Besides just smelling good, vanilla essential oil is a very special product. Vanilla oil is used for flavoring different kinds of products. It is also used in perfume and skin scrub industry. Vanilla essential oil’s scent is a known for its sensual and aphrodisiac qualities, and is often used in scented candles. Vanilla is also a frequent ingredient in Oriental type perfumes.
Many find the vanilla scent very relaxing and comforting. It can be used for fending off a multitude of maladies from an anxiety attack to a headache. Note that vanilla essential oil should not be eaten. Although not toxic, it could be desensitizing to your tongue and throat.
If you want to experiment, here are instructions for making a basic, simple face scrub recipe which is made with vanilla essential oil called “Peppermint Vanilla Sugar Scrub”.
Mix two cups of(packed) brown sugar, one half-cup of fine salt and one half-cup of sweet almond oil in a big bowl. Mixing done, add ten drops of vanilla essential oil and ten drops of peppermint essential oil. Mix energetically and store in an airtight container. This scrub will be usable for several weeks if used in a refrigerator.
You should scrub while under a warm shower or tub on bare skin. Then take a handful of scrub and rub it on the skin in order to exfoliate in a circular motion. This scrub is also good for softer skin like arms and legs. You will need to use a coarser salt for areas like feet to scrub off the thicker skin.
What Makes Vanilla Oil “Essential”?
Essential oil is a liquid containing potent aroma molecules from plants. Vanilla essential oil has vanilla essence and hence it is called “essential” oil. In order to produce vanilla essential oil, the green fruit of the vanilla plant are picked, fermented, and dried, which turn the fruit into a brown vanilla bean. The vanilla oil is an extraction from Vanilla folia by a process called enfleurage, which uses fats to capture the essence expelled by the vanilla bean. The beans are then hung over the fat on grates and mixed directly into the fat in what is called solvent extraction. The vanilla scented fat is then separated from the essence by soaking it in ethyl alcohol in order draw the fragrance into the alcohol. Then, the alcohol is distilled. What is left over is the essential oil. The final stage is bottling oil for use.
