What is an essential oil?

Essential oils have been used for thousands of years for cosmetic purposes, as well as for their spiritually and emotionally uplifting properties. Young Living has always been at the forefront of bringing this ancient tradition to modern users, introducing millions to a total mind/body wellness they may never have dreamed possible.  Primarily extracted through careful steam distillation but also through cold pressing, the purest essential oils are far more powerful than the botanicals from which they were extracted. Any time you hold a bottle of our powerful essential oils, you are holding nature’s pure essence.

Start here by looking at the graphic below.  To make it simple, essential oils are the life force of plants.  They are the aromatic liquids that lie within many shrubs, flowers, trees, roots, bushes, and seeds.
The liquid is usually obtained through steam distillation, and are MUCH more highly concentrated than any dried herb. In fact, it takes 5,000 pounds of rose petals to make 1 kilo of rose oil, 75 lemons to make one 15ml bottle of lemon essential oil, 27 square feet of lavender plants to make one 15ml bottle of lavender essential oil, and 1 pound of raw peppermint to make one 15 ml of peppermint essential oil.

Essential oils are not the same as vegetable oils, as vegetable oils are greasy and possibly pore clogging. Vegetable oils can also go rancid over time. Because of the desire to create an amazing product through proper distillation, Young Living’s essential oils do not go rancid or expire! Meanwhile, kitchen oils such as olive, coconut, avocado, grape seed, etc. are important, and we call them carrier oils since they are often used to dilute the potency of therapeutic grade essential oils when applying to your skin.

It is important to keep in mind that essential oils should smell exactly like the plant they come from.  Often times companies will add things like vanillin to make them smell sweeter.  If it says 100% pure but it smells sweet, chances are something else has been added.  This means that the medicinal properties are either decreased or nonexistent. If your oil smells like dessert instead of a plant, be warned that it has probably been adulterated.

Below is the Premium Starter Kit Essential Oils breakdown.  If you are unsure what the Premium Starter kit is or want to know why it is the best way to get your journey started you can check it out here

See the image below to read about the 11 essential oils you will receive with your very own Premium Starter Kit.