The following is a list of the most common essential oils and their description.

BASIL – Basil is an aromatic herb with tiny white flowers and yellow-green leaves. It is also called sweet basil or holy basil. When distilled, it yields a watery, pale yellow essential oil. The oil has a sweet, light mint aroma with hints of licorice or anise. This gives it a spicy, fruity, balsamic fragrance, which is good for enhancing oil mixtures. The basil essential oil has a mild stimulant effect that can awaken the senses and restore stamina.

CINNAMON LEAF – Oils are obtained from the leaves of the cinnamon evergreen tree. What is distilled is a yellow, watery substance. This oil is very aromatic and has a harsh, sweet, and spicy fragrance. The scent resembles clove and is peppery but is stronger and sharper than clove. Cinnamon is used extensively to flavor food and medicine. Cinnamon leaf oil is exhilarating, inspiring, and reviving and is used in medicines and flavorings.

CLOVE – Cloves are the unopened flower buds of the clove evergreen. This tree is native to Indonesia and India. The tree is small and has dark green, aromatic leaves, fragrant red flowers, and purple berries. The pinkish buds at the flower’s center are picked, sun-dried, then distilled to obtain the essential oil of clove. The distilling yields a pale-yellow oil. Clove is a fresh-smelling, sweet, and spicy fragrance. It is similar to cinnamon but not as spicy or intense. Clove is also highly analgesic, warming, and comforting. The oil has been used in perfumes, medicines, and foods dating back to ancient Egypt, China, and Rome. It has been said that the aroma of clove is mysterious, stimulating, revitalizing, and intriguing.

EUCALYPTUS – This is a highly diversified oil that has more than seven hundred species. Of those, approximately twenty are used in aromatherapy, each of which has subtle differences. The eucalyptus tree is a tall evergreen, growing as high as one hundred feet. It has dark green leaves, and a pale-yellow essential oil is extracted from those leaves. The scent of eucalyptus is sharp, woody, balsamic, and camphor-smelling. Eucalyptus oil has a piercing, clearing, and invigorating effect on the senses. Unlike most essential oils, eucalyptus oil’s potency increases with age.

GERANIUM – The ornamental garden geranium is only one of more than seven hundred varieties of geranium, and only one variety yields an essential oil that can be used in aromatherapy. The oil is derived using the entire geranium plant – stalks, hairy, serrated leaves, and clusters of florets. The florets range from pink to magenta and red. The oil is light green and has a lemony, herbal fragrance with light traces of rose. Therefore, geranium is a cheaper substitute for the more expensive oil rose. Fragrance producers often use geranium to increase the efficiency of rose oil. Geranium oil’s aroma is mildly refreshing, equalizing, uplifting, and harmonizing, which can create a comforting sense of security and stability.

JASMINE – The jasmine bush is a flowering shrub with fine green leaves and delicate white blossoms. The oil – which is dark orange – is only extracted using a solvent, which produces Jasmine absolute, the only type of jasmine essential oil. The jasmine fragrance is an intoxicating and powerful, tropical floral scent. The oil is expensive as it takes about 1,000 pounds of flowers to distill less than two ounces of Jasmine absolute. The blossoms are picked at night when its perfume is strongest. That has created jasmine’s title of ‘the queen of the night.’ The oil of jasmine is euphoric and mildly hypnotic. No wonder Cleopatra used it as her perfume when she was trying to win Marc Anthony as her lover. Another famous royal, Empress Josephine, used jasmine to capture Napoleon Bonaparte as her man. Jasmine oil has a powerful aphrodisiac quality and is intoxicating, liberating, and revitalizing. Just the right scent to capture a strong conquering hero!

LEMON – It makes sense that lemon essential oil is cold pressed from the rind of the common lemon fruit and that it is pale, yellow-green in color. But do not confuse this oil with the oil of lemongrass, lemon balm, or lemon petitgrain. All of which have different properties and aromatherapy uses. The scent of lemon oil is light, clean, and slightly sweet. It is closer in scent to fresh lemon rind but has a richer, more intense, and longer-lasting smell. This oil is used for many purposes including household cleaners, medicine, perfume, medicine, and personal care products. Lemon is used to enhance other flavors and fragrances and is blended with other scents, flavors, and perfumes to strengthen their properties. You will recognize that ‘lemony-scent’ as refreshing, purifying, and invigorating.

PATCHOULI – The patchouli bush produces large, soft, hairy leaves and pale pink flowers. The leaves are dried and fermented, then distilled to produce the oil. The oil is dark orange in color and has a heavy, exotic, sweet, and spicy scent. Other scents include balsamic, smoky, and woody hints. Patchouli is an aphrodisiac for both sexes and is a powerful perfume ingredient. Other uses include being used as a deodorizer, and a moth repellant in carpeting, clothing, and other woven fabrics. The aroma is distinct, strong, uplifting, regenerative, balanced, and sensual.

PEPPERMINT – This is one of several mints used in aromatherapy and is distilled from the peppermint plant using the downy leaves or the pale purple, flowering tops of the plant. The color is a pale green, and the oil is colorless. The smell is a fresh, penetrating smell. You can also detect a hint of grass and camphor, similar to spearmint. This plant dates to ancient Egypt and Greece, where it was used as a natural drug. Now it is used in over-the-counter medications and as a flavoring for food, gum, and candy. Peppermint contains a menthol content ranging from 50 to 85%, which creates a minty aroma and the unique sensation of simultaneously cooling and stimulating.

PINE NEEDLE – The towering Scotch pine, yields oil from its branches, cones, and needle-like leaves. The pine needles produce the oil that is preferred in aromatherapy. The oil is colorless and clear and has a fresh, earthy, balsamic fragrance with a hint of turpentine. This oil is a strong antiseptic and has been added to cleaners, deodorants, colognes, and soaps throughout the years. Used in saunas and steam baths, it cleans and energizes. The pungent scent has a revitalizing, warming, and invigorating effect.

ROSEMARY – The rosemary bush has silver-green leaves and an abundance of sky-blue flowers. The oil is extracted from the flowers, and is thin, and is colorless. The aroma is sweet, with touches of balsam and camphor. This produces a fresh, yet medicinal smell. Rosemary has been traditional in weddings and funerals, as it was believed to ward off negativity. Commercially, the calming, comforting, balancing, and invigorating properties of rosemary, make it a perfect ingredient in hair and skin care products.

THYME – This bushy shrub has small green leaves and white flowers. There are more than 150 species of thyme, but all oils are extracted both from leaves and white top flowers. Species of thyme include the most powerful red thyme, which has a strong concentration of phenol in its orange-brown-red color. Thyme linalool is a thin, pale-yellow oil used with carrier oil in bath water. And there is a white thyme essential oil, which is colorless and used to further distill the more powerful red thyme, to make it less irritating on the skin.