Where Can You Find Fragrance And Essential Oils in Real Stores?

So, you don't want to wait to get started? You want to run out to the store right now and get fragrance or essential oils? Here are my suggestions:

Essential Oils

Essential oils are way easier to find in stores than fragrance oils because of the "natural health" and aromatherapy markets. Health food stores, such as Whole Foods and Henry's, are your best bet for buying essential oils. However, they will be about twice as expensive as ordering them online! Ah well, that's the convenience price, isn't it?

Fragrance Oils

Fragrance oils are harder to find in physical stores, but they are available if you know where to look. The first place for high-quality fragrance oils is home fragrance stores.

Around the corner from my apartment, there is this place called "Cathedral" which sells all kinds of home fragrance products: candles, incense, room sprays, etc, all from designer fragrance houses such as Kai and ShiSeido. A very dangerous place :) Anyway, they have "home fragrance oil" or "perfume oil," which is basically fragrance oil. Yes, it's way more expensive than buying it online (the designer tax plus the convenience price), but everything they have is high-quality.

Home Fragrance Stores

Cathedral is an independent store, but I know that there are probably similar products in places like Bed, Bath, and Beyond; perhaps Origins and Aveda; places they sell incense or scented candles like White Barn Candle Company or Illuminations. Use your imagination and you can probably find something in the nearest mall.

Craft Supply Stores

The next place to look for fragrance oils is craft stores - but be warned! The fragrance oils you get from places like JoAnn's or Michael's are not the best quality, usually. They tend to smell synthetic and are for beginners to get their feet wet, not professionals or serious crafters.

If you live in a farmer's markety type area, or a place where there are a lot of street fairs or craft events, you can probably pick up some fragrance oils there. Those tend to be seasonal, though, so they aren't that reliable.

In my experience, online is the way to go for fragrance oils. But if you're really impatient, these are my best suggestions for finding fragrance or essential oils today. Good luck!

As always, I hope this helps! - Cat.