Essential oils are the volatile liquids that are distilled from various parts of plants, including seeds, bark, leaves, stems, roots, flowers, and fruit.
Essential oils are different from vegetable oils such as corn oil, peanut oil, and olive oil.
They are not greasy and do not clog the pores like vegetable oils can. Essential oils are chemically very complex, consisting of hundreds of different chemical compounds. They are highly concentrated and far more potent than dried herbs. The distillation of an entire plant may produce only a single drop of essential oil. Essential oils are subtle, volatile liquids.