Why Essential Oils are So Powerful

OTHER FACTORS
Botanical origin
Country of origin
Growth & cultivation (insecticides)
Blends – don’t be fooled READ the label
Common cost cutting tricks
    cutting a pure oil with a low quality partner oil
    diluting the oils with fatty oils or other liquids
    synthetic additives and synthetic oils

WHY ESSENTIAL OILS ARE SO POWERFUL

They are able to penetrate the cell wall and thus more quickly  transport the oxygen & nutrients within.

Smell affects the limbic brain system which controls emotion & memory.  It also affects the   hypothalamus with regulates the pituitary which balances the entire hormonal system.

How Essential Oils Are Extracted

HOW  ESSENTIAL OILS ARE EXTRACTED

 
This is important to know as the method used affects the quality of oil.

Enfleurage
This was the way extraction was originally done
It very labor and time intensive & made the end product extremely costly
Used for plants that  have low yields using distillation
Strips of pork fat are laid on glass sheets
Jasmine (or other petals) are laid on top of the fat
Another pork laden sheet was placed face down on the petals –like a sandwich
Fat strips replaced every  other day for a number of weeks until fat is saturated
Alcohol  used to extract oil.

Steam Distillation
Most common as it produces the highest quantity of oil but quality is compromised.
Rind is peeled & shredded and the oils extracted by pressure.

Chemical Solvent Method
Hexane, Petroleum-Benzine, Ether, Carbon Tetra chloride
A slave like solid is created and treated with alcohol to extract the oils
Solvents are removed by vacuum distillation but can never be completely eliminated
Avoid these at all costs.
if you must  use them, use with extreme caution and never inhale or digest.
Carbon Dioxide Method
Preferred method
Oils have a higher top note and a lower base note
Carbon dioxide or butane under pressure  extracts oils

What Exactly Is an Essential Oil?

WHAT EXACTLY IS AN ESSENTIAL OIL?

Essential oils are fragrant substances derived from plants -

usually by steam distillation.

Can come from any part of the plant –
     flowers
     leaves
     fruit
     rind
     seed
    resin
     root

 

How much of what?
    Rose essential oil – 60,000 roses for a single ounce of oil
    Lavender essential oil –220 pounds produces 7 pounds of oil

    Jasmine – 1,000 pounds of flower for a single ounce of oil
    Citrus –5.5 tons for one pound of oil.  

General Rule – essential oils 75-100 x stronger than dried herbs,

Aromatherapy: In the Beginning

    Aromatherapy: In the Beginning

      The use of essential oils is as old as antiquity.

       Egyptians  used essential oils for embalming.   

       Greeks attributed their sweet smell to the Gods.    

       Babylonians perfumed the mortar their temples 
      were built with.

Aromatherapy as we know it hails from 1920.

Rene-Maurice Gattefosse coined the term. Working as a chemist, he received a 3 ^rd degree lab burn to his hand & forearm.  Thinking it to be water, he plunged his hand into a vat of lavender oil.  The pain subsided within a few minutes. He continued applying lavender and his arm healed with out blisters or scarring.

He started investigating essential oils & found them to have enormous healing properties.  He shared his work with friend Dr. Jean Valnet, a medical doctor living in Paris.  Valnet started using essential oils in WW2 when he ran out of antibiotics. He found the oils were able to reduce & even avert infection, reducing pain and saving lives.

(My Uncle George always told the story of receiving 3rd degree burns over his entire back on the battle field.   The supply of pain killers and anti-biotics had been exhausted.  The medic liberally covered the back with a "flower oil" and he healed without pain or scarring).

News of success spread like wild fire and the multi million dollar international mega industry we have today was born.