What are essential oils?
Essential Oils are the naturally occurring, volatile aromatic compounds that come from the leaves, flowers, bark, and other parts of the plant. They are extracted through steam distillation and then physically separated from the water phase.
There are three ways to physically separate an oil:
- Distillation (steam, steam/water, or water)
- Cold pressing (usually done for citrus oils)
Distillation is one of the most important parts of the process as if it’s stopped to early or too late and the purity of the oil will be affected. I love that Young Living only distills oils one time. Think of it like a tea bag. The first time you use it your tea is strong, the second time it’s less strong, the third time even less…and so on. Same for distilling essential oils! Young Living has been around for over 20 years and have had plenty of time to perfect this art.
So then why do EO’s work?
Essential oils have the unique ability to penetrate cell membranes and travel throughout the blood and tissues. The lipid-soluble structure of essential oils is very similar to the makeup of our cell membranes and the molecules of essential oils are small, which allows them to penetrate into our cells. Essential oils are comprised of a combination of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen….the same compounds that the HUMAN body are made of! When used responsibly, essential oils are recognized and readily accepted into the body.
Pretty amazing right!?!
Ok, so, you might be wondering why Young Living and not anyone else? Let me tell you, we’ve researched and we trust Young Living. Their oils are legit!!! But why do I trust them? Three words: SEED to SEAL. If you want to read more about why we think Young Living is the best choice, check out this blog post with LOTS more information about the research we did. But here is a short run down as to why we chose Young Living
YL monitors every single step of the process of making these oils. Seriously – Every. Single. Step. From the seeds that are planted, to how they are cultivated, to distilling, sending the oils to be tested, and then sealing the bottle. This commitment to quality means that you can be CONFIDENT that these oils are safe and effective! I know exactly where my oils are coming from and I can trust they’ve been tested to be safe. There have been times when Young Living decided not to use a whole batch because it didn’t meet their high standards. That’s right, they gave up a profit to guarantee a high quality and safe product.
You can check out Young Living’s own site for more information as well as some great videos on this process.