Essential Oils are the highly concentrated, aromatic plant essences that can be derived from just about any part of a plant including flowers, flowering tops, leaves, stalks, fruit rinds, seeds, saps, nuts, bark, roots, resin and berries. The oils give the plant its scent and are essential to its biological processes. In some cases several different oils can be derived from the one plant. The orange tree for example, gives us Neroli from the flowers, Petitgrain from the leaves and Orange from the fruit. Each of these 3 oils has its own distinct personality and therapeutic properties.
Holistic Aromatherapy recognizes that all of the natural, biological components of essential oils work in synergy to produce their therapeutic qualities. Essential oils used in aromatherapy must be 100% ‘pure and natural’ – meaning that there must be no synthetic materials added to the oil.