Article: Knowing the Difference between Oils and their Uses
What is a Fragrance Oil?
Fragrance oils can have many different components from natural essential oils to man-made synthetic compounds. Many name brand perfumes contain over one-hundred components. For those who have sensitive nostrils or skin, there is no law requiring the full disclosure of 100% of the ingredients in a fragrance oil. Many of these ingredients are known skin irritants. Most quality man-made fragrances do include a few organic ingredients which gives them a more natural scent. Organic compounds, such as essential oils, are rarely used in large quantities because of the expense. There are hundreds of aroma chemicals available to create synthetic fragrances.
What is an Essential Oil?
An essential oil is an extremely concentrated extract derived from plant materials such as leaves, flowers, roots, buds, twigs, rhizomes, heartwood, bark, resin, seeds and fruits.
To be at their best and in their purest form essential oils should be extracted by:
- a distillation process which uses steam or water
- mechanical processing of citrus rinds
- dry distillation of natural materials
These extraction methods create the purest essential oils.
Other methods are not as desired, such as using solvents to extract hard-to-get essential oils, which can leave trace contamination in the end product.
How Steam or Water Extraction Works - this method will produce a two-phase liquid. The essential oil floats on the surface and the distillation water falls to the bottom. Then the essential oils are removed from the top and the water by-product bottom layer can be sold as a hydrosol or distillate water.
The use of the word “oil” in "essential oils" is a little bit confusing. Most people think of oil as being oily and the consistency of vegetable oils used in cooking, body care, or even in the auto industry. However, essential oils come in a variety of colors and consistencies from clear to dark and from watery to thick, like syrup. Essential oils are the essence of the plant.
Essential oils are very concentrated and therefore should be used in small amounts and with caution. Since essential oils are difficult to produce, they can be expensive in their concentrated form. Expect your initial purchase to be an investment in a pure and natural concentrate, and budget accordingly, knowing that a little goes a long way and you won't have to restock often after you make your initial investment.
Note: essential oils are concentrates! Do NOT apply directly to the skin without proper dilution with a carrier oil (see next section for information about carrier-oils). If you are going to do aromatherapy properly you will want to find a consistent source to create a home pantry of pure essential oils and avoid companies that sell fragrance oils. Since fragrance oils do not contain the botanical essence and therapeutic value of plants, they are worthless for aromatherapy use.
Essential oils can very greatly in quality and price. A high quality or organic essential oil might cost many times what a cheaper essential oil from the same plant will cost. Various factors affect the quality and price of essential oils. These include the rarity of the plant, the conditions under which a plant was grown, the processing and packaging standards of the distiller, and how much oil is produced by the plant itself.
What is a Carrier Oil?
As you learned above, essential oils are very concentrated and should always be diluted before use on the skin. Carrier oils are used for this purpose and are typically vegetable oils. They are used to “carry” the essential oil onto the skin and make it more "spreadable".
Each carrier oil has its own uses and properties and the preference of using one carrier oil over another depends on the benefit being sought. Essential oils can evaporate, while carrier oils do not. Carrier oils can have a mild aromatic effect but never one as strong as pure essential oils. However, they usually have a shorter shelf life than essential oils and can be mixed with a natural preservative such as vitamin E for longer storage, since Vitamin E acts as a natural preservative to prolong shelf life as can refrigeration.
Common carrier oils can be purchased in most health food stores or alternative health stores that specialize in natural bath and body care products. Organic and cold-pressed carrier oils are preferred since their therapeutic benefits have not been altered or damaged by heat or solvent chemicals. All oils should be kept refrigerated until used and should be discarded if they smell rancid.
Carrier oils include sweet almond oil, apricot kernel oil, avocado oil, borage oil, cocoa butter, evening primrose, grapeseed oil, hazelnut oil, jojoba, kukui, macadamia nut, olive oil, pecan oil, rose hip oil, sesame oil, shea butter, and sunflower oil.
For choosing an oil that has little of its own aroma as a carrier oil - these are considered optimal: sweet almond oil, apricot kernel oil, grapeseed oil, jojoba oil, or avocado oil.
Do not use mineral oil as a carrier in aromatherapy because first of all, it is not a natural product, and secondly, we have found that mineral oil can prevent absorption of anything (including your essential oil) into the skin.
A common ratio of essential oil diluted in a carrier oil is around 0.5–3% (almost all with be less than 10%) and depends on its purpose for proper dilution.
