Infused Oils «vs» Essential Oils

An Infused Oil is different than an Essential Oil. It's integral to learn the difference between the two if you're going to be working with Herbs of any kind.

An Infused Oil is made from steeping dried plant matter in a neutral carrier oil or common cooking oil (Olive Oil, Sunflower Oil, Jojoba Oil, Avacado Oil, Sweet Almond Oil, Canola Oil, and so on), for a period of time- allowing various compounds from the plant matter to infuse slowly into the oil.

An Essential Oil, however, is a hyper-concentrated plant essense. They require thousands of pounds of plant material, which are then condensed into a small quantity of volatile oil through various methods (Steam Distilation, Expression, Solvent Extraction, and so on).

Because an Essential Oil is a hypercondensed concentrate of plant essense, the difference in strength between them and the slow, gentle surface infusion of an Infused Oil is staggering. Both can be used in Herbal Medicine, however- but an Essential Oil can never be consumed internally (no matter who tells you otherwise); they can only ever be used topically, while an Infused Oil may be safe to use internally as long as a safe, consumable herb and oil are used to make them. Take Rue- everyone's favorite emmenagogue to fearmonger about anymore- for instance, as a major example:

An Infused Oil of Rue is not as dangerous as Essential Oil of Rue- though both are dangerous to consume, and you should never apply Rue Essential Oil to your skin (because it is phototoxic and will cause blisters). And Rue as a dried or fresh herb is significantly safer to consume than either of them. In fact, Rue has a centuries long history of culinary use in the Middle East, which has been actively erased due to racism, plus decades of Anti-Abortion Fearmongering. Not to mention the incorrect conflation of Abortifacients and Emmenagogues with one another, and all of the fearmongering that goes along with that as well. But in many cases, to get any of the Emmenagogual effects of Rue at all in the first place, you have to take a significant dose of Rue Oil Concentrate anyways.

In Witchcraft, only Essential Oils can really be used in Incensemaking. This is because only Essential Oils contain the volatile scent compounds of the plants- and the oils used to make Infused Oils typically produce smoke and foul smells that much up the process. Infused Oils can be used in Aromatherapy, however, as part of body work and massage as long as (again) a safe herb and oil are used to make them.

Regardless, the two are not the same things. They are very different products and remedies. Knowing the difference is integral if you want to deal with, or teach about, Herbs in any capacity.