There are about three hundred essential oils in use by professional practitioners, but the average household could fulfill all its likely needs with about ten. Essential oils are used by either external application or inhalation. The methods used include body oils, compresses, cosmetic lotions, baths, hair rinses, and inhalation. It is pointless to use a synthetic product that has a pleasant odor, but lacks the active chemicals necessary for the oil s therapeutic properties. Essential oils in the pure state are too highly concentrated to be used directly on the skin, and must be diluted in a base oil in order to be massaged onto the skin.
Base oils are vegetable, nut, or seed oils, many of which themselves have therapeutic properties.
A. Essential oils are extracted from certain varieties of trees, shrubs and herbs. The oil is concentrated in different parts of the plant. Depending on the plant, the essential oil is stored in specialized oil or resin cells, glandular hairs, or scales, which have tiny reservoirs. The oil is extracted from the plant by a variety of means, depending again on the particular plant species. The most common method is steam distillation, although other important methods are solvent extraction, expression, enfleurage, and maceration.