Aromatherapy blends:

• Have been formulated to affect mood and emotions (but some smell good enough to be perfumes). 
• Are simpler than the perfumes, containing 5-7 different essential oils.
• Contain 4-5% essential oils and extracts (depending on the blend). This is higher than the average aromatherapy application, but we’ve boosted scent according to customer expectations.
• Last approximately 1 hour on the skin. 
• Are meant to be reapplied as needed.
  
  

Perfume blends:

• Have been formulated to perfume (but may also elevate your mood). Since we scent using aromatherapy-grade essential oils, extracts and organic absolutes, you also receive aromatherapy benefits when using the perfumes.
• Are more complex than the aromatherapy blends, containing between 10 and 20 ingredients.
• Contain 12-30% essential oils, extracts and absolutes (depending on the notes).
• Last 2-5 hours on the skin (see below for more information).
• Are meant to be reapplied throughout the day.

We suggest rolling both products on pulse points, which are:

• Behind ears
• Along collar bones
• On chest
• Inside elbows
• Inside wrists
• Behind knees

You can also apply the aromatherapy blends to temples. 

Hair holds perfume oil extremely well. Try dispensing on your inner wrists/palms and applying to the bottom half of your strands.

This depends on many factors, such as:

• The notes in the blend (a perfume with more woodsy, resinous base notes will last longer than a lighter blend with more citrusy top notes).
• The amount you apply.
• The thickness and oiliness of your skin (thicker, oilier skin tend to hold scent longer than thin, dry skin).
• Your climate (my perfume seems to last longer when I’m on the coast versus when I’m at home in the high desert).
• The age of your product. Our perfumes and aromatherapy oils will last a year or more, but we suggest using them up within 6 months, as fresher blends tend to last longer on the skin. Aged blends don’t go “bad,” but they do lose their potency over time.

We formulate all the blends to have consistently timed dry-downs, but several factors, including body chemistry, play a role in the blends’ longevity. Try to use up your blend within 6 months of receiving and moisturize (i.e. with unscented lotion or oil) before applying perfume to help anchor the scent.

Botanical perfumes are fleeting by nature. They don’t contain the chemical fragrance extenders found in synthetic perfumes. We see this as a benefit and find reapplying natural perfumes throughout the day a lovely ritual.

Natural botanical perfumes are beautifully complex but more subtle than synthetic perfumes. 

Also, roll-on perfumes with an oil or jojoba base (such as ours) have a lower sillage (scent trail) than spray perfumes. They simply don’t emanate as far from the body as sprays do, and the jojoba tends to anchor or weigh down the top notes. Although we compensate with a higher percentage of top notes, the fact remains that these types of perfumes are more personal, in that they are detectable to only you and those you invite into your personal space. 

We love perfumer Sophie Labbé’s explanation: "A quiet sillage is a fragrance for yourself, for your well-being. It's not to make people approach; it's just for you." For this reason, natural perfume roll-ons are perfect for the office environment, or anywhere synthetic fragrances are unwelcome.

This depends on how often you apply. A 0.33 oz/10 ml bottle could last from 3 months to a year or more. 

We’re currently experimenting with organic grape alcohol spray perfumes and are finding that we’re going through the sprays much more quickly than the roll-ons. So, we think it’s safe to say that our roll-ons are going to last longer than a spray perfume of the same size. 

By the way, please email us at hello@pressandstill.com if you are interested in botanical alcohol spray perfumes.

Aromatherapy and perfumes:

We suggest using the products within 6 months to a year for maximum freshness, scent strength and aromatherapy benefits. Older blends don’t go bad, but they do lose their potency and benefits over time.

Teas:

We suggest using up within 6 months to a year for maximum freshness and benefits.

Essential oils and extracts are heat and light sensitive, which is why (in part) we package our products in dark amber glass bottles. We don’t recommend that you keep your blends in the fridge, because the jojoba base, which is similar to wax, will solidify and render your roll-ons unusable for a while. But you can extend their life by keeping them out of bathroom and away from direct heat and light. 

