Organic Freesia Enfleurage Oil

Also known popularly as Organic Freesia Essential Oil and Freesia Absolute.  Freesia Enfleurage Organic is part of our Artisan group of products. Freesia (Freesia alba) is a beautiful flower in the Iridaceae family of plants, which includes perennial plants with bulbs like irises, gladioli and crocuses.

The genus Freesia is native to the eastern and southern sides of Africa.  In the Victorian “language of flowers”, Freesia was said to be the ultimate floral expression of  “trust” and freesia stems are still widely used as wedding flowers to signify both the “purity” of the bride and the trust between the couple. While the association with virginity is quaint there is a bit of aroma science behind it: unlike many of the heavy, sensual florals (like tuberose or jasmine), the aroma of freesia has been described as clean and “chaste” because it doesn’t have the sensualizing, so-called “dirty” indolic notes of the heavier florals. All of these floral are beautiful but whereas the indolic floral aromas have been said to be “erotic”, the beautiful floral aroma of freesia is lighter and more “innocent”. Personally, freesia provides just the clear floral note I want for a daytime fragrance reminiscent of a summer garden or a tropical paradise.

Our Organic Freesia Enfleurage is pure, undiluted Freesia Oil extracted by the enfleurage method.  Our Freesia oil is extremely rare, coming from a small producer in South America who extracts the essential oil from the flower by the labor-intensive, traditional method of enfleurage, using only sustainably produced palm oil (organic) and alcohol (organic) derived from local sugar cane (organic). Our Freesia a true aromatic treasure. Like all of our Artisan Aromatics essential oils, enfleurage oils, absolutes and blends, this oil has been carefully selected for its therapeutic quality. Then, to ensure maximum freshness and potency, it is bottled by hand in USA only after orders are received.

All our Artisan Aromatics essential oils, aromatherapy blends and oil products are therapeutic quality. Using our 20+ years of experience, we’ve gathered the finest quality oils from around the world. To ensure that our oils are as fresh and potent as possible, our oils are bottled by hand here in the USA only after we receive each order.

USEAGE AND SAFETY INFORMATION: Because the technique of enfleurage has only recently been revived, safety information on these products is not widely available for many of the specific species now being extracted. Enfleurage oils are most frequently used by professional perfumers who have training in how to dilute absolutes for perfume making in order to avoid skin irritation. Freesia Enfleurage has not been widely used in aromatherapy but the beautiful floral oils, in general, have been reported by aromatherapists to have uplifting properties. And, of course, the perfume industry is largely based on the ancient belief that beautiful floral aromas excite the senses and increase passion! You’ll have to try it to see if it has this effect on you.

I have found no information on maximum concentration recommendations for use on the skin and so advise that you not exceed a concentration of 0.5% in dilution with vegetable oil and avoid application to large areas of skin. If you would like to use freesia as a personal natural fragrance, alone or in a blend, you could also apply a drop of it (or of a blend containing it) to an aromatherapy locket that does not allow the oil to touch the skin.

A 0.5% concentration can be achieved by adding 4 drops of Freesia Enfleurage Oil to one ounce of vegetable oil (such as grapeseed oil or jojoba). For making a roll-on perfume, add 3 drops of Freesia Enfleurage Oil to 20 ml (4 teaspoons) of vegetable oil ( we like to use jojoba as the vegetable oil for roll-on perfumes); this will give you enough to fill two standard 10 ml roller bottles; the scent will be subtle but lovely. Avoid excessive use (topical or inhalation) of Freesia Enfleurage Oil. Until more extensive safety information is available, we recommend avoiding use of Freesia Enfleurage Oil throughout pregnancy and when nursing.

More on the Enfleurage Method of Extraction

Organic Freesia cannot be distilled due to the delicate nature of the flowers. Enfleurage was the traditional method of extraction used into the early 20th century. Since then, solvent extraction using hexane (which yields what is called an “absolute”) has virtually replaced enfleurage, and is to this day used extensively by the perfume industry. Now, the most commonly found Freesia used by the perfume industry is entirely synthetic.

Enfleurage is a time-consuming method and oil yields are quite small for the amount of materials used. The entire process of extracting the Freesia Essential Oil (Freesia alba) is done by hand, using no heat and no harsh chemical solvents. Pure, local, sustainably produced palm oil is used to absorb the aromatic oils from the Freesia flower petals and once the palm oil is completely saturated with the essence of the Freesia flower, then the palm oil is separated from the Freesia oil by cane sugar alcohol which is then evaporated to leave only the Freesia oil. The process for producing the Organic Freesia Essential Oil is quite labor-intensive and requires many pounds of Freesia flower petals per milliliter of oil, but we feel the results are astounding – a wonderful aroma quite similar to that of the fresh flower.

Natural Freesia oil is often enjoyed as a single-flower note since the clean floral aroma produced from the flowers is quite wonderful in and of itself.

NOTE:

Due to their rarity, Enfleurage oils are not eligible  for returns. To sample our Enfleurage oils try Sample Vials; while sample vials are also ineligible for return, they offer a substantially less expensive way to preview this rare aroma.

Learn more about the process of Enfleurage

Aroma of our Enfleurage Oils

Most noses love the aroma of our enfleurage oils, but a few (less than 1%) of our customers dislike the earthy note added by the minute traces of palm oil that remain in the finished product. This note is more prominent  initially and most people find that it recedes in a few moments, allowing the beautiful natural floral aromas to come shining through. However, our reactions to aromas are highly personal due, in part, to inborn differences in the way we register and process smells.  Since our enfleurage products cannot be returned for a refund, due to their rarity, we recommend that you first purchase a small sample vial to insure that you are not among the 1% of people who dislike the earthy note of the palm oil.

Check out this Wiki article on the Freesia Plant, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freesia and here is a great article on growing freesia from HappyDIYHome.

IMPORTANT: All issues that pertain to your physical or mental health should be discussed with and supervised by a licensed health care professional. Keep all essential oils away from and out of reach of children. We recommend you consult a trained aromatherapist before using essential oils with children under 16 years of age. Always follow the general safety guidelines for using essential oils; these can be accessed by clicking the link below.

Disclaimer: Information provided in this description is for educational purposes only. It is not intended to be used in/for the treatment, cure, mitigation or diagnosis of any mental or physical disease or illness or as a substitute for consulting with a physician or other appropriately trained and licensed health care professional. Artisan Aromatics is not responsible for any adverse effects resulting from the improper use of any suggestions, products, preparations, or procedures mentioned or from attempts to follow historical reports of a plant’s uses.  Please note that essential oils do not necessarily have the same properties as other types of herbal preparations of the same plant and since essential oils are the most highly concentrated type of preparation made from plants, they can have toxicity issues not arising from use of other types of herbal preparations of a given plant.