Storing Essential Oils: How To Retain The Maximum Therapeutic Benefit

Read More About Health

One of the great concerns of the aromatherapy practitioner is keeping their essential oils at their best. If one buys a good stock of oils, how should they be kept? The answer is a little complex, requiring diligence and knowledge about each type of oil, and the most protective means by which an oil can be stored. Let's take a look at the range of possibilities, and how you can most easily care for your stock of precious therapeutic essential oils.

The first thing to understand is what actually affects an essential oil to make it age (whether we want it to or not). The factors include exposure to light, heat and air (really, the oxygen in the air), and to a much lesser extent, vibration. One can imaging almost entombing an oil in a cold, dark, quiet space in a bottle with no air at the top -- it would essentially last forever! At the same time, this isn't always the most practical choice, and isn't necessary for most oils in most real-life situations.

To make matters a little more complex, some companies publish a "shelf life" for their products -- and many customers are interested in this figure. This term really only refers to the longevity of an oil after the bottle has been opened and is keep at room temperature and out of sunlight. But by taking measures to prevent an oil's aging, the real shelf life of even the most delicate oils can be many years.

Also important to note is what is actually meant by "retaining "maximum therapeutic benefits". Some oils simply become a little flat or uninteresting in their aroma. You may still find them pleasant, and they won't be harmful to use in this way. Some oils, when they age, can begin to cause irritation in some portion of the population when applied to the skin. The oils where this has been found via scientific analysis are lavender and tea tree. There may certainly be more; the effect of these oils has been elucidated because they're so popular. So its really if an oil is being topically applied (or ingested) where one need be concerned about certain oils being affected by aging and their environment.

Looking at the aging of individual oils and groups of oils, it is the cold-pressed citrus oils which oxidize most rapidly. You could even conceive of why this might be: these oils have been directly extracted from fresh fruit, whereas other oils have been steam distilled or solvent extracted. They are the most close to nature as you can come.

For reasons simply due to the natural chemical makeup of the oil, it is grapefruit essential oil that ages most quickly -- often having a shelf life of around six months. This can be extended many, many times by storing the oil in a dark bottle, sealed, with very little air at the top, in the refrigerator. You can see this puts a stop to the potential actions of air, light and heat. The best practice of all is, if you will be using the oil frequently, leave some out in a bottle you will work from, bringing the bottle you've got in "cold storage" out as infrequently as possible. This creates a condition where the oil is disturbed the very least over its lifespan.

The next group of oils to consider are those distilled from the flowers. They have a significant range of natural longevity, with neroli being very delicate, to rose otto, which some think even ages well over a few years. In the middle are floral oils like lavender and chamomile -- these are fine to keep at room temperature if being used within six months. If storing longer, a cool dark place would be best.

Most other oils will be at least as forgiving in terms of storage as the florals, some much more so. These include, from most delicate to most durable: the spice oils, the herbs, and the oils from evergreen tree needles. Care should be taken with the oils distilled from spices, as they have that special ethereal top note to them -- they may be best in cold storage unless used fairly quickly.

Then we come to oils that actually improve with age. This group includes the classics of sandalwood and patchouli, and the root oils of vetiver and spikenard. These oils may have a a harsher or greener aspect to them when first distilled, which will smooth out over time. These of course can be stored in any condition you wish, and it may even be beneficial to simply leave them out at room temperature -- or even put away at room temperature for some time, to let their value increase!

Here you can see the very wide range of correct answers as to how you should properly store your essential oils. The first consideration is whether you'll be using your oils within the first few months after purchase -- if this is the case, there's no need to concern yourself with storage. If you'll be keeping them longer than that, decide how long you'll want to be storing them, and which of those oils falls into the "very delicate" category, the "moderately delicate" category, and the "gets better with age" category. With this knowledge, you can then decide whether to put some of your oils away in cold storage, to maintain their utmost freshness. Through these guidelines, you'll be able to always use oils with the greatest health benefits.

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

Learn more on the incredible array of therapuetic actions of aromatherapy oils such as peppermint and many more at ananadaapothecary.com

Please Rate this Article

Not yet Rated

Click the XML Icon Above to Receive Health Articles Via RSS!

Additional Articles From - Home | Health

Our other websites
All about SEO
Beauty Tips Forum

	Print This Article
	Post Comment
	Add To Favorites
	Email to Friends
	Ezine Ready

Submit Articles
Member Login
Link Us
Submission Guidelines
Ezine Notifications
Article RSS Feeds
Sitemap

New Stuff
About Us
Developer
Good shopping portal
Link to Us
Contact Us
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service