Prime Uses of Natural Essential Oils
Essential oils are volatile aromatic compounds obtained from plants. These are extracted from parts like flowers, herbs, spices, woods and fibers of the plant usually by distillation, expression and solvent extraction methods. Essential oils are distinct from the normal ones and usually have unique scent and essence. They are lipophilic in nature and therefore are not soluble with water. Instead, they are usually diluted in solvents like pure ethanol, polyethylene glycol, or oils for use.
The pure natural essential oils are widely used is in the form of perfume oils, fragrance oils and massage oils. Perfumes, cosmetics, shampoos, soaps, food and drink for flavoring and for adding scents to incense sticks and household cleaning products are some of the applications where essential oils play an important role.
Perfume Oil, Fragrance Oil
The common use of wide number of essential oils available in market today is done for scenting applications. The essential oil used in perfumery or scenting applications can be referred as perfume oil or fragrance oil. The essential oils used for perfumery can be top note oil with light, refreshing and uplifting fragrance, middle note oil with sweet, soft, warm and soothing odour and base note oils which are usually characterized by their strong and heavy fragrances. Each and every perfume oil has got a different kind of fragrance and therefore depending on the application particular fragrance oil is used to suit specific perfuming requirement. The essential oils used in perfumery applications are either used in their natural forms or as reconstituted products. Some important essential oils used in perfumery are Benzoin oil, Labdanum oil, Castoreum oil, Nutmeg oil, Oakmoss oil, Tree moss oil, Bergamot oil, lotus oil, Frangipani oil, Lavender oil etc.
Massage Oil or Aromatherapy Oils
Essential oils are known to possess wonderful therapeutic properties. Many have antiseptic properties while some are claimed to have an uplifting effect on the mind. They possess vitamins, natural hormones, antiseptics and antibiotics and are known to show curative effects against 250 different types of ailments. They are widely used in body massages and often referred as massage oils or aromatherapy oils. These aroma therapy oils are either directly inhaled to cure psychological or respiratory problems or used with massages or baths for topical applications. The health conditions like lymphatic congestion, reduced peripheral circulation, muscle spasms, tension and anxiety, flaccid musculature and backache can be effectively treated with aroma therapy oils. Some important aromatherapy massage oils used in massage are Chamomile oil, Jasmine oil, Lavender essential oil, Rose oil, Geranium oil, Clary Sage oil, Marjoram oil, Peppermint oil, Rosemary oil, Frankincense oil, Myrrh oil, Tea Tree oil and Citrus oils.