AVNS creates a wide variety of natural and organic skin & hair care products which are known to deliver nourishment and rejuvenation from head to toe. With that we've selected ingredients throughout our many years in this industry that are proven to be high quality and beneficial.
However, we sold some of our soaps for over four years under the impression that the pre-mixed blends we were using in a few of our bars were pure essential oil blends. Since that time through our continued research it was discovered that those blends contained pure essential oils AND a small percentage of phthalate-free fragrance oil to boost the natural scent. We had to decide whether to discontinue those bars and disappoint many of our regular customers, or to continue to carry them and give people the choices they wanted. We made the decision to carry the bars, and let our customers make their own choices in this regard.
All of our scented varieties of soap contain 2-3% essential oils—to add scent as well as therapeutic value—and 98% other ingredients (oils, water, clays, milks, etc.). The few soaps that contain the uncertified blends ALSO have therapeutic grade essential oils in them. We did a lot of experimenting because we wanted to make our scents totally unique. The fact that these soaps contain a mix of the blends in question PLUS our own essential oil additions also drives any percentage of any fragrance oil down even further (less than .5-1% of the entire batch).
Bottom line? We decided to continue producing these products while seeking ways to gradually transition as many as possible to only essential oils or a blend of essential oils with 100% natural fragrance (see the 2020 update below).
If like me, you either can't or won't use products with synthetics (please see 2024 UPDATE), we currently have some soaps/products that are scented with a mix of pure essential oils AND may also contain a minimal amount of phthalate-free fragrance oil which augments and enhances the scent.
2020 UPDATE: We have started introducing a natural plant based fragrance alternative to some of our soaps which once had the essential oil & phthalate free fragrance blend. This is only happening to soaps and products where finding a scent match with essential oils is not possible. Our desire would be to only used essential oils as they give benefit to the hair and skin as well as scent, but when this is not possible, we have chosen to use natural plant based fragrances. These natural fragrances are plant-based aromatics which are produced using pure essential oils and aromatic isolates derived solely from natural, raw botanical sources. All of these natural fragrances are certified to be free of synthetic ingredients.
2024 UPDATE: All products containing any synthetic fragrance are now being discontinued. If we can create a similar scent profile, or a scent that we think is reminiscent of the discontinued product or soap, we will bring it back. But this version will be 100% natural, all of the same base ingredients, but with a slightly difference scent.
Soaps that contain synthetic fragrance and are now being discontinued:
Chamomile and Orange Blossom soap, Bella Rose soap, Marshmallow and Aloe soap, Green Tea and Nettles soap, Wheat and Honey soap, Lavender Buttermilk soap, Vanilla Butter soap, Wildflowers soap, and Sweet Rosehips Body Polish.
Products currently using the natural plant based fragrances:
Sweet Vanilla Body Polish, Jasmine Rose Citric Acid Hair Rinse, Coconut Milk & Citrus Shampoo Bar, Lemon Verbena Liquid Castile Soap.
All other products are either scent free or contain 100% certified pure, therapeutic grade essential oils, many of which are certified organic. Please contact us with any questions.