The Facts About Vanilla Essential Oil

Besides just smelling good, vanilla essential oil is a very interesting product. Vanilla oil is used to flavor different kinds products. It is also used to make perfumes and skin scrubs. Vanilla essential oil's scent is a known sensual aphrodisiac, which may be why it is an ingredient in Oriental type perfumes.

Many people find the vanilla scent very comforting and relaxing. It can be used to fend off a multitude of maladies from an anxiety attack to a headache. Vanilla essential oil should not be eaten, though. It's not toxic, but it could be desensitizing to your tongue and throat.

Here is a simple face scrub recipe that can be made with vanilla essential oil called "Peppermint Vanilla Sugar Scrub". Mix together two cups of packed brown sugar, one half-cup of sweet almond oil and one half-cup of fine salt in a big bowl. Then add ten drops of vanilla essential oil and nine drops of peppermint essential oil. Mix well and store in an airtight container. This scrub will stay good for several weeks in a refrigerator.

Use your scrub while in a warm shower or tub on clean skin. Take a handful of scrub and rub it on the skin you want to exfoliate in a circular motion. This scrub is especially good for softer skin like arms and legs. You may need to use a coarser salt for areas like the feet to scrub off the thicker dead skin.

What Makes Vanilla Essential Oil "Essential"?

Essential oil is a liquid that contains strong aroma molecules from plants. Vanilla essential oil has the essence of vanilla and that is why it is called "essential" oil. To make vanilla essential oil the green fruit of the vanilla plant are picked and then cured, fermented, and dried, which turn the fruit into a brown vanilla bean. The vanilla oil is extracted from Vanilla folia by a process called enfleurage, which uses fats to capture the essence expelled by the vanilla bean. The beans are hung over the fat on grates or mixed directly into the fat in what is called solvent extraction. The vanilla scented fat is separated from the essence by soaking it in ethyl alcohol to draw the fragrance into the alcohol. The alcohol is then distilled and what is left over is the essential oil. The oil is then bottled for use.