Just, What are Essential Oils, anyway?
A great place to start. We believe, if you can see it, smell it, touch it, feel it, then its real; makes it easier to understand it. Let us start with a simple example. Ever noticed, in your brewed cup of black coffee, made from the grinds of coffee beans, there will be a trace layer of oil floating on the surface? Or did you ever try to express juice from that lemon, tangerine, orange, lime, but in the same space, as you squeezed the juice out of the pulp, some light jets of vapory fluid made your eyes water, or scoured/chalked your hands? These are vivid examples of essential oils we encounter in our everyday lives. Organic essential oils, such as the ones exemplified above, firstly, are a product of nature – they exist naturally in plants, stored as microdroplets in glands of plants, and thankfully, from the most odoriferous plants which are found majorly in the tropics, where solar energy is greatest. The sun is our friend! When essential oils are extracted, or obtained, from their natural habitat, you can quickly note some intriguing things about them. We list the four main qualities, an done main caution, on this page. |
Essential oils are consistent fluids, and in some instances are part of resins or compounds from which it is very hard to further extract them. By consistency, we mean that the pure oils do not separate into different layers, they have the same color (except if they contain impurities), and when a drop is placed on a white clean paper and left over for a while (maybe 24 hours), all of it will vaporize and leave no trace!

Essential oils will have a characteristic smell, ranging from sweet, fruity, pleasant, to extremes such as ashy, woody, pungent. As a matter of fact, they are so named “essential oils” because each contains the essence of the plant’s fragrance — the characteristic fragrance of the plant from which it is derived. That’s the wonder of nature!
Essential oils will normally settle on top of fluids such as pure water; they will simply not dissolve in water. In some instances, however, the essential oils will only settle at the bottom of container when water is added. In this case, just as in the first, they will not dissolve in water. Amazing, yes. This is because of what is called specific density or gravity or several essential oils, relative to that of water, is lower (for the first case) and higher, for those oils that settle below water in a jar
Pure organic essential oils are rather volatile, or here we mean that when left on an open container in natural temperature and light, they will evaporate, or vaporize! This is because the chemical composition of the oils is several compounds of hydrocarbons (terpenes, sesquiterpenes) and oxygenated compounds (alcohols, esters, aldehydes, ketones) whose vapor pressure is rather high, resulting in constant breaking of the bonds that hold the molecules together. Phew! Science at its best.
Essential oils typically reside in glands on plant surfaces (leaves, stalks, barks, roots). However, because these surfaces are limited, the amount of oil available as a fraction of the plant matter is quite low, perhaps as low as two (2) percent, or as high as five (5) percent, in the best case. This means that pure oils are relatively rarer to extract, and because they require bulk source materials to process, might be pricier than adulterated /synthetic /impure types which, sadly, are commonly passed off as pure essential oils
In our next segment, we explore what you need to look out for (checklist / benhcmarks) which will guide you on whether your essential oil is a pure oil. We look forward to you journeying with us as you explore our pure organic esseential oils.
Aadrea Essential Oils
Naturally, in Every Drop