Musical Instruments and Essential Oils Living in Harmony at Arlys Naturals

This is another one of those companies that I can’t really remember how I found them, except that I could have found them in several places including their listing on AromaWeb or the NAHA marketplace. In business since 1999, Arlys Naturals has been around awhile.

I received products free of charge from Arlys Naturals in order to write a comprehensive company profile that includes my personal experience with the oils/products. This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the affiliate links, Marvy Moms will receive a percentage of any sale. This does not affect the amount you will pay for an item or service and in no way changes opinions expressed by Marvy Moms or Marvy Moms writers. For more info, see Marvy Moms Disclosure Policy.

Arlys Naturals

Owned by: Susan and David Stype

Person Interviewed: Susan Stype

Interview Method: Telephone

Number of Employees: 2

Location: Pompano Beach FL

Website: www.arlysnaturals.com

Number of Single Oils (Including Absolutes) Sold: 133

Number of Hydrosols Sold: 8

Other Products Sold: Skin Care Collection, Sports Care Collection, Mommie Care Collection, Bath Brushes, Carriers and Additives, Unscented Lotion, Herbal Infused Oils, Essential Oil Starter Kits, Cocoa and Teas, Jewelry, Culinary Lavender, Lavender Products, Musical Instruments and Accessories, Fragrance Oils, Perfumery Accessories, Soaps, Books, Glass Bottles, Plastic Bottles, Dried Botanicals, Beakers, Graduated Cylinders, and Sachet Bags.

Oils Received:

• Fir, Balsam (Abies balsamea)
• Lavender, French Hi Altitude (Lavandula angustifolia)
• Mandarin, Red (Citrus reticulata)
• Ancient Woods (Synergy)

What’s on the bottle:

• Oil name
• Botanical name
• Distillation Method
• Country of origin
• Volume (number of ml)
• Mailing Address
• Phone Number
• Website Address
• “100% Pure Essential Oils”
• “Do not take internally. Avoid contact with skin. Dilute properly. Keep out of reach of children and pets.”

What’s in the bottle:

The Red Mandarin is my favorite of all the oils I received from Arlys. It has such a gentle and uplifting scent. The Balsam Fir has a lovely Christmas tree smell and doesn’t seem to bother me as some other pines do. The French Hi Altitude Lavender is one of the sweeter lavenders that I’ve smelled, which I quite like. The Ancient Woods synergy contains Cedarwood Atlas, Palo Santo, Rosewood, and Australian Sandalwood. Knowing that Rosewood has ethical sourcing considerations, I called Susan to ask her about how her Rosewood is sourced. She assured me that it is from a renewable source from a farm in Brazil. That was just what I was hoping she’d say! Many companies that cannot find a renewable source for Rosewood, will instead use Ho Wood. Susan mentioned that while Ho Wood is a good scent replacement for Rosewood, that it does not have the same therapeutic properties. Since she loves Rosewood, she will continue to carry it as long as she can ethically source it at a reasonable price point. “I blend for therapeutic value first and scent second.” said Stype.

Is Arlys dedicated to supplying essential oils to the aromatherapy practitioner market and educated public?

“Yes, I have a website, I sell online only, and I do educate. My oils are in some of the cancer centers here and I give talks about the safety of essential oils. Everyone that orders with me gets cards about safely using essential oils (Safety Guide for using Essential Oils). It tells them things about dilution, never use neat, etc… There are exceptions to every rule, but you have to start somewhere. Anyone can sell a kit, but the person buying the kit has to buy a book, take a class or contact an aromatherapist to learn how to use them. I don’t mean that meanly, but sometimes people think they can buy a bottle of oil and then pour a whole bottle of lavender into their bath. And they can end up in the hospital because it is absorbed so quickly.”

Is Arlys on the small size and not a large corporation?

“We have two employees. I have lots of people that help me, but actual number of employees is two. I have seven nieces and they are in various stages of college or have babies and they are always looking for money.”

Is Arlys owned by an aromatherapy practitioner or essential oil specialist?

“Yes, me. I studied under Kurt Schnaubelt and attended master classes in France. I search out essential oil distilleries and travel to them. I do OB aromatherapy clinical kits and other aromatherapy kits. I have a woman that is also a nurse and an aromatherapist, that I met in France, and we’ve worked together all these years. She teaches classes to nurses and we set up kits for her classes.”

Do you have relations with your distillers?

“Yes. I’ve travelled to Europe, France, Canada, British Columbia, and US extensively to source our oils. The essential oils are a commodity that are controlled by the environment. It’s all about supply and demand. Last year there were heavy rains in Europe and the fields were affected for lavender and helichrysum and so that shoots up the prices. I try to deal only with suppliers that are certified organic or ethically farmed. I am not a USDA organic certified reseller, but that is how I try to source my oils anyway.”