Fun fact: rose oil is best stored below 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Before we had a fully temperature-controlled lab, we stored our essential oils in a wine fridge. This isn’t feasible for most people, but you can certainly do your botanical perfumes and aromatherapy blends a favor by keeping them out of the heat.

The 0.33 oz/10 ml glass bottles are safe and small enough to travel in your carry-on luggage (following TSA procedures). The roll-ons are not leak proof, but we rigorously tested many roller bottles over the course of a year and found that most bottles didn’t leak. Those that did had flown, so we think that pressure may have been the cause. We highly recommend storing your roll-ons in a plastic bag for air travel. 

Roll-ons can develop a slow leak around the seal between the rollerball housing and bottle. The rollerball housing is made of plastic and can break down over time from constant exposure to essential oils, especially those (like spices) with more aggressive constituents. If your roll-on is slowly leaking, this could be a sign that you need to use up your bottle and purchase a fresh one! However, if you would like a new rollerball, please contact us at hello@pressandstill.com.

Yes! Stay tuned for our perfume quiz to help determine which of our blends is right for you, based on your scent preferences. In the meantime, you can email us at hello@pressandstill.com for guidance.

We don’t currently offer custom blending. However, we’re open to exploring this option. Given our process and expenses, we expect it would be a 6-week process for which we’d charge $350. Please email hello@pressandstill.com if you are interested.

We don’t currently offer perfume making parties or workshops, but we’ve received many requests. It’s under consideration. Please email us at hello@pressandstill.com if you'd like express your interest.

The jojoba carrier oil should not stain; however, a few of the darker colored essential oils and extracts may stain. If you get a light-colored blend on your clothes, it should come out in the laundry with hot water and a natural detergent like Dr. Bronner’s Sal Suds. Synthetics should be pre-treated.

We use organic or wildcrafted ingredients whenever possible and estimate that our aromatherapy blends are 97.5% organic. The perfume blends range from 76.5% to 92.5% organic. The teas are 100% organic. All ingredients are from sustainable sources.

Sourcing all-organic essential oils and extracts can be difficult due to cost, availability and sometimes quality. For example, organic rose otto is $860 per ounce while its conventional counterpart is $530 per ounce. In this case, we would opt for the conventional in order to keep the final product from being cost-prohibitive for us, the maker, and for you, our botanical perfume-loving friends. (Incidentally, synthetic rose fragrance oil is about $12 per ounce, so this comparison gives you a fairly good idea of why artisanal botanical perfumes carry a higher price tag than synthetic fragrances.) 

Where we do splurge is with our absolutes, which are extracted using a hexane-free solvent and are certified organic. From an aromatherapy standpoint, we would never use an absolute extracted using hexane, so we chose early on to follow those same principles with our perfumes. This may limit our palette slightly, but we feel the purity is in line with our belief in using only naturally derived ingredients (hence our name, “Press & Still”). 

Lastly, if an organic essential oil is out of stock or inferior in scent quality, we'll reach for a wildcrafted alternative, and then for conventional. Ultimately, very few oils and extracts in our current collection are grown conventionally. Please email us for specifics at hello@pressandstill.com.

Almost! In some cases, we were unable to fit all the essential oils, extracts and organic, hexane-free absolutes on our labels, but you can find full ingredient lists in the product listings on our website. Labeling laws require cosmetic manufacturers to list all ingredients except for those that make up less than one percent of the product. Also, we’re allowed to list our proprietary scent as “fragrance.” We think that’s boring and makes it hard for you to make an informed buying decision. The proportions are a secret, of course, but we are transparent about the ingredient names.

Yes... on friends and family.

That, my friends, is a secret. We’ve invested countless hours and much money sourcing and testing the very best varieties we can. For that reason, we keep our sources to ourselves. But we are happy to share varietal and geographic information with you. Email us at hello@pressandstill.com for more information.

