Deborah Dolen's Blog: August 2011

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Aromatherapy Chapter VI by Deborah Dolen

AROMATHERAPY - Chapter VI Adulteration; Dilution of Essential Oils by Deborah Dolen

Adulteration and dilution of essential oils to increase profit, like anything in today’s society, brokers are looking for a way to save a buck and stretch a penny. The area of essential oils is no different, and in fact, not regulated. All you can do is buy from a reputable 'house' who is published and would risk their reputation if they were ever caught cutting the product. When a company has a large customer base, you know those customers are educated and would just 'know' if standards began falling. I do buy from such a company who services the big name Perfume Flavor houses. Flavor cannot be adulterated with low end chemicals or it would be obvious very fast. It took me several years to secure that supplier, because few people want to reveal their source. I also secured a few more back-up suppliers in 2007 so I am not dependent on the great price fluctuations of my first supplier. Even if a vendor did not lower standards, often they have no clue if the broker they bought from did dilute. The country of origin is typically the first consideration.

Natural health food stores? You can forget it. Most are 10% EO and the rest carrier oil.

Please full excerpt of Aromatherapy Basics by Deborah Dolen at Apothecary University.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Aromatherapy Chapter VII by Deborah Dolen Storage and Life Span of Essential Oils

AROMATHERAPY - Chapter VII Storage & Life Span of Essential Oils by Deborah Dolen

Excerpt How to Make Perfume and Aromatherapy Basics Copyright © Deborah Dolen 2011 This e-book is available in full version on Amazon Kindle and Barnes and Noble Nook. By Deborah Dolen Mabel White

Like a fine wine, some oils get better with age! These include clove, rose, patchouli, sandalwood, spikenard, myrrh and vetivert improve as they age, but others, notably the citrus oils, oxidize and can become irritating and toxic with age.

Excerpt How to Make Perfume and Aromatherapy Basics Copyright © Deborah Dolen 2011 This e-book is available in full version on Amazon Kindle and Barnes and Noble Nook. By Deborah Dolen AKA Mabel White

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Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Chapter VIII by Deborah Dolen Methods of Distillation

AROMATHERAPY - Chapter VIII Methods of Distillation

Standards and definitions regarding essential oils are defined best by NAHA. NAHA, pretty much the governing organization in Aromatherapy and defines an essential oil as the following:

"The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in their Vocabulary of Natural Materials (ISO/D1S9235.2) defines an essential oil as follows: "An essential oil is a product made by distillation with either water or steam or by mechanical processing of citrus rinds or by dry distillation of natural materials. Following the distillation, the essential oil is physically separated from the water phase."

When making my own macerations, I will usually order in a professional grade essential oil from that same herb and compliment my blend with a little of the real stuff. Lavender would be a great example. Many lavender festivals grow their own, but often order out any lavender notes they cannot achieve or just for more supplies than they can grow.