This question is one of the questions I get asked a lot, so I’ve organized it into an article today for your convenience.
In fact, this question is mainly raised because there is no essential understanding of these types of aromatherapy products. What are they specifically? how come?
1. What are essential oils, aromatherapy essential oils, and perfumes in essence?
A. Essential oils
The concept of essential oils became widely known with the rise of aromatherapy, but essential oils were widely used for fragrance long before the rise of aromatherapy. In a broad sense, essential oils refer to aroma products extracted from animals and plants in any way, and in a narrow sense, essential oils refer to oily aromatic substances extracted by distillation or pressing.
The location of essential oils can be the roots, leaves, flowers, and fruits of plants or the secretions and excretions of animals. The extracted essential oils have specific effects. For example, turpentine has the effects of sedating and lowering blood pressure, and lavender essential oil has the effects of sedating and soothing the nerves. , Rose essential oil has the functions of whitening and lightening spots, Eucalyptus essential oil has the functions of refreshing the mind, and so on…
B. Aromatherapy essential oil
The concept of aromatherapy essential oils came into being with the rise of the aromatherapy industry. There are two types of aromatherapy essential oils in the mouths of merchants, one with aromatherapy machines and the other with rattan volcanic stones.
(a) Aromatherapy essential oils for aromatherapy machines
This aromatherapy essential oil is essential oil, which is the same as the above-mentioned essential oil, but it is used with an aromatherapy machine.
In addition to the aromatherapy machine, aromatherapy lamps also use this aromatherapy essential oil.
(b) Aromatherapy essential oil for rattan volcanic stone
This aromatherapy essential oil is a blended product, not directly extracted from natural animals and plants.
The solvent is a volatile carrier such as MMB and DPM, and the amount of essence added is generally 5% to 20%. This aromatherapy essential oil may contain natural essential oil components, but the content is extremely low. In addition to rattan, volcanic stone, but also crystal stone, activated carbon, etc. are also aromatherapy essential oils.
It should be noted that rattan volcanic stone can also be used directly with pure natural essential oils, but the ability to disperse fragrance is not as good as that of blended aromatherapy essential oils.
C. Perfume
The essence of perfume is essence + alcohol, so it is the same as the aromatherapy essential oil used in the above rattan, except that the proportion of essence added is about 1% to 25%. According to the proportion of essence added, it can be divided into strong perfume P, perfume EDP, and light perfume. Perfume EDT, cologne EDC, cool water EDF, and perfume alcohol is generally deodorized alcohol, which is food grade.
2. Are aromatherapy essential oils the same as essential oils?
After carefully reading the above content, I believe that you already know the answer to this question, and the answer is not necessarily
i. If it is the aromatherapy oil used in the aromatherapy machine, then it is the same.
ii. If it is the aromatherapy oil used for rattan, then it is different.
3. Can aromatherapy essential oil be used as perfume?
i. If it is a natural essential oil, adding it to alcohol can make a DIY perfume, but pure essential oil itself cannot be used as a perfume.
ii. If it is a blended aromatherapy essential oil since the volatile carriers are mainly MMB, DPM, etc., this type of solvent is not suitable for direct contact with the skin, so it cannot be used as a perfume.
4. Can aromatherapy essential oil be applied to the skin?
i. If it is a natural essential oil, it can be diluted with a base oil (jojoba oil, rosehip oil, sweet almond oil, coconut oil, etc.) and used for skincare. Due to the extremely high concentration of pure essential oil, most of them act directly It can easily burn the skin and cause discomfort.
ii. If it is a blended aromatherapy essential oil, it cannot be applied to the skin for the same reason as to whether it can be used as a perfume.
