Essential Oils and Aromatherapy Oils

Essential oils are a concentrated form of liquid extracted from plants. The oil means it’s the oils of the plant material and the word essential shows the plant’s unique scent. This term is used for those plants that carry a strong distinctive scent that people extract for fragrant uses. These essential oils are used in many aromatherapy products. They also have medicinal uses as some of the ingredients have been found to have antiseptic properties.

Extracted from plants through a process of distillation, expression or solvent extraction, they are then used in a variety of ways including perfumes, cosmetics, incense, candles and even cleaning products. The varying methods of extraction depend on what type of plant it is.
The distillation method requires that the raw plant material is put into a distillation process over water, which steams the plant material causing the compounds to vaporize. This vaporization condenses back into a liquid that’s collected in another bowl. This ingredient is what’s used to provide the fragrant smells.

Expression is typically used for citrus peel oils. This used to be the most commonly used method before distillation was discovered.

Solvent extraction is used to extract fragrances from very fragile plants or parts of. Generally flowers fall into this category. A solvent is used to extract the oils but these extracts called concretes also have a lot of waxes and resins that have no smells whatsoever. In order to extract the fragrant oil from the concrete another solvent is used, usually alcohol. Once this is extracted the alcohol is removed leaving the pure fragrance behind. The lower heat process produces a superior product.
One should keep in mind that while essential oils are used in aromatherapy products, they should never be applied on the skin in their pure form. They are extremely potent and can cause severe irritation or allergies. Others such as citrus oils can increase a skin’s tendency to burn in the sunlight. These essential oils are always diluted with a mixture of a base oil. When one is looking for a particular essential oil, always consult a professional aroma therapist to ensure the proper safe mix of oils. Never ingest oils; there are some that can be toxic to humans or pets.

With the increasing rise in the popularity of aromatherapy, people are finding more benefits to some of these essential oils. Much of their benefits are derived from the way the scents affect our senses. They can either be used to calm and soothe or create alertness. Used in incense or candle form they can create a mood in the atmosphere or they can be included in a massage oil form where the scent adds to the relaxing massage experience.

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