How essential oils and absolutes are made

Don't just read your product label, understand it. From essential oils to extracts, nature is full of wonderful fragrances. But have you ever wondered how the alluring aroma of a rose or the spicy scent of cinnamon makes its way into a bottle? Read our quick guide to learn your absolutes from your resinoids.

Author: Annabelle Letten, Copywriter, and Florence Bossière, Ingredient Writer 

Last updated: October 2026

Reading Time: 5-6 min

Plants contain aromatic compounds, and, as the name suggests, they’re what make nature smell so good (or bad). In some cases, capturing these aromatic compounds is as simple as squeezing a lemon; in others, the process is far more complicated. Petals, peels, stems, fruits, vegetables, bark, and leaves all have different textures, chemical structures, and compositions, so they need different extraction methods.

Steam distillation: essentially hot

Steam distillation can be traced all the way back to the 10th century and it remains the most common extraction method. Its popularity is probably due to its relative simplicity, so here’s how it’s done.

1. The plant material is placed in water within a sealed vessel and heated until steam forms.
2. The heat breaks down the plant matter, releasing its essential oils (aromatic compounds and lipids) into the steam.
3. The aromatic steam rises through a pipe, where it cools and condenses, turning back into a liquid.
4. The liquid is collected in a vessel known as an essencier, where it separates into water and oil.
5. The oil is then skimmed off and bottled; this is the essential oil.
6. The remaining water can be used too; it’s called a hydrosol. 

This traditional technique has changed little over hundreds of years, though it may vary slightly by plant, equipment, production region, or local traditions. Ylang ylang essential oil, for instance, reveals a different aromatic profile at each stage of a very long boiling process that produces unique fractions over time. Patchouli essential oil can take a deeper, warmer scent when produced in cast-iron vats rather than stainless steel.

Lush fans won't be surprised to learn that lavender oil tops our steam-distilled essential oil purchase list by volume. However, a lesser-known oil has climbed into our Top 10 over the years: the uplifting and comforting litsea cubeba oil. A key ingredient of our famous Super Milk fragrance, it is extracted from the green berries of the May Chang tree, and has sweet, lemony notes.

On labels: Essential oils can simply be found under the name ‘oil’, or sometimes as ‘oil/extract’ when they’re considered an allergen. They’re not to be confused with vegetable oils such as olive or coconut oil, which are valued more for their moisturising fat content and ‘carrier’ properties than their aromatic profiles. In a small number of cases, such as almond oil, where confusion could arise, we will say ‘essential’ oil to differentiate it from the carrier oil.

Solvent extraction: an absolute yes!

Some ingredients cannot withstand the boiling required for steam distillation. Such heat can destroy some or all of a plant's aromatic compounds. This is where solvent extraction proves useful, as it allows for the production of high-quality extracts from particularly delicate plants. These extracts are known as absolutes.

Solvent extraction may sound more ‘processed’ than humble steam distillation, but don’t be put off: it is actually gentler in a way, and keeps more compounds intact. Absolutes typically smell more like the original plant than essential oils. That is why producing both rose essential oil and rose absolute is worthwhile: they do not have exactly the same scent, and that diversity is precious in perfumery.

Here’s how it’s made:

1. Raw materials such as flower petals are submerged in a volatile solvent or mix of solvents (often hexane, cis-hexane, and/or ethanol/ethyl alcohol).
2. The mixture is heated and stirred for several hours. During this maceration, the solvent breaks down the plant into aromatic compounds, oils, and other elements. 
3. The used plant bits are removed, and the solvent is evaporated, leaving a fragrant, concentrated mixture known as a “concrete”.
4. This dense wax is then washed with alcohol (ethanol) to remove non-soluble particles and yield an absolute.

Although we purchase absolutes in much smaller quantities than essential oils, their often higher cost means they still represent a significant proportion of our overall budget. Tonka bean absolute is our top purchase in this category. Harvested from the forest floor in the Amazon, then sent to extraction rooms in France, the black tonka bean yields an absolute with caramel notes that enrich our most gourmand fragrances.

On labels: Although we used the term ‘absolutes’ on our ingredient lists for several decades, we updated it to ‘extract’ or ‘oil/extract’ in 2026. These changes comply with the latest European Union allergen classifications, which affect how ingredients must be declared.

Solvent extraction: resins that resonate

Do resinoids dream of electric trees? They’re more likely to dream of electric vacuums, since they are used in their manufacture. These fragrant substances are obtained from tree resins, which are sticky, protective substances secreted by trees or plant pods, in the case of carob. The extraction method makes resins (which are very hard) more liquid so they can be incorporated into perfumes.

The process is very similar to absolutes. Here’s what happens:

1. Lumps of resin are steeped in a solvent (most often ethanol).
2. The mixture is heated and stirred under vacuum while the ethanol extracts aromatic compounds.
3. The solvent is evaporated, leaving a fragrant resinoid behind.

Styrax, frankincense, labdanum, myrrh, carob… We use a prestigious selection of resinoids in our products. Our inventors’ favourite is undoubtedly benzoin resinoid, which adds softness and depth to our best-selling Sleepy and Sticky Dates ranges.

As with all our ingredients, we carefully select our resin and resinoid suppliers. However, they hold a special place in our mission to leave the world Lusher than we found it. Indeed, when harvesting is carried out sustainably, selling resin is a good example of using the living forest as a source of income, rather than treating it solely as a source of timber.

On labels: No confusion here – our resinoids are clearly labelled ‘resinoid’!

Expression: pressed to impress

Possibly the oldest form of extraction, expression involves pressing an ingredient to release its essential oils. Historically, people did this by hand, but now it’s done with mechanical presses, which are less strenuous and far more efficient.

Expression is usually used with citrus fruits, such as grapefruit, lemon, and lime, because they store most of their oils in their skin. You can see this for yourself whenever you peel an orange: the skin is so packed with essential oil that it spurts out at the slightest squeeze. Two methods can be used to express an oil:

• Whole-fruit extraction: Specialised machinery processes the whole fruit, releasing the essential oil, juice, water and other fruit material. The oil is then separated from the rest.
• Peel extraction: The oil glands in the peel are mechanically pierced or ruptured, often using rollers or abrasive surfaces. Water may be used to collect the released oil, which is then filtered and separated from the water and peel particles, typically by centrifugation. 

Four cold-pressed citrus oils made it to our top 5 essential oil purchases (by volume) in 2025. Lemon oil is our unrivalled winner. As Alina Gliwinska, Lush Perfumer, puts it: “Lemon oil is one of those materials that can make a fragrance feel more sparkling and alive without necessarily becoming the main character.” 

On labels: We don't use a specific term on our labels to designate essential oils obtained by expression. They are usually labelled simply as ‘oils’ or ‘oil/extract’, but if you spot a ‘peel oil’, it’s most likely obtained by cold expression.

And that wraps up extraction methods; hopefully you picked up a thing or two. Want to dig deeper into essential oils?  You might find this article interesting. Was it our sourcing practices that caught your eye? Take a look here. Or has it simply given you an urge to find your new Lush perfume? Browse them all.