What are essential oils?

There are countless essential oils out there and they all have a number of different uses. You may already use it for aromatherapy or to give a nice scent to your room, however, many essential oils can be used for far more than only aromatherapy or making your home smell nice.

But first off, what exactly is an essential oil? Well, according to Merriam Webster dictionary: “any of a large class of volatile (easily evaporable) odoriferous (giving off a scent) oils of vegetable origin that give plants their characteristic odours and often other properties, that are obtained from various parts of the plant by steam distillation, expression, or extraction. Essential oils are usually mixtures of compounds and are often used in the form of essences in perfumes flavourings and pharmaceutical preparations”. A whole mouth full, I know, but simply put, essential oils are the “essence of a plant”. An essential oil is a liquid concentration obtained from a plant and which possesses the plant's odour and other properties.

What can they do?

Essential oils can help a number of skin and hair problems. Some essential oils such as lemon essential oil or tea tree essential oil help take care of acne, diminish big pores, clear blemishes and help your goals of achieving a vibrant skin. Mint and tea tree essential oils as well as lemon essential oil can also be used in treating hair.

Mint and tea tree stimulate hair growth and lemon essential oil can bring the shine back into the hair as well as help eliminate dandruff. Not only are essential oils great for skin and hair care, but they can be used to remove bad odours from clothes, for cleaning, as mouthwash etc.

The great thing about essential oils is that they are very versatile and offer great benefits. Moreover, there are many different ones so you can be sure to find one that works for you. Read the blog post about how to use Lemon essential oil here.

What is the difference between essential oils and “normal” oils?

It should also be noted that there is a difference between essential oils and carrier (normal) oils. Carrier oils as the name already suggests are oils that can be used to dilute “carry” essential and other oils before topical application. Some great carrier oils are olive oil, almond oil, avocado oil, jojoba oil and castor oil. It is strongly advised to dilute essential oils because they are so concentrated.

The application of essential oils alone can cause burning and irritation and instead of benefiting the skin can cause damage. Naturally, carrier oils can be used without an essential oil and often provide great benefits of their own. Unlike the essential oil, carrier oils are less concentrated, not volatile and although they may have their own scent, they are not as strong as essential oils.