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Essential oils are the concentrated, pure essence of plants. These essential oils are extracted from various parts of the plant, such as the stems, flowers, leaves, bark, and roots. They are appealing to our senses and extremely aromatic, thus leading to their frequent use in fragrances and perfumes. Aromatic plants have been used for many centuries, with evidence dating back 4,000 years ago to the ancient Sumerians.

Priests in many ancient cultures utilized ground herbs infused in oil to heal their patients. This led to the field of Aromatherapy, which literally means "healing through the senses". Today, Aromatherapy can be defined as the controlled use of essential oils to maintain and promote physical, psychological and spiritual well-being. One method is to blend the essential oils in a carrier solution and anoint the body with a personal blend for healing. The extraction method of how to create essential oils has evolved over time. Some of these are listed below.

Essential oils are exclusively utilized in the blending of all of our soaps and in the creation of our personal blends. Organic essential oils are preferred when they are available from the distributors. The essential oils come from many regions around the world, bringing the rich heritage and history of their country of origin.

Extraction Methods:

Steam Distilled is the most commonly used method to refine essential oils. This involves placing the plant in a pressurized, steamed chamber. As the pressurized steam enters the plant it ruptures the oil-bearing sacs, liberating and vaporizing the essential oil. The steam and vaporized oil are then condensed. Subsequently, the essential oil floats to the top of the water and is harvested. Essential oils are actually not oil, but they are called this because their light density allows them to float on top of the water as oil normally would.

The small quantity of water remaining after harvesting the essential oil does contain aromatic particles and is called fragrant water or hydrosols. Hydrosols also have many beneficial uses. Rose water, which has been used for centuries for nurturing the integrity of the skin, is one example of a floral hydrosol.

Cold-Pressing is a gentle process used for extracting the essential oils from the citrus rind of fruits such as lime, bergamot, orange, grapefruit, and others. The outer layer of the peel is ruptured by mechanical means and the essence of the fruit is expelled. Steam-distilled and cold-pressing are the preferred extraction methods of essential oils because the purity of harvesting maximizes the therapeutic benefits.

Effleurage is a process used on plants that have a very low concentration of essential oils or on delicate flowered plants such as Jasmine, Rose, Neroli, Tuberose, and others. Fat substances are used to extract the plant essence and this is followed by a treatment with alcohol which produces a substance called an absolute. This process is very expensive and thus not widely used.