Can Arlys readily supply a batch-specific GC/MS spec report on each essential oil it sells?

“I have a certificate of analysis (COA). I don’t do any third party testing and that’s why I have to know my suppliers.”

Is Arlys readily able to provide material safety data sheets (MSDS) as needed?

“Yes.”

Does Arlys and do you (Susan Stype) have a strong unquestioned noncontroversial reputation in the field?

“I’ve never had any issues with that or with any of our products.”

Have you been in the field for a number of years and are you well known to other aromatherapy practitioners and/or educators?

“Yes. I started selling online in 1999, but I’ve known about essential oils prior to that, so depends on where you want to put the line in the sand. I’d say there’s 23 years of knowledge of essential oils and then in 1999 is when I started traveling and getting accounts set up and all of that kind of stuff.”

 What makes Aryls different?

“We have exotic carrier oils and hard to find essential oils. Sometimes we get oils that I don’t offer online that are for a specific project. We have about 20 carrier oils. We carry a wide array of aromatherapy products for customers to incorporate into their lives. I don’t know that we’re so different from other aromatherapists that sell oils. Everyone that I know that’s in the aromatherapy field, at the top of the list, is education of how to use the oils.

People talk about lavender: we carry six different lavenders that all smell different and have different uses. Knowing the botanical name is so very important.”

Any additional thoughts?

“Just because something is natural, doesn’t mean it’s safe. Poison ivy is natural, but that doesn’t mean you want to rub it all over your body. Common sense has to kick in there somewhere.

I would like to talk about the difference between fragrance oils and essential oils. People will often bring a fragrance oil to me as an aromatherapist and want me to recreate it. There are fragrances that cannot be made in a natural way. We sell a few fragrance oils only because of the demand. Citrus oils are expensive right now and people want a cheaper alternative. It’s not a big part of our business, but I do sell fragrance oils.”

My Impressions of Arlys Naturals

Aromatherapist, Susan Stype of Arlys Naturals, is the Florida (Atlantic District) Director with NAHA (National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy) and is a member of the Natural Perfumers Guild. This tells me that she doesn’t just sell essential oils, she is invested in her trade as an aromatherapist. When you receive an order containing essential oils from Arlys, you also receive two rack cards explaining what aromatherapy is and how it can help, safety tips, and recipes to get you started. They are professionally printed and packed with great information for the essential oil beginner. It’s clear that Susan is concerned that people use essential oils safely right from the start.

Along with the oils, Susan also sent me a Personal Pocket Diffuser Inhaler. This particular one has a sealed compartment and essential oils are added with a provided dropper through the holes at the top. This is a step up from the simple screw-top inhalers that I have, but will likely work with only one scent or at least complementary scents. The cotton pad is sealed inside the inhaler’s compartment, so to refresh, you will need to use the provided dropper to add more drops and the cotton pad cannot be changed out for a new one. She sent me the pocket inhaler in a lovely magenta color and I plan to find just the right scent to use with it.

The Arlys Naturals website has a “Recipe Corner” section where Susan Stype gives ideas of things you can make for Aches and Pains, Bath and Shower, Calming-Relaxing, Colds-Flu, Energizing-Uplifiting, Home and Office, Massage, Meditation, Misc, Pets and Pests, Romance, Skin and Body Care, Stress Relief, and Womens Issues. Additional recipes are available on Susan’s blog, Aromatherapy Contessa.

A note on pricing. At first glance you may think that either the prices are quite low or that they are offering free samples. I placed something in the shopping cart in order to really understand it, so thought it was worth mentioning here. Several online shopping carts are set up like this and it confuses me every time. The price listed is the lowest price for that item (so a starting/base price). When you select a size from the drop down, instead of showing the price for that item, it tells you how much to add to the lowest price. This requires that you do a little math to determine the final price of the size you select. So, the lowest price on each of the essential oils is the 1 ml, or sample size. It’s listed as +$0.00 in the dropdown list because there is no additional cost from the base price, not because it’s free. This is perfectly fine, just good to know when you are selecting items to purchase. If you look further down in each product’s description, you’ll see a price list where the math is already done for you. Just refer to this list when figuring out pricing and then select your choice from the dropdown. Here’s an illustration of what I mean:

I really like that Arlys sells more than just essential oils. It may seem a strange combination to sell essential oils and musical instruments, yet what it shows me is that this is a company that sells things that they are passionate about. They don’t sell things just to make money, they sell things that they want to share with the world. Susan and her husband David originally met through their music and so this combination of products works for this combination of people.

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