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Pure Essential Oils
 

The term oil in "essential oils" is not truly accurate but a traditional term. Essential oils are very volatile fragrances that easily evaporate and very different in character from oils such as olive oil or safflower oil. Essential oils are complex mixtures of plant produced chemicals - essential lavender oil has more than 50 plant chemicals.

Pure essential oils are expensive and must be obtained from reputable sources. Adulteration of essential oils is very common since a product like rose oil yields just 0.2% essential oil.  While the finest natural French lavender oils harvested in the Haute Provence are up to 70% linalyl acetate, many lavender oils from France have higher levels of linalyl acetate but such oil is fortified with synthetic products and may have no traces of natural lavender.  Sandalwood oil can be adulterated with diverse oils such as caster, palm and linseed.
 

Essential oils are remarkably free of side effects - which is reflected by their long use by humans.
Some persons may have allergies to oils such as cinnamon oil and juniper berry oil but we do not use these oils.

Skin Health and Essential Oils

Surprisingly, many of the traditional mood altering essential oils also have been historically used for skin care.
Patchouli has also been used as an  anti-inflammatory and an aid for dry, cracked skin. Oil of lavender has soothing effects on the skin and was used on wounds in ancient Greece and Rome and still is today. Sandalwood has been used for skin regeneration, and to treat acne, dry skin, rashes, chapped skin, eczema, itching and sensitive skin. Ylang Ylang has been used to treat eczema, acne, oily skin, and irritation associated with insect stings or bites.

Jasmine is a member of about 200 species of shrubs and climbing vines native to tropical areas of southeast Asia, Africa and Australia. Mature plants are usually up to 3 meters high and 2 meters wide.

Jasmine is grown extensively in Cannes and Grasse in France, and is also produced in Morocco, Italy, India, China, Japan and Egypt. The popularity of jasmine has resulted in many species of jasmine now grown worldwide. True jasmine is a climbing vine with oval, shiny leaves and tubular, waxy-white flowers. Two types of jasmine are used for oil production - J. grandiflorum and J. officinale. The oil of the two flowers types is virtually identical.

Her breasts, like lilies, 'ere their leaves be shed;
Her nipples, like young blossomed jessamines;
Such fragrant flowers do give most odorous smell
But her sweet odour did them all excell.
                                          Edmund Spencer
 
 
 

Jasmine has a heavy, rich, animal-like quality akin to musk oil in its sensuous effects but is also calming and relaxing.  It contains over 100 ingredients including jasmolactone, jasmone, methyl jasmonate. Jasmine has been considered an exotic and powerful aphrodisiac since antiquity. In India, jasmine is called "moonshine in the garden" and ancient Indian paintings depicted lovers bathing in moonlight near jasmine plants. Ancient Asians wrote that jasmine penetrated the deepest layers of the soul and opened emotions. In China, the relaxing jasmine tea has been a popular beverages for thousands of years. In the Sung Dynasty (960) the Emperor had several hundred pots of Arabian Jasmine moved into his courtyards, filling the palace with fragrance.

Cleopatra is said to have wooed Anthony with jasmine oil and Louis XVI had a passion for jasmine scented sheets. It is still the favorite fragrance of French women.

Jasmine resin is extracted from flowers by an extraction process known as enfleurage, or fat maceration, a process which used fat to absorb the volatile aromatic compounds from the living flower. The enfleurage extraction process begins with the hand-picking of the jasmine flowers after they open at night. The freshly picked blooms are laid out on panes of fat covered glass and stacked so the aromatic volatiles don't escape into the air. This process is repeated for several days with new layers of fresh flowers, until the fat is saturated with aroma.

The saturated fat is next melted under very low heat, then filtered. The aromatic compounds are extracted from the fat with alcohol, then the alcohol is gently distilled away to leave behind the pure essence.

Jasmine absolute oil is used in perfumes and body lotions and produced by using a gentle solvent on delicate jasmine flowers. 2,000 pounds of the hand-picked blossoms to yield 1 pound of jasmine oil. Jasmine absolute is a dark orange or brown to reddish liquid that becomes darker and more fragrant with age.

Lavender has been used as a fragrance and a folk medicine since the beginning of recorded history. The botanical name Lavendula derives the Latin, Lavare, meaning "to wash". Lavender is part of the Labiatae family, comprising aromatic herbs such as thyme, savory, oregano, peppermint, and sage.

Picture to left - Lavender grows wild in many parts of the world, in the hot and dry regions of the Mediterranean, the Middle East and the desert regions of Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Ethiopia. Tradition tells us that French lavender originated in Persia or the Canary Isles.
 
