What are Essential Oils?

If you take a lemon and scratch its skin, you will see tiny droplets oozing out of the scratch. When you smell it, that so familiar lemony, fresh scent hits you. Well, those little droplets that hold the lemony smell make up the essential oil or essence of the lemon.

So essential oils are the concentrated collection of compounds that hold the unique smell of the source plant.

These compounds can be found in any part of the plant. The fruits, peels, seeds, flowers, leaves, bark and even roots can each or altogether contain these fragrant compounds. Of course, it makes sense to extract the compounds from the parts they are most concentrated in. That's why lavender essential oil is extracted from flowers and ginger oil comes from the root (rhizome).

Now, going back to the scratched lemon, you'll notice the droplets don't stick around for very long. That's because the aromatic compounds in essential oils are volatile. So they evaporate quickly into the air; which is why you get the smell almost immediately.

And you should know ALL PURE essential oils are plant based. So they're all natural, non-synthetic compounds. Which is probably why so many people (myself included) are moving away from the synthetic pharmaceuticals to these natural wonders.

Carrier Oils

Essential oils are super concentrated. So rubbing them onto your skin is a big no no! The best way to 'carry' or apply essential oils to your skin is to dilute them in a carrier oil.

The words are silly, I know. But, it is serious! If you don't dilute essential oils, you can end up with serious, sometimes permanent skin damage.

Carrier oils are much more stable than essential oils. They don't evaporate quickly and can even be heated. In fact, some carrier oils (like coconut oil) are used for cooking.

And they are safe to use for everyone. Chances are you're using them already. Coconut, grapeseed, jojoba, olive and sweet almond oils are actually the more popular carrier oils.

Related: 19 Commonly Used Carrier Oils

Absolutes

In your research into essential oils, you'll come across absolutes. They are very popular in the perfume industry and are similar to essential oils in that they are concentrated, aromatic compounds taken from plants. But, how they are extracted from the plants is a little different.

Usually, steam is used to 'pull' the essential oils out of the plant material (flowers, leaves, etc). But some oils are too unstable and can actually breakdown with heat (e.g. lily).

So manufacturers use solvents (like hexane and ethanol) and filtration to remove the unnecessary compounds. The result is a thick mixture of the plant's aromatic compounds.

While absolutes smell more like the source plant than essential oils and use no heat, there has been concern about the types of solvents used in the extraction process. And there are trace amounts of solvents left in the absolutes after.

So when buying absolutes, find out more information about the extraction process before paying. It's good practice to know what you're exposing your body (and family) to.