Essential oils come in many different scents, ranging from invigorating citrus to calming lavender. However, not every plant can produce essential oils, and it’s important to be aware of this so you aren’t misled by products that claim to be something they aren’t. One example is “vanilla essential oil.” Vanilla cannot be used to create a pure oil. However, you might find fragrance oils or extracts on the market that claim to be vanilla essential oil. 

What is an Essential Oil?

Before getting into the specifics of why there is no such thing as vanilla essential oil, it’s helpful to clarify what an essential oil is. An essential oil, sometimes called a volatile oil, is a concentrated mixture of chemical compounds that are distilled from a plant. These chemical compounds make up the “essence” of the plant, which is where the “essential” in essential oils comes from. 

The “essence” of the oils can be distilled in a variety of ways, but the most common are steam distillation and cold pressing. Oils distilled using solvent extraction methods are often not considered to be true essential oils, since some of the solvent may remain in the final product.

Essential Oils vs. Fragrance Oils

Some products labeled as vanilla essential oil may actually be vanilla fragrance oil, and it’s important to know why these are different. 

Essential oils are natural, and this is one of the main reasons why they can be used for many different purposes. Although fragrance oils can smell similar if not identical to natural scents, they are considered synthetic. Fragrance oils are created in laboratories and purposed to mimic certain scents. Some fragrance oils are derived from natural sources, but this is still done via a different and more involved process than what occurs to extract essential oils. 

Essential oils and fragrance oils can both be used for their appealing aromas, but the most common place you’ll find fragrance oils being used is in perfumes. Although they are fragrant, oils that are not essential oils should not be used in a diffuser as it could damage it or cause health problems.

Essential Oils vs. Extracts

Vanilla extracts are also common, including oleoresins that are fairly similar to essential oils, although they are not the same thing. 

Essential oils and extracts are much more similar in the fact that they are both taken from the plant, thus making them natural. Although extracts are derived from plants, they can include other substances in addition to the volatile scent compounds in essential oils. 

In addition to this, essential oils and extracts differ mainly in how they are extracted from the plant. The process of extracting a plant’s essential oils is more complex and must be obtained through steam distillation or cold pressing. An extract is obtained through soaking the specific plant in water or another aqueous solvent to infuse their flavors or scents.

Are There Vanilla Essential Oils?

As discussed earlier there are some plants that are not well suited for essential oil extraction. For example, one of the most common of these are products that claim to be or contain vanilla essential oil. Vanilla beans require a solvent to release their aromatic compounds, which means that they cannot be considered an essential oil because they can only be extracted through distillation or cold pressing. 

Although there are no such things as vanilla essential oils, vanilla extracts, infusions, absolutes, and fragrance oils exist. In fact, vanilla extract is extremely common and can be found in any grocery store and is typically used in baking or cooking. (Although as experienced bakers know, many less expensive “vanilla extracts” are actually artificial.) 

In addition to this, it is also possible to make infused oil using vanilla or other compounds, but this is different from actual essential oils.

To be clear, none of these products are “bad” if you use them as intended. However, it’s important to know that they are not essential oils, and to be wary of any brand that tries to pass them off as such. 

Other Plants/Fruits That Can’t Produce Essential Oils

Although vanilla is one of the more common plants that can’t produce essential oils, there are many others, including non-citrus fruits, that are also unable to do so.

One of the more common you may hear about are green apples, and at one time there was a lot of buzz around this non-existent essential oil being helpful for weight loss. However, just like the vanilla bean, apples are unable to produce essential oils in the distillation process, and any products claiming to be green apple essential oil are actually extracts or fragrance oils.

Another example of an aromatic plant that is unable to produce essential oils is the jasmine flower. Even though jasmine flowers are extremely aromatic, they are so delicate that they cannot be effectively steam distilled to make essential oils. However, jasmine can go through the solvent extraction process which provides us with jasmine absolute. This is natural and can be used similarly to an essential oil, but it is not technically the same thing. 

It’s important to note that there are many fruits and plants that are unable to produce essential oils, however, citrus fruits are the exception. Citrus fruits can provide essential oils because they are encased in a rind that produces a great deal of essential oils when distilled or cold pressed.

Choose High-Quality Essential Oils

It is important when starting or expanding your essential oils collection to know what specific oils can benefit your aromatherapy journey. Although there are many popular scents such as vanilla or fruits outside of the citrus family that may be appealing, they are unable to be captured as an essential oil. You should be wary of any company that claims to offer these products as they are likely selling an infused oil, extract, or artificial scent oil. 

Although vanilla doesn’t exist in our essential oil product line, there are many different scents that we encourage you to explore on our website.