In conversation: Untold Issues of the Natural Beauty Industry.

1. The jasmine flower; a delicate and floral scent used in our Flora Perfume Oil.
May 19, 2021
Not all natural products are good for the environment. Especially when it comes to essential oils and their distillation and harvesting process for natural beauty products.                                                                                                                         
For instance, to create 5ml of rose essential oil it requires about 242,000 rose petals. An amount we can't even imagine. The same applies to many other essential oils. This is why perfumery and the natural beauty industry have led to massive over-harvesting issues of many plant species and have even caused an absolute extinction of certain flora and fauna.
                                                                                                                                          
With this in mind, BASIUM is extra careful when it comes to choosing the essential oils for our perfume and body oils. Our aim is to be 100% transparent with you and to be kind to mother earth. 

 

Our first step towards this is avoiding the use of essential oils made from wood as many of those are on the endangered species list. 
The only oil we have wisely chosen to use is sandalwood oil from a region in Western Australia. For the distillation process of this oil only branches that have fallen to the forest floor are being used.                                        
Instead of sourcing it from Southeast Asia where most sandalwood oils are usually being produced. Something that has led to an absolute endangerment of this plant species in this region.
With sourcing the sandalwood oil from Western Australia we are actually protecting the sacred tree, working in line with nature and helping with the regeneration of this tree.                                                                                                                                                                                                           
Being based in Europe, our goal for the future is to put our focus on using oils that are from European native plants while supporting small farmers and building relationships with them. This way we can make sure none of the plants are being over harvested and are produced in a good manner.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
Essential Oils to look out for: 
                                                           
At risk species to be avoided                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
Indian Sandalwood (Santalum album)
Atlas Cedarwood (Cedrus atlantica)
Rosewood (Sniba rosaeodora)
Vanilla (Vanilla planifolia)
Palo Santo (Bursera graveolens) 
Agarwood (Aquilaria rostrata)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
 
Essential oils with least concern
 
Ylang - Ylang (Cananga odorata)
Roman Chamomille (Anthemis nobilis)
Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)
Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris)
Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
Cypress (Cupressus sempervirens)
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
In general it is important to use oils responsibly and not overuse any oil. Be sure to store your essential oils and perfume oils properly, so they will last longer and not go to waste. Before making a purchase, research your brands and products, no matter how small or big, knowing it will affect the future of our beautiful earth.