 
 
 

Picture to left - Today lavender is farmed in France, England, China, the Mediterranean  region,  Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Bulgaria, Russia, Australia, Japan, Canada and in Washington state in the United States. The plant has blue-green leaves and bright blue blossoms. Both the leaves and flowers are fragrant.  150 pounds of lavender flowers produce one pound of essential oil that is aged for one year before it is released.  Lavender has light, floral scent with woody undertones.

The French lavender oil excels all other types in quality, possessing a characteristic sweetness of odor. Provence is now the world's largest lavender producer, with the area of Grasse as the centre of the French perfume industry. Traditionally lavender was used to scent the linen closet and white linens were once spread over lavender bushes in the south of France.

Lavender oil has along history. In the Bible there is the story of Judith, who anointed herself with perfumes including lavender, seducing Holofernes, the enemy commander. Once he was under her scented influence, she murdered him and saved the City of Jerusalem from destruction. Both the Queen of Sheba and Cleopatra are said to have used the power of perfume in seducing their lovers.

Lavender played a sensual role in the famous Roman public bath houses as Romans used aromatic oils to scent their bodies and and the bath water. Elizabeth the 1st and Queen Victoria were devotees of lavender. Queen Elizabeth ' drank copious cups of lavender tea to treat her frequent migraine headaches. During the reign of Queen Victoria, lavender floral waters and smelling salts were in fashion and part of every ladies toilette.

The oil of lavender also has soothing effects on the skin. Oil of Lavender was used on wounds in ancient Greece and Rome over 2,000 years ago. Lavender oil was used in ancient Persia, Greece and Rome to clean hospitals and sick rooms.  Roman soldiers carried lavender oil in first-aid kits on their campaigns. It has also been clinically used to cleanse cuts, bruises and skin irritations. The aroma of lavender oil was thought to be cleansing and soothing for the spirit.

Today it is widely used in clinical wound-treatment products. In one placebo-controlled blinded study of 635 women, it was found that the application of oil of lavender to the outer birth canal resulted in much less pain and discomfort after childbirth. The pure lavender fragrance in many perfumes does not have the soothing and pain reducing properties of the pure oil which contains over 50 different compounds.

Nutmeg is a spice from the seed of the Myristica fragrans, a tropical, dioecious evergreen tree native to the Moluccas or Spice Islands of Indonesia. The nutmeg plant, Myristica fragrans, is a member of the family Myristicaceae containing about 300 species spreading from India and Sri Lanka eastwards through Malaysia to North-Eastern Australia, Taiwan and the Pacific, including the Solomon Islands, Fiji and Samoa. Since 40 known species of Myristica are found in New Guinea (Indonesia), this location has been designated the center of origin of this genus.

Most of the species in the genus Myristica are tropical evergreen trees found growing mainly in the lowland tropical rain forest, but some mountain species also occur. The trees may reach about 65 feet (20 meters) tall and yield fruit 8 years after sowing and may continue to bear fruit for 60 years or longer. It has been grown for commercial `nutmeg production in the Moluccas, Antilles, Java, Sumatra, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Grenada. The typical tree is unisexual- with male and female flowers on different trees. On occasion both male and female flowers may occur on the same tree and even rare hermorphrodite flowers may be formed. From field observations in Grenada it has been reported that male trees progressively change to female with aging and bear fruits.

Nutmeg is said to have a subtle aphrodisiac effect in smaller doses), and has been used as such by Hindus, Arabs, Greeks and Romans. In the Orient it was especially highly prized among women. The compound that may be responsible for the aphrodisiac effects of nutmeg is myristicin, 4-methoxy-6-(2-propenyl)-1,3-benzodixole. It has some structural similarity with mescaline, the hallucinogen from peyote cactus. Nutmeg is used as a stimulant but very high doses can be cause agitation. Historically, it has been used to improve circulation, and for muscle and joint aches and pains.

The ancient Romans used nutmeg as a form of currency. In the 13th century, nutmeg was used in the Middle Ages for it’s medicinal qualities. The Dutch had a monopoly on the trade of nutmeg for 200 years (1600-1800) and established plantations in Malaysia and Indonesia. The Dutch plotted to keep prices high while the English and French sought (by any means) obtain fertile seeds for transplantation.

The name nutmeg is also applied in different countries to other fruits or seeds: the Jamaica, or calabash, nutmeg derived from Monodora myristica; the Brazilian nutmeg from Cryptocarya moschata; the Peruvian nutmeg from Laurelia aromatica; the Madagaskar, or clove, nutmeg from Ravensara aromatica; and the California, or stinking, nutmeg from Torreya californica.

