Single Essential Oils

Essential oils are generally defined as the volatile liquids obtained by steam distillation, hydrodistillation, or hydrodiffusion of aromatic plants. Historically, cold-pressed citrus oils are also considered to be essential oils even though they are not distilled.

Steam distillation involves using vaporized water to "lift" the organic volatile molecules from the plant material. The aromatic oil contained in the plants has a much higher boiling point than water, but since water and most organic molecules are immiscible, their vapor pressures have an additive effect, allowing the essential oil to vaporize at a lower temperature than it would on its own.

Most essential oils are less dense than water, so 1 lb of oil is more than 16 fluid ounces in volume. Typically you will get 17-18 fluid ounces per pound of oil, depending on its density. Since we sell by weight for the larger sizes, in most cases you will get more oil from us than from competitors who sell their 16-oz size by volume.

There are but a handful of oils which are more dense than water, and for these select few, a pound will be a little less than 16 oz by volume. (Oils of birch, wintergreen, clove, cinnamon leaf, cinnamon bark, cassia, allspice, and bay are the most common examples.) Below is a complete listing of our stock essential oils with complete Latin botanical names.