Aromatherapy Essential Oils

Essential oil is a term to describe how the oils extracted from plants have a distinctive smell, and different scents have the capabilities to evoke certain kinds of feelings or emotion in people. For example, oil extracted from the Lavender plant tends to create a very relaxing effect on people. The word essential does not refer to something that is an absolute necessity to one's well being or survival. It simply states that the oil contains a very strong scent from the plant or herb that it came from. Essential oils tend to evaporate quickly unlike other oils.

Typically essential oils in concentrated form can be very strong and irritating, sometimes causing adverse reactions from certain individuals. For this reason essential oils should always be blended with another type of oil to dilute its strength.

Essential oils are widely used in aromatherapy today although their uses have been found as far back as history will go. At different points throughout time one will find many different claims made on certain oils. Claims that range from miraculous medical remedies to purely cosmetic reasons can be found throughout time. Essential oils are used in many different products to create a more pleasant smell; candles, cleaning products, cosmetics and the list goes on.

Today essential oils are gaining in popularity for use in aromatherapy practices. They're used in massage oils, candles, bath scents, and even some medicinal purposes. Many people are finding how scents can impact people's moods and outlook. Simply by using a certain type of essential oil one can ease or calm anger, anxiety, grief, fear, fatigue and the list goes on. Some people claim that these oils can even have an effect on some physical ailments.

There are several methods of extracting oils from plants. Plants have different consistencies and one may not tolerate the same process as another one. Distillation is a way of using steam from heated water to vaporize certain ingredients from the plant. These vapors are separated into another unit where they revert back into liquid form and are then used. Expression is another way of extracting oils. This is commonly used with thicker, hardier plants or fruits such as lemons and oranges. These are cold-pressed to release the oils, which is then collected for use in products. Solvent extraction is used for the more fragile plants such as flowers that would be destroyed in the distillation process. In using this method, a solvent is used to bring out the essential oil along with waxes. Then it goes through a secondary process that then separates the oils from the waxes. This method preserves the compounds in these delicate plants by using lower heat. The high heat in the distillation process destroys these more fragile plants.

Once these essential oils are extracted they are then blended with carrier oils to reduce their concentration.

For centuries people have found that certain fragrances will create a particular mood or feeling within them and they gravitate towards those certain scents. Aromatherapy simply took this practice further and studied how each essential oil affected people and created methods to enhance those feelings.

To learn more about how Aromatherapy Works, visit My Aromatherapy Class, and to learn more about essential oils, see below.