The Essence of Essential Oils

Whether it's a drop of lavender in a bath or a tea tree oil face wash, essential oils are everywhere these days. But what makes an oil essential? And what do they actually do? We've distilled all your questions into one handy guide to help you make sense of these sensory delights, and how you can use them to create the right atmosphere for you. What is an essential oil? Essential oils are made by taking the roots, flowers, leaves, or seeds of plants, and distilling those parts into an oil that can be heated or applied to the body. The result is an oil that captures the 'essence' of that plant, including the aroma and its associated benefits, which is where the term 'essential oils' comes from. By capturing the elements that make amyris, frankincense, ylang-ylang, vetiver and other aromatic plants so special, essential oils maintain a connection to nature, delivering scents that are far more complex and immersive. And though the science still isn't in where the therapeutic benefits of essential oils are concerned, we all know how scents can have a huge impact on us – from bringing back a childhood memory to creating a calm atmosphere, our sense of smell is immensely powerful, and can certainly affect our state of mind. How are essential oils used? Since they carry such powerful aromas, essential oils are a great way to set a mood in your space. Some oils like tea tree have an invigorating scent that can help to clear your mind, while buddha wood's earthy scent creates a grounding atmosphere that fosters relaxation and rest. Oil burners are an elegant and effective way to spread the aroma of your preferred essential oil, with some like Studio Milligram's Glass Oil Burner creating a lovely visual feature to complement the beautiful aromas wafting through your space. Like oil burners, the heat created by a burning candle helps to diffuse the scent of an essential oil, filling your space with its captivating aroma. There's also a wonderful kind of romance to the ritual of lighting a candle, which adds to the overall effect in a simple but meaningful way. Essential oils can also be applied directly to your body, so you can carry your favourite scent with you wherever you go. Studio Milligram's Pulse Point Oil suspends the 100% pure natural essential oils in a jojoba and fractionated coconut oil base so the scent lingers through the day, while being gentle on your skin. Essential oil vs fragrance – what's the difference? Unlike essential oils, which derive directly from a simple natural source, fragrances are typically a combination of compounds that are blended by a perfumer to create a specific scent. While this makes fragrance-based scents more consistent (as opposed to essential oils, which have a natural variation based on harvest season, or even the time of day where the plant components are gathered), fragrances lack the complexity of the real deal. Fragrance is a bit like streaming an album on Spotify, where essential oil is more on-par with the experience of gently lowering a needle onto a vinyl record. Essential oils are the painting hung in a gallery, with every brushstroke on show; fragrance is the art print you take home afterwards. The difference is immediately obvious when you take a whiff of the Study of Trees Essential Oil Candle and the Scented Candle version (which uses fragrance) side by side. The fragrance version is deep and evocative, conjuring the majestic feel of old-growth forests; the essential oil candle, however, is more subtle and nuanced in a way that doesn't take a veteran bushwalker to recognise as more 'real'. The same goes for the Native Botanical scent – with the Essential Oil Candle, the scents of eucalyptus and tea tree are distinct but intertwined, much like you might experience wandering along some half-trodden track amongst the trees; the fragrance candle is beautiful, and conjures a similar bright, uplifting scene, but in a much simpler scent without the complexity of real leaves on the breeze. What do essential oils do? Just like the botanicals from which they're derived, each essential oil creates a subtly different atmosphere in your space. Study of Trees, for example, uses a delicate blend of patchouli, frankincense, cedarwood, nerolina, white cypress, vetiver and ylang ylang essential oils to recreate the atmosphere of temperate old-growth forests to help with relaxation and sleep. Though it's also inspired by Australian bushland, Overland feels notably different to Study of Trees, creating an uplifting, clarifying atmosphere with zingy botanicals like patchouli, white grapefruit, Peru balsam, lime, lemon myrtle, nutmeg and vetiver. Native Botanicals takes a fresh spin on the scents of the forest, this time blending of geranium, eucalyptus lemon gum, Tasmanian lavender, tea tree, eucalyptus blue mallee, eucalyptus peppermint gum and basil for a soothing aroma that helps relieve stress and clear the mind. Native Botanical's essential oil blend is designed to help relieve stress and clear the mind The captivating scents of essential oils are a beautiful way to transform your space, lifting you out of the ordinary with dazzling aromas that capture the complex sensory details of our natural world. Whether you're looking for a soothing addition to your evening routine, or a zesty scent to clear your mind, essential oils offer a simple, naturally-derived way to create the atmosphere you need to thrive. Explore the Studio Milligram Sensory Collection

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