sadly abounds nowadays.
If I share about local folk usage of certain plants, it is to be taken as that: information for your intellectual interest / curiosity, and nothing else. Always refer to certified aromatherapists if you want to attempt to address any health condition through aromatics
Of course, blends or attars that I sell can be diluted, either on specific client requests, or for a few items regularly sold in the shop. If so, for an item sold in the shop: dilution will be indicated on the description / information data, and / or title. The carrier oil, or alcohol, will be a quality one, also pure and natural (and will of course also be indicated). Without any mention of such things all products are 100% pure, natural and undiluted.
The immaterial
Beyond the materiality of the goods themselves, I pay specific attention to less obvious and more immaterial factors that are important for me:
- What does the pure essential oil or blend perform : is there an emotional reaction when smelled? of what nature? how does it merge with your inner realm ? does it stimulate ? soothe? does it bring you to a special place? does it generate joy? a sense of well being? a feeling of inner peace and safety? do you feel drawn to come back to it if you wear it during the day? I only consider materials that are genuinely performative (but see the note on absolutes below). Such effects, I call "scentient experience". I share about it freely, but your own experience might be different from what I describe, so it constitutes in no way a "promise" linked to any product. I get regular feedback form my clients on that, and it keeps enriching what I feel, so yours is warmly welcome as well.
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The energy quality. Some oils (or blends or raw materials) will produce subtle effects - which can be potent - others products of the same kind will not deliver, notably through olfactive techniques. This depend on many factors, from the plant, its terroir, it culture, its harvesting, its distillation, conditioning storage, etc. This criteria is essential in my selections. Now, I am perfectly aware that for some people any talk of "energy" will be dismissed as wishy-washy and unsubstantiated. I live and let live, of course, but in my experience of the world, energy perception and proprioception are very real. It is important for me to thematize this additional dimension of my selections for people who interested in that. As for the others, I ask you humbly not to "throw the baby with the bathwater", that is not to dismiss the quality of my products because I speak of such a dimension here or there : just experience them according to your own criterion and to what makes sense for you.
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The olfactive qualities: how is the olfactive profile emerging from the bottle / stick, or unfolding in time on skin, perfumer's strip or cloth? What is its longevity, its projection? How is the oil / absolute evolving when blended with different ingredients, compared to other similar oils / absolutes? How are raw woods or resins or other materials behaving when heated or used for other purposes ? (...) This is of course a(nother) subjective evaluation. I genuinely like and personally use all the items I sell. It is not a logical argument for quality assessment, but it is a truthful fact.
- The whole picture. GC-MS tests will sketch the material profile of an oil, and allow in some - but not all - cases to detect adulteration (especially if one knows what one is looking for). I often analyse test results concerning the oils I source thoroughly and with great interest. But what such tests do not give you is the actual experience of smelling and working with the oil. This whole picture is what matters the most to me, and the direct experience is for me the ultimate locus for evaluation.
"Assuming you have a pure and authentic oil, what is the measure of quality? Is it the diversity of the constituents? High levels of key constituents? Or rich and natural smell? Well, it depends on whom you ask; there’s no right or wrong answer. Quality depends on what you’re planning to do with your oil. The GC–MS analysis can help you with that decision, but it does not, by itself, determine the quality of essential oils."
Petra Ratajc
(for link to the full, and inspiring, text, see the References section)
