Jasmine Absolute Oil 1/8 oz: K

Jasmine is a very powerful fragrance with a full, rich, honey-like sweetness. The fragrance of jasmine is a component in so many perfumes that there is an old saying 'No perfume without jasmine.' A tiny amount will go a long way. Aromatherapy: calming, relaxing, sensual, exotic, romantic. Great expense goes into producing pure jasmine oil. Aura Cacia's jasmine absolute -- Jasminium grandiflorum -- comes from Morocco, Italy, and Grasse, France -- a premier perfume-producing region. The pinwheel-shaped, dainty, white flowers grow in clusters on the woody stalks of the shrub, and yield a surprisingly dark, viscous oil. For each ounce of oil to be extracted, forty pounds of flowers must be picked -- before dawn, when jasmine is at its aromatic peak. The flowers are too delicate to be put through the distillation process used for most essential oil extractions. Instead, special methods are used to obtain the absolute -- which is more concentrated than essential oils. For centuries in Egypt, India and the Orient, only the privileged upper classes were permitted access to the precious oil known as an aphrodisiac. Legend has it that Cleopatra was a bit extravagant with her jasmine -- the Queen of the Nile (and of aromatic intrigue, it seems) had the sails of her ships soaked in jasmine oil to lure Mark Antony. Jasmine is still too precious for most of us to use for such a large-scale project. But -- because of its high concentration and terrific staying power -- a little goes a very long way. Its heady, flowery fragrance serves as the base note of many perfumes. Aromatherapists value jasmine oil for its calming, relaxing, sensual, romantic characteristics. And its warming quality makes it ideal for use during the winter months -- in a fragrant bath or body oil or massage blend, for example. Essential, absolute and resin oils are volatile, fragrant materials extracted from the root, bark, wood, seed, fruit, leaf or flower of a single plant. The plants used to produce these oils are grown on certified organic fields and are third-party certified by Quality Assurance International; no synthetic chemicals are used in growing or processing them. Steam distillation and cold pressing are used to extract the essential oil from the plant. Essential oils and absolutes are very potent and should always be used sparingly and in conjunction with a reliable reference. Essential oils contain the odor, taste and medicinal properties of the plant itself, but in very concentrated form, with no base oil, alcohol, water or dilutants added.