What Is An Essential Oil?

                                What is an Essential oil?

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I'm sure you can see by now that I am pretty obsessed with DoTERRA I love what they have to offer and the high standard they have set with essential oils . I use them everyday Its amazing how many different ways you can incorporate them into your  life. They are truly a gift from the earth and I am so blessed to have them in my life. I wanted to go in to detail about what essential oils are. Its always nice to read up on the details. I found this information from DoTERRAs main website 

Essential Oils are natural aromatic compounds found in the seeds, bark, stems, roots, flowers, and other parts of plants. They can be both beautifully and powerfully fragrant. If you have ever enjoyed the gift if a rose, a walk by a field of lavender, or the smell of fresh cut mint, you have experienced the aromatic qualities of essential oils. Essential oils can lift the mood, calm the senses, and elicit powerful emotional responses. Yet the use of essential oils goes well beyond there fragrant appeal. In addition to giving plants their distinctive smells, essential oils provide plants with protection against predators and disease and play a role in plant pollination. 

Essential oils have been used throughout history in many cultures for their medicinal and therapeutic benefits. Modern trends towards more holistic approaches to self care and growing scientific validation of alternative health practices are driving a rediscovery of the profound health benefits of essential oils. Many have powerful cleansing properties and are naturally antimicrobial. Their unique chemical structure allows them to pass directly through the skin for immediate systemic response to topical application. And certain oils may be used as dietary aids to promote vitality and well being.

Extraction Methods

Therapeutic-grade essential oils are most often extracted via a low-heat steam distillation process in which steam is circulated under pressure through plant material liberating the essential oils into the steam. As the steam mixture cools, the water and oils are separated and the oil is collected in its pure form. To ensure the highest quality oil extract of correct chemical composition, temperature and pressure must be monitored very closely. Too little heat and pressure will not release valuable oil, while too much can fracture an extract’s delicate chemical composition and alter its potency.
Equally important to the carefully controlled extraction process, the careful selection of correct plant species and plant parts, harvested at the perfect moment when their essential oil compounds are most concentrated, is also required for a quality therapeutic-grade essential oil extract. This complex process is as much an art form as it is a science and requires experienced growers and distillers working together to ensure a superior product. 

Essential oils are non water-based phytochemicals made up of volatile organic compounds. Although they are fat soluble, they do not include fatty lipids or acids found in vegetable and animal oils. Essential oils are very clean, almost crisp, to the touch and are immediately absorbed by the skin. Pure, unadulterated essential oils are translucent and range in color from crystal clear to deep blue.

Try this at home: Squeeze the peel of a ripe orange. The fragrant residue on your hand is full of essential oils.

In addition to their intrinsic benefits to plants and being beautifully fragrant to people, essential oils have been used throughout history in many cultures for their medicinal and therapeutic benefits. Modern scientific study and trends towards more holistic approaches to wellness are driving a revival and new discovery of essential oil health applications.

dōTERRA (CPTG) Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade^® essential oils represent the safest, purest, and most beneficial essential oils available today. They are gently and skillfully distilled from plants that have been patiently harvested at the perfect moment by experienced growers from around the world for ideal extract composition and efficacy. Experienced essential oil users will immediately recognize dōTERRA's superior quality standard for naturally safe, purely effective therapeutic-grade essential oils.

I am not a licensed herbalist, cosmetologist, physician or other health care professional. All the recipes and tips should be used at your own discretion taking into account all medical conditions you may have I am not accountable for any action you take in regard to the material you read.