Ripple+ is a nicotine-free, tobacco-free personal diffuser designed to be inhaled like a vape. Instead of delivering nicotine, it heats a blend of vegetable glycerin, propylene glycol, and botanical extracts to produce a flavored vapor. The company markets the devices as aromatherapy tools with functional benefits like energy or relaxation, depending on the blend.
How Ripple+ Works
The device looks and functions almost identically to a disposable vape pen. You inhale from the mouthpiece, which activates a small heating element that warms the liquid inside into an aerosol you breathe in. There’s no button to press and no setup required.
The base liquid in every ripple+ device is vegetable glycerin and propylene glycol, the same two carrier liquids found in nicotine vapes. Layered on top of that base are natural plant extracts and flavorings. The Power blend, for example, contains natural spearmint extract, natural cucumber extract, and natural flavors alongside the base liquids. Other blends swap in different botanicals to match their intended effect.
Flavors and Functional Claims
Ripple+ sells several varieties, each tied to a specific mood or function. The Power blend pairs a peppermint aroma with ginseng and ginkgo biloba extracts, which the company says creates “an energizing experience” meant to improve focus and fight fatigue. Other lines in the range target relaxation, calm, or general well-being, each using a different combination of plant extracts and scent profiles.
It’s worth noting that these are marketing claims, not medical ones. The botanical ingredients have varying levels of scientific support when consumed orally, and the evidence for inhaling them as a vapor is far thinner. Ginseng and ginkgo biloba have been studied in supplement form for cognitive function, but delivering trace amounts through a heated aerosol is a very different route with limited research behind it.
What’s Actually in the Vapor
All ripple+ ingredients are described by the company as natural, vegan, and organic. The device contains no nicotine, no tobacco, and no vitamin additives. That distinguishes it from both traditional vapes and the wave of “vitamin vapes” that briefly gained popularity a few years ago.
The two base ingredients, vegetable glycerin and propylene glycol, are classified by the FDA as “Generally Recognized as Safe” for consumption in food. However, that safety designation applies to eating them, not inhaling them. A 2025 review published in PubMed found that when these compounds are heated and aerosolized, they can produce thermal degradation byproducts including formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, and acrolein. The concentration of these byproducts increases with higher device power and lower coil resistance. The review concluded that inhaled mixtures of these compounds “have their toxicities independent of the other constituents” in the liquid, meaning even without nicotine, the base liquids themselves carry some risk when heated.
Ripple+ devices operate at lower power levels than many sub-ohm nicotine vapes, which likely means fewer thermal degradation byproducts per puff. But “fewer” is not “none,” and no long-term inhalation studies exist for these devices specifically.
Who Can Buy It
Ripple+ restricts sales to adults. The company’s terms require buyers to be at least 18, or older where local law sets a higher threshold (21 in some US states, 19 in Canada). Age verification is required at purchase for markets where the law demands it, and the company explicitly prohibits sales to minors.
Because ripple+ contains no nicotine or tobacco, it falls into a regulatory gray area in many countries. It isn’t classified as a tobacco product under most frameworks, which means it may not be subject to the same advertising restrictions, health warnings, or product testing requirements that govern nicotine vapes.
Recycling and Environmental Impact
Like all disposable vapes, ripple+ devices are single-use electronics containing a battery, a heating coil, and a plastic shell. The company runs a recycling program called ripple+back to offset some of that waste. You can either drop used devices at a participating retailer or request a free return shipping label through the company’s website. Ripple+ claims that 99% of the device’s components are recycled correctly through this program, and they offer 20% off your next order as an incentive to participate.
Whether most customers actually return their devices is an open question. Recycling programs for disposable vapes across the industry have historically low participation rates, so the environmental footprint of any single-use inhaler product remains a concern regardless of the brand’s intentions.
How It Compares to Nicotine Vapes
The most important difference is simple: ripple+ is not addictive. Nicotine is what hooks people on traditional vapes, and ripple+ contains none. That makes it a fundamentally different product in terms of dependency risk. Some people use it as a behavioral substitute while trying to quit nicotine, since it mimics the hand-to-mouth ritual without delivering the addictive substance.
That said, “nicotine-free” does not mean “risk-free.” You are still inhaling a heated aerosol into your lungs. The base liquids produce byproducts when heated, and the long-term effects of regularly breathing in vaporized plant extracts are not well studied. If you don’t already vape or smoke, there is no health reason to start using a ripple+ device. If you’re using it to step away from nicotine, it removes the most dangerous variable (addiction) while still exposing your lungs to a heated aerosol whose full safety profile remains unclear.