Volatility is a term used to describe the rate at which a substance disappears when exposed to air, specifically the rate at which a liquid evaporates into a gas, and this article will talk about the issue of the volatility of essential oils.
Essential oils and other aromatic substances are highly volatile, meaning that they evaporate quickly upon contact with air, a characteristic of all aromatic substances since our noses can only detect the “gas” smell.
Although essential oils are highly volatile, they do not evaporate at the same rate, and this difference in volatility directly affects how long the fragrance stays in the air (how long we can smell the aromatic substance) and how long it takes for the body to absorb the essential oil when applied to the skin.
Essential oils that take longer to evaporate (low volatility) can have a fragrance that lasts longer, some for hours to days. Conversely, the fragrance of highly volatile oils fades quickly.
The most volatile of the essential oils in a combination is the one that we can smell on the first sniff, and we can still smell the least volatile essential oil when the aroma of all the others has disappeared.
In the perfume industry, people use the musical scale to indicate the difference in volatility of aromatic substances: the most volatile substances are classified as “high”; the least volatile and most persistent are classified as “low”; the middle is all in The middle range is the “middle” range.
Some aromatherapists take this scale into account when blending essential oils, and there are indeed some differences in the efficacy and properties of the high, medium, and low notes.
However, the biggest drawback of this classification is that it is very subjective.
Different aromatherapists and perfumers have different opinions on a wide range of essential oils. It is clear from this that the qualities of many essential oils vary according to the season, climate, and region in which they are grown, and that there is no fixed scale for them.