Aromatherapy Recipes
The methods of obtaining essential oils are closely connected with the variety of aromatherapy recipes. Even when made from the same plant, the oils vary in terms of concentration and properties. To start from a basic example, keep in mind the fact that the essential oils can be extracted from blossoms, roots, wood or from the entire plant. The creation of the aromatherapy recipes is just the beginning of a process that starts with the distillation, the maceration, the pressing or the solvent extraction of the essential oils. The specificity of one recipe or another will therefore depend on the manufacturing of the essential oils too.
Moreover, not all aromatherapy recipes work for everybody; most of the time they are classified according to the physical or psychological problem they help heal. There is also a common group of aromatherapy recipes that are used for ambient purposes or for reducing stress and increasing a nice and pleasant atmosphere at home or at the office. The recipes can result from a complex distillation process that removes the essential oils from the water in the plant material. This procedure goes hand in hand with the property of the volatile oils that does not interfere with their ability to vaporize to an extent that is not affected in the combination.
Other aromatherapy recipes rely on maceration as the main creation process: thus, the herbs you want to extract substances from are soaked either in water or in oil. The resulting liquid is filtered afterwards and used as such. One further method worth mentioning here consists in the dipping of blossoms in hot oils until the essence is given away and passes into the oil. Presently, this method of creating aromatherapy recipes and oils is no longer that popular due to its high expenses and the fact that the resulting matter carries not only the properties of the herb but also those of the oil used for the maceration.
Last but not least, certain aromatherapy recipes are better created by a certain specific process. For instance, the extraction of the citric oils from lemons, oranges, grapefruits and tangerines results from the pressing of the peels. The essence thus extracted is considered one of the best and represents a constant basis for lots of aromatherapy recipes used for a variety of purposes. Other means of obtaining the essential oils and then the recipes include extraction or the use of a solvent such as alcohol.