It is a miracle to be smelling such vivid scents that come from the most beautiful flowers and plants. It is also a big mystery for many just how those scents traveled all the way from those flowers to our homes. How is an essential oil collected?

Diffuser oils are actually known as essential oils. This is not to be confused with “essential fatty acids”. These oils are highly concentrated liquid, liquid that consists of aroma compounds extracted from flowers and plants. The liquid is volatile and it is water-repelling.

These are the essential oils that we pour into the reed diffuser jars, so the wonderful smell can be transported up through the porous reeds and dispersed slowly into the space of our rooms.

It is with these essential oils that we smell in incense, soap, food, drinks, cosmetics, and perfumes.

You will find that there is more than one way that an essential oil has been extracted.

There is expression, solvent extraction as well as distillation.

With steam and a coiled glass tube, distillation collects the concentrated oil vapors at the end, where the vapors turn back into liquid.

What we normally know as cold-pressing when we buy olive oil is also known as expression. The essential oils, like the olive oils, are extracted by being exposed to very low amounts of heat. This is so the oils will not be destroyed by excessive amounts of heat.

Distillation is the much more common method of extracting essential oils, so expression is considered an old method.

The third method is called solvent extraction. When it is extremely difficult to get enough essential oils from using expression or distillation, solvent extraction is the last resort. Sometimes, the oils could be damaged easily with the distillation steam, or is too limited in availability from expression.

Through carbon dioxide and a mix of wax and oil, the fragrance is collected.

Essential oils can be extracted from seeds, leaves, peels and roots in addition to flowers and the plants themselves.

To learn about lovely brands of diffuser oils, like the Yankee Candle Essential Oil, please check out Agnes Vernel’s blog on diffuser oil brands.