Unsung Essential Oils and Why You Should Try Them
Essential oils are a must-have for anyone who makes DIY soap and bath products. They produce true-to-life scents that tantalize the senses, and they do it naturally. We all have our favorites, whether we use them alone or add them to our own essential oil blends. But have you considered exploring some new essential oils? Here are some unsung heroes of the essential oil world.
Woody Essential Oils
We often don’t think about
woods when we’re looking for fragrances. In fact, they’re often
relegated to “masculine” products. But woods make an excellent
base note for both fruits and florals, and work great in blends.
This is a fresher rendition of a wood scent. It’s extracted from the needles of the fir tree, rather than the bark or the wood, so it offers a greener scent. Many people may think this scent is just for the holiday season, but it adds a special liveliness to outdoorsy scent blends.
This is a classic fragrance, and just about anyone will recognize the scent of sandalwood. Yet, it’s often not used to its full potential.It’s another great base note, especially to complement spicy aromas or to add warmth and depth to florals.
This woody scent is another one that tends to be consigned to the holiday season, but it’s so much more than that. It has a fresh evergreen scent, and most people probably recognize the smell as one of the main flavors in gin. It can be overpowering, but blended well it smells fresh and invigorating.
Spicy Essential Oils
Spices are great top notes, and wonderful supporting players in any essential oil blend. They’re often neglected because they tend to have a strong smell, which is exactly why we like them in food. Blended well, they add complexity and depth to other fragrances.
Anise can be found in many different foods from curries to chai, but you may not have tried it in body care! It makes a beautifully complex addition to many scent blends. The subtle spice and slight sweetness complements citrus oils and deepens floral blends.
Clove is another very strong scent that can be exhausting to the nose on its own. It’s also a scent thought of as being a holiday smell. But clove exists in so many different contexts; curries, chai and other tea blends, even roast ham. It’s a sweet smell, so it goes well with fruits and florals.
Cinnamon is a scent that can feel a little flat and one-note, which might be why it’s less often used in personal care products. Cinnamon becomes beautiful when added to other smells, though. It’s a great supporting note for almost any blend when used in moderation.
Citrus Essential Oils
Our Orange 10X Essential Oil is a customer favorite for sure, but tangerine is orange’s sweeter cousin. It has more floral notes than orange essential oil, and can add a little variety to other citrus smells. It also pairs well with spices (try clove!) and warm woods.
Lemon essential oil is an amazing way to add an uplifting brightness to essential oil blends. It does a great job of brightening up otherwise heavy florals and woods.
Floral Essential Oils
Floral essential oils are pretty uncommon, since floral scents are quite ephemeral and difficult to capture in an essential oil. This might be why some florals are among the most popular essential oils.
Jasmine is a flower renowned for its aroma, which is both light and sweet. Jasmine sambac is a night blooming jasmine, which has a slightly darker scent with more green notes. Because floral scents tend to be so volatile, an absolute is a way of capturing that scent without heating. Absolutes are usually produced by solvent extraction or enfleurage. For an uncommon and delicate floral, this absolute is a must.
Other Fantastic Essential Oils
Frankincense can be a heavy scent, and is best known as a component in incense blends. You might not know that components of frankincense are used very frequently in perfumery. Frankincense is an aromatic resin from a specific tree, and the essential oil is created through steam distillation of that resin. Using frankincense as part of a blend can help lighten it. It’s smoky and complex, and pairs well with simpler fragrances.
Citronella is used widely in perfumery because its bright and complex smell helps lighten heavy scents. It’s almost lemony, but with more green notes. It goes well with warm woods and other green smells.
These are smells that are widely used in perfumery, but often overlooked by the home crafter. We encourage you to take a second look at these unsung heroes and experiment with them. They deserve it.
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