WHAT ARE ESSENTIAL OILS?

To make it simple, essential oils are the life force of plants.  They are the aromatic liquids that lie within many shrubs, flowers, trees, roots, bushes, and seeds.

The liquid is usually obtained through steam distillation, and are MUCH more highly concentrated than any dried herb. In fact, it takes 5,000 pounds of rose petals to make 1 kilo of rose oil, 75 lemons to make one 15ml bottle of lemon essential oil, 27 square feet of lavender plants to make one 15ml bottle of lavender essential oil, and 1 pound of raw peppermint to make one 15 ml of peppermint essential oil.

Essential oils are not the same as vegetable oils, as vegetable oils are greasy and possibly pore clogging. Vegetable oils can also go rancid over time. Because of the desire to create an amazing product through proper distillation, Young Living’s essential oils do not go rancid or expire! Meanwhile, kitchen oils such as olive, coconut, avocado, grape seed, etc. are important, and we call them carrier oils since they are often used to dilute the potency of therapeutic grade essential oils when applying to your skin.

It is important to keep in mind that essential oils should smell exactly like the plant they come from.  Often times companies will add things like vanillin to make them smell sweeter.  If it says 100% pure but it smells sweet, chances are something else has been added.  This means that the medicinal properties are either decreased or nonexistent. If your oil smells like dessert instead of a plant, be warned that it has probably been adulterated.