What is an essential oil?

Essential oil, the soul of aromatic plants.

It is a precious, fragrant, volatile and non-oily substance, unlike fruit or seed vegetable oils, such as olive or sunflower oil.

A true reserve of vital energy for the plant, essential oil also serves as a defence against predators and as an attractor for pollinating insects. Unlike the sap that circulates throughout the plant, Essential Oil is contained in specific parts of the plant. It may be concentrated in the petals (rose, orange blossom), the wood (sandalwood), the leaves (geranium, palmarosa), the fruit (orange or lemon peel), or in the whole plant (lavender).

Glass jars with green plants

Essential Oils: exceptional cosmetic active ingredients

Concentrates of efficiency and well-being, Essential Oils are precious active ingredients: it takes 800kg of lavender to produce 1 litre of its essential oil and 5 tonnes of rose petals for the same quantity of rose essential oil. And it only takes a few drops to obtain an effectiveness or to perceive its scent.

Essential oil is an incomparable active ingredient. It is both:

How do you obtain an essential oil?

Click on one of the points of interest to find out how an essential oil is produced.

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Chimney

The part or parts of the plant containing the Essential Oil are placed in a still in which water is brought to a boil.

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Steam

The steam that is released then passes through the plant mass and draws the volatile essential oils with it.

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Condensation

At the still’s outlet, the components are condensed in a refrigerated coil: a heterogeneous mixture of water and essential oil is obtained.

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Essentier

As the two liquids have different densities, they can easily be separated.

  • Easy and practical to set up, even outdoors, this device can be used directly in the crops or fields, meaning extraction can be carried out immediately after picking, which especially useful for fragile flowers such as Ylang-Ylang or jasmine.
  • Nowadays, water can be replaced with various types of solvents, allowing for more refined extractions.

The incredible history of essential Oils

  • As early as antiquity, the scents of aromatic plants charmed the Egyptians

    In perfumery like in cosmetics, they had already mastered the use and the blending of these odorous plants, creating compositions for the greatest pleasure of the Pharaohs and Egyptian nobility.

  • Around the year 1000, the therapeutic properties of essential oils are discovered

    It was the Persian doctor and philosopher Avicenna who had the intuition to extract aromatic plants’ active ingredients for medicinal use, to heal the sick and to pre-emptively protect the population. This was when he invented steam distillation to extract the essential oils, those natural concentrates of efficiency.

  • 16th Century: Essential Oils give the world of perfumery all its nobility

    Catherine de Medici, the Italian wife of France’s King Henri II, had two passions in life: men and perfumes. Under her impetus, steam distillation of essential oils was applied to the numerous flowers cultivated in Grasse in the South of France. It was at that point, by specialising in the extraction of naturally perfumed substances – Essential Oils – that Grasse became the world’s perfume capital. 

  • 2001 : the creation of KIOTIS, a unique experience in Essential Oils

    Convinced that Essential Oils are powerful natural active ingredients that provide wellbeing to the body through application and to the mind through breathing, we at Kiotis revisit this tradition by means of efficient and skin-friendly cosmetics. Continuously searching and innovating, our laboratories aim at nurturing this demanding know-how by proving the performances of the ‘concentrates of life’ extracted from these aromatic plants. Meticulously dosed and assembled, our Essential Oils become particularly efficient cosmetic active ingredients. 100% pure and natural, they also guarantee the quality of our formulae. Because Essential Oils are a source of performance and sensoriality, Kiotis’ own expertise and essence resides deep within them.

  • 2004: first patent registered by the KIOTIS brand

    It was in March of 2004 that KIOTIS had the honour of registering it’s first ever patent, the result of extensive research that proved the hydrating properties of Myrrh and Neroli Essential Oils. Since then, we have relentlessly continued this fascinating scientific adventure: proving the exceptional properties that our ancestors had predicted in Essential Oils.

    Today, with XXX registered patents, our laboratory has become a reference for knowledge surrounding Essential Oils.

    Aujourd’hui, avec XXX brevets déposés, notre laboratoire fait figure de référence dans la connaissance des Huiles Essentielles.

KIOTIS know-how

Research

To discover and reveal the multitude of effective cosmetic actions that Essential Oils offer, the Kiotis Laboratory carries out every year numerous scientific tests. To date, more than 210 tests have been carried out on 51 Essential Oils, revealing 31 cosmetic properties.

These precision tests also enable one to determine the exact concentration needed for a given action. Moreover, the Kiotis Laboratory holds exclusive rights to all updated and new cosmetic actions by means of Scientific Patents. To date, Kiotis holds 14 Scientific Patents for properties in the field of skin care.

Lavande, flacon et herbe

Development

The Kiotis Laboratory possesses a unique know-how in the blending of Essential Oils, as well as in the development of effective formulae with tested, proven results and generous, sensorial textures. A reference in the cosmetic effectiveness of Essential Oils, KIOTIS is a unique brand in the Beauty world.

Flacons d'huiles essentielles
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