Essential oils smell heavenly and work amazingly well to help calm your nerves. No one can blame you if you can’t resist buying yourself a few bottles of essential oils with different scents. However, essential oils can get expensive and it can be difficult sometimes to find the exact scent you want.
Fortunately, you can make and customise your own essential oil blends!
Before making your essential oils, it’s important to note that there’s a difference between essential oils and infused oils. Infused oils are made by soaking herbs in a particular oil to extract the active compounds.
Essential oils are concentrated oils that contain the essence or aroma of a plant and are made by distilling plant material using steam.
The steam distilling process will produce a water compound and an oil compound. The oil compound that rises to the top is essential oil.
The water compound below the oily layer is what’s known as the floral water, where we get lavender and rose water from. Now that you know the difference between the two, you can start making what you need for your aromatherapy session.
Here is everything you need to make your own essential oils at home.
What you need
-> Crockpot with a lid
-> A small bowl that can fit in the crockpot
-> Distilled water
-> Enough fresh plant material to fill the pot about halfway. Don’t chop the herbs in order to preserve the oils.
Steps
1. Place the small bowl in the centre of the crockpot.
2. Place the plant material or herbs around the small bowl and cover the plants fully with water. Make sure the small bowl stays dry.
3. Cover the crockpot with the lid upside down to allow any steam that forms to condense and fall back into the small bowl. If you don’t have a lid, you can use a plate.
4. Heat the ingredients in the crockpot on high heat. Once the water comes to a rolling boil, turn it down to a simmer. Let it simmer on low for about three to four hours and place some ice cubes on the lid to facilitate the cooling process. The cooling process helps to separate the oil from water. You can simmer it longer if you want a stronger scent.
5. Once the time is up, turn off the pot and let it cool. Once cooled, pour the liquid in the bowl into a refrigerator-friendly container. Place the container into the fridge overnight.
6. A thin film of oil will form at the top and will be hard after cooling. This is the layer of essential oil. Carefully lift the oil off the water below. You’ll have to work fast because it’ll melt quickly.
7. Place the essential oil into a dark bottle, which will protect the contents from sunlight and oxidation.
Extra precaution
If you’re going to use glassware to store the liquid collected in the bowl (referring to Step 5 above), it’s important to let the liquid that is collected cool down first before storing it in the fridge overnight.
This is to prevent the glass container from breaking and shattering in the fridge.
Essential oil blends to try
-> For focus: 2 drops of peppermint essential oil + 2 drops of wild orange essential oil
-> For good sleep: 3 drops of lavender + 4 drops of cedarwood
-> Wake up fresh: 2 drops of wild orange, 2 drops of frankincense + 2 drops of cinnamon essential oil
-> For headache relief: 1 to 2 drops each of peppermint, lavender, marjoram, thyme and rosemary
-> For the outdoors and bug repellent: 5 drops of citronella, 2 drops of lemongrass, 2 drops of tea tree oil and 3 drops of geranium
-> For a masculine and woody scent: 2 drops of white fir, 2 drops of cypress and 2 drops of wintergreen
-> For calm: 3 drops of lavender, 3 drops of geranium, 2 drops of roman chamomile, 2 drops of clary sage and 2 drops of ylang-ylang
-> For a mood booster: 3 drops of bergamot + 2 drops of geranium + 3 drops of lavender
While essential oils are made out of natural products, it is important to know how to use and apply essential oil safely too. Here’s how you can make your own reed diffuser to scent the home.
This article was first published in theSun Buzz Essential Oil Aromatherapy edition
