Homemade Natural Remedies: 80 Organic Beauty Recipes On A Budget For A Healthy Life - Lora Brenner (2016)

Book 1. Essential Oils: 20+ Recipes For Your Body And Soul. Look Relaxed And Well-Groomed

Introduction

Maybe it looks like there’s some really serious scientific stuff going on, but making essential oils actually requires minimal resources and effort but a great amount of patience (not all of us can wait for weeks for the process of infusion to be over).

As you will see from the recipes in the book, you will mostly need only two ingredients -the oil which serves as the so-called carrier oil and the plant whose essential oil you want to extract. When choosing the carrier oil, keep in mind that this should be some light oil with a mild scent.

This is really important because, otherwise, the carrier oil will overpower the fragrance of the plant whose essential oil you want to have. When it comes to the other main ingredient in the recipes, you can use not only flowers but also spices and fruits such as lemons, limes, and oranges. As you can see, there is a wide array of things which you can use to make essential oils.

Now, let’s talk about quantities. As you go through the book, you’ll notice that there are no set quantities for some recipes. That is because quantities are not that important in extracting essential oils as they may be important in soap making, for instance, where you need to closely follow the quantities recipes call for if you want to get them right.

Here, you can either follow the given quantities or choose the ones you want. In any case, you should remember this-the larger the difference between the quantities of carrier oil and flowers or spices, the less potent the oil will be. Some general rule is to use just enough oil to submerge the other ingredient you are using.

Besides the main ingredients, you’ll also need some basic equipment that I’m sure you already have in your kitchen. You will surely need a sieve or cheesecloth for straining the oil, but you should also get dark glass bottles or jars for storing your essential oils. These storage bottles will prevent the light to reach the oil and thus will prolong the shelf-life of essential oils. The oils prepared in this way are usually potent for about 6 months unless specified differently.

I think you are now ready to get on this adventure. Try out these essential oils, check how they would match, and then you can even make your own unique blend.