The nutmeg fruit is similar in appearance to an apricot. When ripe it splits in two, exposing a single shiny, brown seed, the nutmeg. After collection, seed is removed, flattened, and dried gradually in the sun over a period of six to eight weeks. During this time the nutmeg shrinks away from its hard seed coat and after the shell is broken, the nutmegs are picked out. Dried nutmegs are grayish-brown and about 1.2 inches long and 0.8 inch in diameter.

Nutmeg contains 7 to 14 percent essential oil, of which the principal components of are pinene, camphene, and dipentene. The oil is  obtained by distillation from nutmeg and is colourless, pale yellow or pale green liquid with an color and taste of nutmeg.

Raw oud, which is wood from the oud tree, is used as incense and its oil, called dehn al-oud,is used as a perfume. Oud takes 300 years to form in the trunks of trees contaminated by a certain bacteria. Since the oud tree is not grown anywhere except in limited parts of Asia, the price of the wood and its oil extracts has remained high. Traditionally, India has been one of the largest producers of oud.

The best quality oud breaks easily and contains water. This variety will give off the best fragrance when burned and can be recognized by the bubbles that appear. When burned over hot coal, solid oud releases a stronger, but pleasing fragrance.

Saudi Arabia is the principle importer of Oud but the oil is prized throughout south Asia. Oud is also used as part of the celebrations following Ramadan and the Hajj. During Ramadan (the Muslim holy month of fasting), some Saudi families burn oud each night after breaking their fast and washing, and before going to the mosque to perform the evening prayer.

Some would say that patchouli is the most distinctively fragranced herb in the botanical kingdom. The first whiff of its rich, exotic scent never fails to become fixed forever in the olfactory memory.

Patchouli is native to Malaysia where it was used as a traditional medicine and perfume there and also in China and Japan. Patchouli was first described by botanists in the Philippines in 1845. Patchouli is a bushy, 3-foot tall plant with small furry leaves and is a tropical member of the lamiaceae family. Distant relatives include lavender, basil, marjoram, rosemary and many other herb plants associated with more temperate regions. Patchouli seems to have moved south and suffused itself in the mysterious aromas of a steamy jungle.

Today patchouli is farmed throughout tropical Asia. True patchouli has hairy stems, flowers seldom, and is propagated by cuttings. A second species, Pogostemon heyneanus, known as Java patchouli, has smooth stems and flowers reliably. Java patchouli has an inferior aroma and may show up as an adulterant in the whole leaf form or the distilled oil. Plants available from herb nurseries labeled as Pogostemon cablin often turn out to be Pogostemon heyneanus.

Patchouli is usually grown on small forest plots by individual farmers who harvest and dry the leaves, then sell them to distilleries that buy the leaves from various farmers and combine them into one steam distillation. Newly distilled patchouli oil has a fresh, slightly harsh aroma. As the oil ages it mellows considerably, becoming sweeter and more balsamic. Patchouli is an oil that, like fine wine, improves with age. High quality patchouli oils emit a suave, fruity, wine-like top note when uncapped.

Patchouli oil is dark yellow. The perfume industry considers the dark oil color undesirable so usually they redistill the oil or adulterated it with cedarwood oil.

Patchouli's musty, sweet, spicy smell evokes strong emotional reactions from both men and women. Some associate the scent with that of moist earth, while for others, the memories of the hippie generation of the 1960's. Patchouli has a reputation as being considered a aphrodisiac.

Traditionally, patchouli was used to perfume fabrics in India. In Victorian times, the English loved shawls imported from India that were permeated with the scent of patchouli which came from their being packed in patchouli leaves to ward off insects.

Patchouli has also been used as an anti-depressant, anti-inflammatory. It is considered a sedative in low doses and a stimulant in high doses, and an aid for dry, cracked skin.

Sandalwood has a very long history - over 4,000 years of use - and is mentioned in Sanskrit and Chinese manuscripts. The oil was used in religious ritual, and many deities and temples were carved from its wood. The ancient Egyptians imported the wood from Asia to use in medicine, embalming and ritual burning to venerate their gods. In Buddhism, it is considered to be one of the three incenses integral to Buddhist practice, together with aloes wood and cloves.  In the Zoroastrian Temples it burns in there sacred fires to soothe the troubles of all humanity. It is used by the Jewish, the Buddhist, the Hindus, as well as almost every other belief system for its vast diversity in attributes. Sandalwood is among the perfumes approved by Islamic tradition, which also include musk, amber, jasmine and myrrh.

Sandalwood's "most divine fragrance" was felt to represent the divine qualities found in godly souls.  Many Asian ancient temples and religious accessories such as rosaries and staffs are made from sandalwood. Sandalwood admirers have called sandalwood oil "Liquid Gold", due to its precious nature.

The Sandalwood is a small tree, growing to a height of about 10 meters. It is an evergreen with rather tough green leaves. The trunk is grey brown, almost smooth, with many branches.

