Essential Oils in Soapmaking

Essentail oils are produced by isolating the the flowers, roots, stems or leaves from a plant and using a process called steam distillation. The part of the plant that has been seperated is placed above a kettle and the steam rises from the kettle and removes the oils(essentail oils from the plant parts. This steam is then condensed and the remaining water and oil of the plant are collected. The oil is then scooped from the top of the mixture and the remaing water is also used as floral water. This essential oil that has been separated from the mixture is what we use in soapmaking. It highly concentrated and cannot be directly applied to skin. The process requires a large amount of raw material and is very labor intensive. Typically hundreds of pounds of plant are needed just to produce several pounds of essential oils. This accounts for the great cost of many of the essentail oils today.

Throughout history essentail oils have mainly been used for their aromatherapy and medicinal purposes.The calming properties of essential oils have been well documented. When using essentail oils, many times they will be diluted with a carrier oil, such as a vegetable oil for easier use. Almond oil is a carrier oil typically used in massage oils. Some essential oils are so astringent that great care must be used in their use on our skin.

According to a recent survey of aromatherapy professionals the follow is a list of the most popular essentail oils.

Lavender
Sandalwood
Peppermint
Eucalyptus
Rosemary
Tea Tree
Geranium
Rose
Citrus
Patchouli

From my own experience with essential oils I can vouch for this list chosen by the aromatherapy professionals. This would be a good place to start for any aspiring soapmaker.