A Beginner's Guide To Essential Oils

Maybe you have already started using essential oils in your home or are still researching before buying your first bottle. Whatever is your experience with essential oils, welcome! In this guide, you will learn the first steps to a simple and safe aromatic journey.

 

Before you start

The first thing you need to know about essential oils is that they are natural and concentrated extracts with compounds that can bring us great benefits, both for the body and our emotions. For this, choose 100% pure and natural products.

Sanitize your hands before and after handling the bottles to avoid contamination or incidents, and never touch the dropper directly to avoid contamination.

Also, keep them in a safe place away from children and animals, in a cool place protected from light.

Good use and better conservation of essential oils are crucial to avoid unexpected effects and ensure optimal results.

 

What is Aromatherapy?

It is a therapy that uses essential oils, vegetable oils, and hydrolats (floral waters) extracted from the aromatic parts of medicinal plants to keep the body and mind in balance.

It is also a science linked to molecular chemistry. Through research carried out from the beginning of the 20th century to the present day, it has been shown how the molecules present in essential oils have chemical information that helps to maintain our health and systemic balance in a natural and effective way.

 

What are essential oils?

Essential oils are volatile, fragrant, oily substances derived from certain plants through a number of different processes. Those substances are the ones that give the plants their characteristic aromas, expanding the plant's possibilities of survival and reproduction.

They are natural and can be considered "plant hormones," with functions ranging from pollinator attraction, predator repulsion, and chemical regulation of metabolic processes.

They have a wide range of therapeutic properties, not only for the benefit of the plant itself but also for us humans and other animals. They have antiseptic, antimicrobial, healing, relaxing, sedative, stimulating, aphrodisiac, and many other potential benefits, acting on a physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual level.

From the combination of biochemistry to holistic therapies, the use of essential oils has spread as a Complementary and Integrative Medicine, now used worldwide and with its national recognition as a practice, to offer the restoration of balance and general well-being in a more natural way.

 

What is the difference between essential oils and essences?

Essences are synthetic, isolated reproductions of the natural compounds found in essential oils, which only aim to provide a pleasant fragrance without a therapeutic effect or medicinal properties.

That is also the reason why it is possible to find products with very different prices. Make sure to know the origin of the essential oils you are buying. Remember that hundreds of kilos of plant material are needed to obtain authentic essential oils, making the natural, pure extractions more expensive.

 

How are essential oils obtained?

Essential oils are obtained by steam distillation, cold-pressing, CO2 extraction of seeds, roots, wood, leaves, flowers, and resins or cold-pressing fruit peels.

 

How to use essential oils?

Essential oils can be used for different purposes in daily life. The use of essential oils for room diffusion is one of its most popular uses. It can bring a pleasant feeling to the environment, take care of your emotions, and even support the respiratory and immune systems.

You can also use them in massages, compresses, inhalation, baths, natural cosmetics, and perfumes, and many other ways.

If you want to learn more about this topic, check our How to use essential oils guide.

 

What is synergy?

Essential oils often produce more powerful therapeutic effects when blended together. These blends of pure essential oils are also known as Synergy or Blends.

When diverse elements combine in an intelligent way, they enhance each other's uniqueness so that the total becomes more than the collection of its parts.

We should not forget that an essential oil is already in itself a synergy of numerous biochemical compounds. In creating plant life, Nature uses multiple elements, put together in a synergistic way, so that one plant can often take care of many different functions simultaneously.

Each plant and each oil has numerous healing effects related to its specific energy field, which finds its outer expression through color, shape, size, fragrance, compounds, etc. These compounds match with the human organism in an intrinsic way like "key and lock" and restore balance and flow of energy throughout the body.

If you want to learn more about this topic, check our Blending Guidelines.

 

The importance of dilution

For a holistic approach, essential oils are used in increments of drops, and usually, "less is more."
Generally, they are used externally in about 1-3% dilution in a carrier oil such as Sweet Almond Oil, Jojoba Oil, Sesame Oil, or Sunflower Oil.
If you want to learn more about this topic, check our Dilution Guidelines.

 

Safe use of essential oils

Remember that essential oils are highly concentrated extracts of medicinal plants. Some plants produce oils that are gentle and relatively safe; others are very strong and require caution.
Therefore, essential oils should always be used carefully, diluted, and in moderate concentration.

If you are in doubt about the safety of an essential oil, or how to use it, or have concerns about any contraindications for:

• pregnant and breastfeeding women
• babies, children, and the elderly
• people suffering from chronic diseases or that on a course of treatment
• people that have extremely sensitive skin susceptible to allergic reactions

Be sure to seek the advice of an expert aromatherapist or health care professional.

How does the body absorb the essential oils?

When inhaled, the hundreds of natural compounds found in essential oils are absorbed by specific receptors found in the olfactory cilia and quickly reach our brain via electrochemical signaling through the olfactory bulb. This signaling triggers body responses such as hormones production, increased focus, relaxation, and mood balance — just to name a few.

When used topically, the essential oils penetrate the skin through the ducts of the sweat gland.

Once absorbed by the epidermis, those molecules are gradually released into the dermis, penetrate the bloodstream, and transported throughout the body.

Most essential oil components are fat-soluble, which encourages the oil to penetrate the body.