To the left - The flowers are formed at the tips of the branches and are pink to purple in color. Mature trees are used to produce the best quality essential oil. The native sandalwood tree grows almost exclusively in the forests of India and Indonesia. As the tree grows,  the essential oil develops in the roots and heartwood, which requires at least 15 to 20 years. Full maturity is reached after 60 to 80 years. The core of dark heartwood gradually develops, which is covered by outer sapwood. The sandalwood tree is never felled, but uprooted in the rainy season, when the roots are richer in the precious essential oil. Vietnam and New Caledonia have developed of genuine Sandalwood. The best quality oil comes from the Indian province of My sore and Tamil Nadu where the harvest of Sandalwood trees are protected by the state government.

The roots and also the heartwood of the tree, are mechanically reduced to fine chips, which are steam distilled to produce the straw yellow colored essential oil. 60 kg of oil can be extracted from a ton of heartwood. Once the oil has been distilled it is matured for six months so that it can achieve the right maturity and perfume. It develops from a very pale yellow to a brownish yellow. it is extremely thick and viscous with a heavy, sweet, woody and fruity aroma which is pungently balsamic.

Sandalwood oil is high in sesquiterpenes, sesquiterpenols, sesquiterpenals, aldehydes, pterocarpin and the hydrocarbons such as isovaleric aldehyde, santene, and santenone. The oil has been researched in Europe for its ability to oxygenate an area of the brain known as the pineal gland

Sandalwood oil has a very pleasant distinctive aroma, appreciated equally by both men and women.

Sandalwood oil makes a fine massage oil, or may be added to a moisturizing cream for skin care, particularly useful for cracked or dry skin. A few drops of the oil in a warm bath is very relaxing and will impart to the body an attractive aroma. Sandalwood oil was used traditionally for skin renewal, yoga, and meditation. It has a scent and some aphrodiasiac like effects similar to deer musk.

It is considered one of the most calming incenses and is a preferred one for meditation and is said to calm the mind, enhance mental clarity,  peaceful relaxation, openness, and help promote spiritual practices.  It is said to improve interpersonal relations. It is used to treat impotence, depression, anxiety and insomnia.

Traditionally it has been used for skin regeneration, and to treat acne, dry skin, rashes, chapped skin, eczema, itching and sensitive skin.

The fame of Ylang Ylang started in Bali in Indonesia the fragrant, pale yellow petals of ylang-ylang were traditionally used to decorate and perfume the nuptial bed. The flowers and their oil were used as an antidepressant, aphrodisiac, treatment for impotence, to reduce sexual anxieties, and for calming. Ylang ylang evokes feelings of deep, languid calm that melt away anxiety, tension and stress.

The ylang-ylang (pronounced lang-lang and e-lang-e-lang) tree grows in low-lying tropical areas of several countries stretching from India southwards and eastwards to the northern parts of Australia. Ylang ylang is known by different names in different countries, however it is from the Tagalog language of the Philippines that the tree came to be known as ylang-ylang, or more correctly álang-álang, a Tagalog term meaning "flower of flowers". The flowers have a very pleasant, sweet and relaxing smell.

Cananga odorata is just one of about 130 genera contained within the large botanical family of tropical plants, shrubs and trees, the Annonaceae. It is quite a large tropical evergreen tree, growing to 20 meters high is often planted as an ornamental tree because of the shade it gives and the attractive aroma of its flowers. The dark green leaves are arranged alternately on the twigs, they are about 10cm long, 4cm wide with wavy margins. The flowers have six narrow petals and may be yellow, white or mauve, in color. The yellow, starfish-shaped flowers are produced year-round. Small green fruits are formed after the flowers.

The flowers possess the oil and because the they attract night-flying moths, the flowers are usually after dusk or in the early morning when their oil is highest. The flowers are distilled in steam and the first fraction of oil produced (about 35 - 40% of the total) is considered to be the best quality, this first fraction is called ylang-ylang extra. As distillation continues a second fraction simply called "ylang-ylang" is taken, finally a third fraction is collected which is of a lower grade, this is often sold as "cananga oil" and is used commercially to perfume many household products. Some distillers do not fractionate the oil, in which case it is known as a complete oil.

For skin care, ylang-ylang has been used to treat eczema, acne, oily skin, irritation associated with insect stings or bites. Ylang-ylang oil is thought to promote hair growth and was a constituent of macassar, a popular hair oil extensively used in Victorian England.

Ylang ylang has also been used to calm persons and help reduce stress-related conditions such as anxiety, rapid breathing, rapid heart beat (tachycardia) and high blood pressure. It has been used to calm aggressive dogs.