Collection: Pure Essential Oils

Distilled. Most essential oils are produced via distillation.  The process involves submerging plant material in water that is heated to produce steam.  The steam is captured and cooled, resulting in essential oil and aromatic waters or hydrosols.  Rose or lavender water are commonly used as a skin toner.

Cold pressed. Most citrus essential oils are produced via the cold pressed method.  In the thick skin of citrus fruit there are little pockets of essential oil, you may have noticed when you cut into a citrus fruit the essential oil spraying out (and smelling divine).  The essential oil is the plants’ way of defending the fruit from disease and other pests.  In the cold extraction process the skin of the citrus fruit is cut by a machine and the essential is collected in sponges.  This method is used because citrus essential oils are sensitive to heat and evaporate quickly.

Efleurage. A very gentle extraction method that was traditionally used for roses and other delicate florals.  It was found that pressing plant material into fat could extract the essential oil of the plant.  The essential oils were then extracted out of the fat with alcohol.  This method tends to be very time consuming and expensive.  Today plants can be immersed in a solvent or liquid CO2 and the essential oil is then separated out from the extraction medium.