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Does anybody use essential oils?

How should I use these essential oils that I bought from Egypt: jasmine, lotus, sandalwood, frankincense, peppermint and orange blossom?

  • During a trip to Egypt I bought a number of 150ml bottles of essential oils - jasmine; lotus; sandalwood; frankincense, peppermint and Orange blossom from a reputable perfumery. I had thought I might use them by making diffusers but am now wondering if this is either appropriate or the best use. Advice please.

  • Answer:

    There are a few things that make me doubt that these are essential oils: They are called essential oils: there is no such thing as jasmine or lotus essential oils, the essence of the perfume is obtained by producing an absolute oil. Price: The best price I can find for jasmine absolute is nearly £250 excl VAT for 100ml. Although this is a wholesale price this is considered extremely cheap. Lotus oil is a bit more pricey though: Lotus Absolute 100ml  £2,313.50 (ex VAT) £2,776.20 (inc VAT) (Obviously it is possible that you have paid this price for these oils but I'm guessing as you were going to buy them for a diffuser you didn't pay this price.) Experience of the smells: Some of these smells aren't that appealing if you're not used to them. Absolute jasmine actually has a very strong smell and many people find it very unpleasant undiluted, it has a thick, strong smell. I do not know exactly what the process is for creating these oils, but I think they may just be very low grade infused oils but not true essential oils. The process may be the same but not completed to the point that they become essential. Or they may simply be diluted. Here are some suggestions: Perfumes: I personally wouldn't want to use these as perfumes as I find the Egyptian oils far too coarse for wearing in an office. If you do wear them then dilute them with alcohol and water. Really this is as much according to your taste. If you do decide to use them as perfume, you could have fun mixing them. Body products: Mix these with oil and it is a massage oil, mix with oil and salt and they will make lovely scrubs, or a few drops in your bath. I think the smell works much better used like this as it lightens it considerably and a little goes a long way. Diffusers: I think this is an excellent use of them. They won't have the therapeutic effects that aromatherapists claim for essential oils, but they'll make your home smell delicious. Sprays: A few drops in a plant spray filled with water and spray it in your bedroom (except the peppermint which you can do in any other room) for a lovely room spray. Mixing: A note on mixing these oils. Most of these oils mix well with each other, except perhaps peppermint. Although there are no absolute rules in aromatherapy, I find the menthol in peppermint clashes and over powers the flowers a bit and doesn't work with the earthiness of sandalwood. Frankincense and peppermint also clash a little. However all the others work with each other to a lesser or great extent.

Tatiana Estévez at Quora Visit the source

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Experiment & have fun!  For me that's enough to justify the money spent on materials.  Do all experiments with small fractions of your initial materials in case you don't like some of the results. See how the perceived aroma changes as you dilute them, say to 30%, to 10%, to 3%, and to 1%.  If these are all in carrier oils, then you'll have to dilute them with some other oil, say a light, unscented mineral oil from a pharmacy.  If "essential oil" is only poetic license and they are already diluted in alcohol, then you should dilute with the highest proof neutral spirits you can find.  You can dilute with an 80 proof vodka to get a first impression - but over time all that water may react with your scents and change them.  As noted by Tatiana Estévez the Jasmine may smell very funky (indolic is the technical term) in high concentration.  But at lower concentrations you should start to smell the familiar floral fragrance you expect from jasmine. See how long each material lasts.  Put a drop of the 1% dilution on a piece of paper towel and check back at 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, ... to see if how strong the smell is compared to its initial strength.  If you have real jasmine and sandalwood, their scents will last from hours to days.  In perfumery these are called basenotes.  Frankincense is classified as a top note and typically dissipates much faster.   Combine them in different proportions.  This is the beginning of perfumery.  You might check http://basenotes.com if this interests you.

Ed Caruthers

First, you have to be sure what you have are pure essential oils. Did you buy these from a distillation factory or in a souk? A perfumery and an essential oil distiller are two different things. Did they provide Material Safety and Data sheets? Do you have gas chromatography information on them? Jasmine and lotus are still classified as essential oils - they just have a different distillation process. Make sure each bottle is labeled with a Latin binomial - not just "orange" or "jasmine".

Casey Mulcaster

They may not be pure essential oils but they may still have some benefit... inhale by putting a few drops on a tissue, inhale the steam with drops of oil, use a room diffuser, make a homemade candle, use them in a cream/body moisturiser or massage oil :)

Lauren Chandler

I'm doubting weather you've bought essential oils or perfumes (=diluted/mixes essential oils and base oil). Most probably they are not pure essential oils therefore I'd only use them as perfumes;)

Daiva Razmarataite

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