Characteristics of All Essential Oils

When doing posts about specific oils and their usages, all of the oils have common properties.  So instead of listing the same properties for each one, it would be better to focus on the oil's unique characteristics in the post.  In an effort to streamline, this post is information about the properties that all essential oils share.

All essential oils are volatile which means they evaporate at or above room temperature.  Heat helps to release the aromas used in methods like aromatherapy and vapor therapy.  Depending on growing conditions, each oil will be different. 

Below is quoted information from an article link found at the end of this post. 

The chemical make-up of each individual essential oil is complex but they are nearly all comprised of some combination of alcohols, phenols, aldehydes, ketones, acids, esters, oxides, lactones, coumarins and furocoumarins. The result of this means that most essential oils are anti-inflammatory; anti-viral; anti-fungal; detoxifying; circulatory; anti-spasmodic; analgesic and decongestant.

Common physical properties of essential oils include:

• all essential oils are able to be absorbed by the human body; they are all non-greasy; they are only partially water soluble; they are all inflammable; they are all volatile; they are all soluble in both alcohol and carrier oil (which are used to blend essential oils and be absorbed by the skin.

Common therapeutic properties of essential oils include:

• all essential oils are capable of being antiseptic; all essential oils are balancing to the mind, emotions and various systems of the body; all essential oils are pro biotic, that is, they help the body fight infection and disease and build up the body's natural defenses to further attack.

In addition, all essential oils:

• are prophylactic – they are all intended to prevent disease.
• are stress relieving – they balance emotions and certain essential oils have a pronounced sedative and calming effect on the nervous system, for example, Lavender (lavandula angustifolia).
• are synergistic – the different chemical components complement each other within an essential oil and when blended together their effectiveness is greater than when used singly.

Link to the original article

Hope that you find this post helpful.  There is so much art and science in this field that this is always a new item to explore.  Enjoy your day and Happy Chinese New Year!

Gjithe te mirat
"All the best"

MI