Healthepic-The vital element

They are extracted from grasses, flower petals, seeds, fruit rinds, buds, resins, bark, wood, twigs, stems, leaves, roots, or rhizomes. These oils are different from the heavy oils we use for cooking.
They are concentrated essences, varying in colour, insoluble and lighter than water and highly inflammable.
They contain the true essence of the plant from which it is derived.
Since essential oils are volatile in nature and evaporate quickly, they are usually mixed with other ingredients to trap their effectiveness.
Their unit of measurement is in drops e.g. ml.
One should be cautious about the use of perfume oils because they are artificially created fragrances and do not offer therapeutic benefit.
Because of their small molecular structure, essential oils can penetrate the skin more effectively than the vegetable oils, which only lie on the surface.
Used medicinally over centuries, essential oils have now become an established alternative natural therapy that can assist in the treatment of almost every type of ache and pain, as well as soothing away the stress and strains of modern life.
Every essential oil has unique beneficial properties which are derived from its distinct chemical composition which determine its fragrance, colour, volatility and the ways in which it affects the system.
Valuable psychological and physical therapeutic benefits of essential oils can be obtained by knowing its chemical composition and aroma.
These benefits are obtained through methods like inhalation or application of the diluted oil to the skin.
Price and quality differs from one essential oil to another. Factors affecting these are the availability of the plant, country and conditions in which the plant is grown, quality standards of the distiller, and how much oil is produced by the plant.