Our perfumes are made solely of essential oils, plant extracts, hexane-free organic absolutes, carrier oil and vitamin E. They are not chemical free, but they are safe. 

The essential oils themselves have many chemical compounds. That said we do not use diluents, extenders or adulterated oils. Compounds like limonene and linalool, which occur naturally in essential oils, have been called out as chemical ingredients with toxic effects. Any ingredient used in the wrong amount can become toxic. We thoroughly research every variety of essential oil (and its chemical constituents) going into our products and make sure we blend below the maximum dermal limit for each of these constituents.

We believe commercial fragrance additives like parabens and phthalates have no place in botanical perfumes and we don't use them.

We also don't use nature-identical fragrances, opting instead for the complexity and beauty of real plants. 

In general, we don't recommend essential oil application for pregnant or nursing mothers. While many of the aromatherapy blends may be safe for use during pregnancy/nursing, patchouli (contained in the Balance aromatherapy blend) is contraindicated for nursing mamas. 

Also, lobelia (contained in the Relax tea blend) is contraindicated for pregnant women.

Please check the safe usage guidelines listed in each product description and consult with your healthcare practitioner before using essential oils and teas while pregnant or nursing.

It’s entirely possible to have an allergic reaction or sensitivity to natural perfumes. While we blend safely using fresh ingredients, you may experience a reaction to the essential oils. For example, people with ragweed allergies may react to essential oils like chamomile and yarrow (the first of which is contained in our aromatherapy blend Sleep). 

If at all concerned, try ordering a vial (or exploration set) to do patch tests and discontinue use if irritation occurs. Please email us at hello@pressandstill.com if you’d like more information.

We ship within the U.S., Canada, Australia, the UK and Ireland, via USPS.

We do! We're now delivering orders of $50 or more within a 6-mile radius of the shop. When you're checking out, if your order qualifies for local delivery, you'll see this option and a box to write delivery instructions.

Unless otherwise noted, we'll fulfill and ship within 1-2 business days of receiving your order and notify you with the tracking info.

If your order arrives damaged or the wrong item was shipped, please email hello@pressandstill.com within 48 hours of receipt. Make sure to retain all items and packaging. 

Please report lost or missing orders to USPS.

Jewelry and other accessories: 

Returns and exchanges are circumstantial, at our discretion; please email hello@pressandstill.com within 7 days of receipt to request a return or exchange on unused merchandise.

Press & Still teas, perfumes, aromatherapy blends and bodycare: 

For health and safety reasons, we don't accept returns or exchanges on Press & Still products. However, if you're unhappy with your purchase, please contact us immediately.

While returns do make online shopping easy for consumers, they are unsustainable for small businesses like us and unsustainable for the environment. When a personal product is returned, it can’t be re-sold and ends up in the landfill. 

Moreover, increased shipping is contributing to our carbon footprint. In 2016, large- and medium-sized transportation trucks overtook power plants as the largest source of carbon emissions. While online shopping has become a way of life for many of us, it’s important to do what we can by grouping our orders, reading product descriptions to assess which products are right for us, and ordering smaller sizes (to start) in lieu of returning.

As a small business, our no-returns policy is what allows us to keep our costs down and provide you with a unique botanical scent experience that we hope you’ll love.

If you live in Idaho’s Treasure Valley, you can visit the shop to smell and try the blends. Visits to our shop are by appointment only. Please call or text us at 208-515-6669 to set up an appointment.

If you are not a local, we recommend that you purchase a perfume or aromatherapy exploration set to try three or more of the blends. We do offer single vials, but the sets are more economical, allow you to try a multitude of scents, and come with a 20% voucher towards a 0.33 / 10ml bottle.

Our little brick-and-mortar shop is open by appointment only at the moment. If you are local to Boise and would like to visit the shop to smell and try the products, please call or text us at 208-515-6669 to schedule an appointment.

Our online shop is open 24/7. Please text us at the above number or email us at hello@pressandstill.com if you have any questions about our products or the shopping experience.