DIY Essential Oils

So for whatever reason, last weekend I thought to myself...I think I'll make some soap.  I made dishwasher soap tablets, laundry soap, lavender honey oat body soap, grapefruit soap and mint soap.  I also thought to myself, "since I'm obviously going to become the world's premiere soap maker, I should  definitely be making my own essential oils".  So here is my attempt at DIY essential oil, which I guess is still in progress.



Supplies:

-Base Oil (almond would be best, but I only had olive, so that's what I used)
-Oil scent (I did basil, because I grow it and grapefruit because I had some about to go bad in the fridge)
-Jars for oil
-Citrus zester or handheld grater
-Very fine sieve or cheese cloth
-Zip top baggie
-Rolling pin, meat mallet or can of veggies
-Warm place to keep the jars
-Time

Note: This project would probably have gone better had I used ingredients of a higher quality, but if I wanted to pay a bunch of money for fancy ingredients, I would just buy the essential oils!

Directions:

Grapefruit Essential Oil-

I started by zesting my entire grapefruit, which was a little tough because I don't have a zester.  I had to use this crappy dollar store hand held cheese grater.  It took forever.

Fill your jar with about 1 cup of oil, then place your zest in the jar with the oil.  Let it sit in a warm place for 24-48 hours.  Try not to put it in direct sunlight though, you don't want to cook it.

After 24-48 hours, strain your oil into another jar or bowl so that the grapefruit zest stays in your strainer or cheese cloth.  Discard that, or use it in your soap as a delicious smelling decorative touch like I did here!

Repeat this whole process as many times as you wish in order to get the strength of smell that you want.  So far I have done it twice and I think I'll do it a couple more times so its nice and strong.

Use the oil as you would any other essential oil.  Even though its all edible, don't eat it, its been sitting there with decaying plant matter floating in it for days.  Just for smells folks, just for smells.

Store in a dark jar if you have one, or at least a dark place.

Basil Essential Oil-

I grow my own basil, so I started by going out to my garden and picking about a cup of basil.  I did this in the morning because that is when the oils are the most potent.  Mmmmmm, basil, my most favorite herb!  I could use it in every single meal!  Maybe not with oatmeal, but you get it.

Do not include the basil blooms, in fact if you see any in your garden, pick them off, they make your basil bitter.  Keep an eye on those when you weed and water, pick those blooms off!

You can also just get store bought basil, but thats not as cheap or as fun.

Take your basil and put it in a zip top bag, seal it and then roll it or beat with with your rolling pin, mallet or just a can of veggies until the leaves are bruised and the oils start to release.

Take your glob of wet basil leaves and put it into a jar, covering it with about a cup of your oil.

After that, you follow the directions above until you have reached the potency you desire for your oil.

I am not done with mine yet, but they do smell good.  We'll see how long they last or if they will work in my soap project.  I can use them separately, but I thought basil grapefruit would be such a yummy smell for a bar of kitchen hand soap.

You can use any flower or herb for this project, so have fun and enjoy!  I'd love to hear your DIY story or scent ideas!