Everything Under the Moon

Greetings all,
I have noticed folks talking about oils...Lotus and Violet and whatever, Lavender and Rosemary etc...Do you know how to recognize a Fragrance oil from an Essential oil?
When stirring up a brew to bring forth the energy of your long lost lover from another mother, sister with a twister or expose thee to the mystery of history, ...and you are using civet and ambergris... I would like to say ,foul !!!
Do you know what this is? If one is on the path of the earth and her creatures, those two aforementioned oils are ones that any ecological minded magical practitioner would never touch. Those two in particular used to be used a lot in perfumery, but since they are from a cat and a whale ,respectively, and generally killed to harvest, it should be used only as an adulterated fragrance oil.
If you are interested in capturing the true essence of a plant to add to you magical work, then essential oils are essential.
Fragrance oils are synthetic and are fine if you are just mixing for perfume, but I personally find most of them harsh to the olfactory...If you want to be true to you nose,... then use oils that are true from the source. Essential oil means just that...essence,..it is the "essence" of the plant, and the most pure form of the plant next to having the plant there before you. Distillation is the most common way of obtaining the oil. You can usually tell a fragrance oil from an essential oil from the size of the bottle, the color of the bottle, and the price, oh!,.... and the smell. True essential oils are always stored in a dark bottle, if it is clear glass...buyer beware. If you have found many different oils and they are all the same price...buyer beware. If you have found a relatively large bottle of say,... sandalwood, and it is under 10.00 dollars...buyer beware. True essential oils come in a wide variety of prices from about 2.50 per ounce to 60.00 per ounce or more, depending on the oil. Fragrance oils are usually all the same price, in clear bottles, and frequently larger than an ounce.
After smelling many different oils you will be able to tell true lavender oil from fragrance oil....for instance.
Learn the prices of oil,... I have heard it takes over a ton of rose petals to produce a dram of oil, thus it is very expensive, and you will probably only find 'attar of rose', or 'rose otto' mixed with jojoba or other oil,.... and even then it will be spendy.
Fragrance oils cannot be ingested, if you are mixing blends that are intended to heal, again, the essential plant component is necessary. In some cases you may be taking the oils within your body...It is imperative that only essential oils are used and NOT fragrance oils.
If you are using oils in aromatherapy, then essential oils must be used. Synthetic oils just don't have the properties present to heal, and will probably give you a headache instead.
I recommend using essential oils in magical workings.
Fragrance oils are used to perfume the body and the air.
Please use caution if you intend to use essential oils internally, they are highly concentrated and need to be diluted. Even on you skin, certain oils will burn or cause an allergic reaction. Some shouldn't be taken internally at all. A handful of oils are contrary to women who are pregnant. Do you homework, and be safe.

This is just a brief overview of essential vs fragrance oils, the information on the subject is vast and very interesting.
Look up Robert Tisserand, I would have posted a link...but it had a copyright, ...he is an expert on aromatherapy, and essential oils.
Kassandra has made some excellent posts on oils...
http://everythingunderthemoon.net/forum ... 24171.html
http://everythingunderthemoon.net/forum/topic24164.html
http://everythingunderthemoon.net/forum ... 24174.html
http://everythingunderthemoon.net/forum ... 24144.html

In some cases you will be hard pressed to find an actual essential oils as they just don't exist,
...here is a small list of the oils that will never be essential,..
lotus, lilac, sweet pea, violet...these oils are synthetic fragrance oils.

Here is a few links to more info and a places to obtain essential oil...
Aura Cacia is one of my favorites they are part of the Frontier corporation with whom we have an account for our "church" this way we have a buying club and can purchase for wholesale prices (if you are a member of a 501 c3 non-profit, or some other organization with a resale license...I highly recommend it) since they are a co-op we get a check at the end of the year , ...
https://www.auracacia.com/auracacia/acindex.html
Here is Frontiers link if you are interested...
http://www.frontiercoop.com/
here is another link,they are in Oregon...many thanks to Alura...
http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/aroma/ess.html
here is another distributor in Oregon
http://libertynatural.com/index.html

The Perfume Maker by Rudolph Ernest



Blessings, Firebird

Thank you so much for posting this!!! And hey...fragrance oils smell gross, just sayin'! The lavender scent smells NOTHING like true lavender...gross!

raynelae wrote: And hey...fragrance oils smell gross, just sayin'! The lavender scent smells NOTHING like true lavender...gross!

Very much agreed on, if i do anything that uses oils i use essential oils and natural carrier oils.

oh yeah heads up warning to make sure you read the oil's label before buying them. of the ones i got were 5% essential oil and the rest of it was a sweet almond carrier oil

This is highly useful information FF thanks so much for posting. I was unaware of lotus not being an actual essential oil, but I do not use them that often as I am more of a crystal user myself. Very good to know this though as I had came across a luck spell that stated lotus oil could be used, good thing I went with cinnamon.

I picked up a bottle of warming oil for the sole purpose of it's scent. (Not to create things with it to eat)
I use it in my bowl of salt and spring water when I cast a circle. Currently, I can't find a place around that sells an essential oils...Looks like I'll have to buy online. I'm a stickler for scents though. I gotta smell each one before I buy. (My boyfriend hates when we pass a candle store ) If anyone knows fragrances that are a bit easier on the nose, please send me a link to them.
Thanks for the great post! I think it'll save some witches a belly ache when they try to use the wrong oil in teas or foods.

Fragrance oils always seem to have an underlying scent of plastic to me. Like if the oil is lavendar it smells like lavendar scented plastic.

Ive been using Moutain Rose Herbs lately have been very happy. Although every thing I want to order now seems to be out of stock sadly.

Hi all, glad you are enjoying your oils.
I wanted to mention health food stores and vitamin outlets are a good source for quality essential oils, or bigger markets like Whole Foods, or Sprouts. On occasion you may find them at a chain drug store.
good luck in your quest!
blessings, Firebird

raynelae wrote:Thank you so much for posting this!!! And hey...fragrance oils smell gross, just sayin'! The lavender scent smells NOTHING like true lavender...gross!

I couldn;t agree anymore on this. I had a friend who bought me some lavender fragrance oils and the smell was just awful and nothing like what I expected which just gives you the whole sense of disappointment. I always stick with essential oils as I feel they give you the true scent and I find any scent such as lavender very relaxing.

This is great information!

A lot of companies will also put "Therapeutic Grade" on their essential oil packaging, but an essential oil is ONLY 100% therapeutic grade if it can be consumed. Young Living and DoTERRA brands are both fine for this.

Stay away from fragrance oils! They are artificial and toxic.

-Elle

I didn't know there's a difference... Thank you for pointing that out! I think I'll be getting essential oil for my home next time!

These last few years I've been getting more into herbs and oils (I used to only work with crystals). I've been wanting to sell essential oils but like you said, they are EXPENSIVE! I've noticed significant differences in prices depending what country the oils originate from (Such as German Chamomile is much more expensive then chamomile from china). I have a good collection of herbs but still looking for a good wholesale oil website.

When it comes to Chamomile there are like three different kinds, Wild, Roman, and German.
My favorite and the most expensive is German which is "Matricaria recutitia", the essential oil is blue.
Bb, Firebird

Thank you for the very informative post Firebird

I must have missed this thread from many years ago; this is such a great post, FF!

Merry meet everyone, so anything by aura cacia and mountain rose is essential and therefore okay to use in oils and spells?