Essential oils are expensive! Much more so than fragrance oils. Fragrance oils are man made scents to mimic smells we remember. Many times fragrance oils are needed to get a specific scent we like (perfumes etc). Essential oils are plant derived. Which is why they cost more. But you can make your own very easily with blending the herb of choice and a carrier oil! Especially with summer in full swing and an abundant supply of herbs out there! Here's how.
In this demonstration I will be making peppermint oil/sweet almond oil.
What you need:
A small bottle (4 or 6 oz) to store your essential oil
3, 4" sprigs of mint- take leaves off the stem
small piece of freezer paper
4-6 oz carrier oil, I like almond oil but you can use grape seed or jojoba as well.
Mallet for smushing the mint
1. Place leaves between freezer paper. Close freezer paper with the mint between the paper (wax side with the leaves).
2. Mallet the leaves releasing the oils- don't pulverize the leaves too much.
3. Take the smushed leaves and place them in the container.
4. Fill with your carrier oil. Shake.
5. 2 days later remove the leaves if you chose to (I leave mine in making it stronger).
6. Use for back rubs, stress relief, hot bath, or perfume :)
*Note - you can use ANY herb in this recipe to create an essential oil you like. It's fun to mix and match too like Lavender Mint, Rosemary Mint, Basil Oregano (in grape seed oil so you can cook with it), Tomato Scent - VERY popular right now...and the list goes on. Some people have noted that this only lasts a couple weeks, however- I have mine on my counter in my basement which is 70 degrees and some are over 6 months old. Oils are a preservative making the natural oils/leaves last longer. ** IF you want your oils to last even longer, dry the mint leaves first until they are cripsy (see my blog on how to dry herbs) then add them to your carrier oil. Will last up to a year that way :)
