Would you believe that an essential oil obtained from infected wood commands a higher price than gold? It sounds ridiculous doesn’t it? But that’s the story with Agarwood essential oil, or Oud as it is known in the Middle East.

Agarwood is the resinous heartwood formed in infected trees of the evergreen Aquilaria and Gyrinops tree families, native to southeast Asia.

This precious wood and its oil have a deep spiritual history and significance, and they are  mentioned in the oldest spiritual texts – the Sahih Muslim, the Charaka Samhita, the Torah, the Bhagavad Gita, the Sushruta Samhita, Islamic scriptures and the Gospel.

Agarwood is said to be the favorite fragrance of Lord Krishna, God of Protection.

The Buddha taught that the fragrance of burning Agarwood is the “scent of Nirvana” (the state of attaining Divinity).

Samurai warriors perfumed their armor with Agarwood smoke for good luck before going into battle.

At one time rose absolute was thought to be the first essential oil ever created. The gifted Arabic alchemist Avicenna (AD 980-1037) provides us with the earliest drawings of distillation equipment and oil extraction methods. And his writing give reason to believe that the first flowers to undergo the oil extraction process were the rose, the flower so beloved of Islam.

However discoveries made in the Indus Valley in 1975 have shown that essential oil extraction goes back much further than first thought, and we now have evidence of plant oil extraction dating to around 3000 BC.

Humans have used various preparations of flowers, bark, roots, leaves and resins for thousands of years, and pieces of burnt resins have even been found at the entrance to caves that were known to be inhabited in the Neolithic period (the last part of the stone age).

Manuka is a fairly recent addition to the essential oil family. Manuka essential oil is related to tea tree oil and the two share some similar properties. The manuka trees are the source of the pollen used by bees that produce New Zealand’s prestigious antimicrobial Manuka Honey.

Manuka essential oil is obtained from the leaves of the manuka tree Leptospermum

Scoparium, a tree in the Myrtaceae family. Its leaves and bark have been traditionally used by the Maori people to treat a range of ailments.

Jasmine is a wonderfully fragrant and exotic oil. Jasmine flowers only bloom at night and like all night blooming flowers the fragrance is rich and intoxicating.

In addition to being one of the most pleasingly aromatic oils jasmine oil is alas, one of the most expensive.

Jasmine flowers are picked at night before the morning sun extinguishes the fragrance and it takes seven and a half million, hand-picked blooms, to produce one kilo of the precious oil.

The flowers have to be picked carefully because crushing the petals causes a compound called indole to be released and too much indole spoils the delicate composition of the oil.

Our skin is our body’s largest organ. It protects us, helps us to control our body temperature and allow us to feel sensations like pain to keep us safe from potential harm. Skin can also be invaded by viruses, bacteria, and fungus, and it is constantly exposed to elements in the environment, which can damage it, like sunlight and pollution.

The skin has 3 layers, the epidermis, the dermis, and a subcutaneous layer. The epidermis is the outer layer. It renews itself every few months and proteins and oils make this layer waterproof. The dermis is the inner layer of skin. This layer contains connective tissue, capillaries, nerve fibres, sweat glands and hair follicles. The subcutaneous layer contains fat which insulates us and provides a source of energy.

The first thing to say about Amber essential Oil, is that there is no such thing as Amber Essential Oil.

You can certainly buy products labeled as Amber essential oil but those are either blends of different essential oils, or they’re a synthetic fragrance oil, sometimes even a mix of both.

A true essential oil comes from a plant or a tree. You’ll spend a long time (forever) trying to find an Amber tree or an Amber plant.

Today the word amber is used to describe two distinct substances.