Without thinking hard about it, it's easy to imagine that our sense of smell enriches our day-to-day life. Bad odors can make us physically ill and other scents can evoke memories. For most living creatures, the ability to smell is vital to survival, yet humans take it for granted. If we learned anything about the pandemic, it was that smell also strongly affected our tastebuds.
Scents Can Warn Us
Although humans are not as acutely aware as our four-legged friends, we do know that smells tell us a tremendous amount. Many of us can recognize the difference between wood-burning fire, and burnt toast. Predators can use their sense of smell to hunt as well as a form of protection.
Scents tell us about our Environment
When eggs rot, we know because that sulfury smell is unmistakable. The scent of skunks – barely tolerable! Fun fact: Our noses contain millions of smell cells that can recognize and detect thousands of scents. From all those scents, we can categorize them into about 10 distinct scents, like this:
Fragrant (e.g florals and perfumes)
Fruity (all non-citrus fruits)
Citrus (e.g. lemon, lime, orange)
Woody and resinous (e.g. pine or fresh-cut grass)
Chemical (e.g ammonia, bleach)
Sweet (e.g.chocolate, vanilla, caramel)
Minty and peppermint (e.g. eucalyptus and camphor)
Toasted and nutty (e.g popcorn, peanut butter, almonds)
Pungent (e.g.blue cheese, cigar smoke)
Decayed (e.g.rotting meat, sour milk)*
Is Whole Naturals Castile Soap Unscented?
Most soaps have a mild scent. While hard to describe, it’s a neutral, warm, fatty odor that is distinctive to soap. The soap smell should be pleasant, not overpowering.
Our Castile Soap is an unscented product, meaning there are no added artificial scents or perfumes. But Castile Soap is made up of organic and naturally scented carrier oils, which do have a scent – but it’s best described as a woodsy, outdoor, natural scent. Out of all the organic carrier oils in Castile Soap, it’s safe to say that Olive Oil is one of the strongest and more recognizable smells in our product.
Lately, we’ve received feedback that some batches of our Castile Soap have a stronger scent than others. Because our product is made with certified organic ingredients, the plant-based oils are harvested at different times during the season so it's not unusual for different batches to have slightly different scents and even different hues. This does not affect its efficacy, and over time the smell does dissipate.
We have listened to your feedback!
We have heard, we have listened and we have taken action. As a family-owned small business, we read every review, email and feedback. Lately, we have noticed a trend; a batch of our Castile Soap has an unusual, and unpleasant odor. Although the smell will fade over time, we knew it was a priority to address this concern. Working closely with our manufacturer, we have found a new source, for our organic carrier olive oil, and reformulated our recipe for Castile Soap. We are confident that our Castile Soap now smells precisely the way it should – like Castile soap.
If your recent purchase of Whole Naturals Castile Soap doesn’t exceed your expectations – let us know! If you smell something, say something! We will send you a courtesy replacement! Please send us an email (that includes your order number and place of purchase).
