Some popular essential oils are lavender, frankincense, and peppermint.
Attar, also known as ‘ittar’ or ‘itra’ is derived from a Persian word ‘itr’ meaning ‘perfume’. Like essential oils, attars are a product of flowers, herbs, or barks. These oils are usually extracted via hydro or steam distillation as well. The oils are generally distilled into a wood base, such as sandalwood, and then aged. The aging period can last from one to ten years depending on the botanicals used and the desired scent. With techniques and traditions passing down through generations and the painstaking 'analog' methods artisans still use, attars are simply unmatched in their uniqueness, feel, and how long they last.
One of the best places to learn about attar is the village of Kannauj in Uttar Pradesh, India, since they're known for their perfume culture. The ancient, slow distillation practiced in Kannauj by attar artisans is called deg-bhapka. The process consists of a copper deg—built atop its own oven and beside its own trough of water—and a bulbous condenser called a bhapka, the receiver, that looks like a giant butternut squash. When a fresh supply of flowers comes in, the craftsmen put pounds of flower petals into each deg, cover it with water, hammer a lid down on top, and seal it with mud. They light a wood or cow-dung fire underneath, then fill the receiver with sandalwood oil—which serves as a base for the scents—and sink it into the trough. The deg and bhapka are connected with a hollow bamboo pipe that carries the fragrant vapours from the simmering pot into their sandalwood oil base. The last step involves collecting the oil, pouring it into another vessel called a patela, and heating it again to produce the final fragrance.
Some popular attar fragrances are Bulgarian rose, agarwood/oud, and amber.
In contrast to both essential oils and attars, fragrance oils are synthetically compounded, and should not be confused with the 100% natural essential oils. However, all the fragrance oils used in our Body Butter Melts are are paraben-free and phthalate-free which makes them safer for you and the environment.