Ylang Ylang (Complete) Essential Oil

Ylang Ylang Essential Oil has several grades. The complete combines all the grades. Ylang Ylang is one of the most important essential oils used in perfume. Ylang Ylang means flower of flower in Malay and has become symbolic of sensual pleasure and seduction. I have heard so many stories about how they process this oil that I am not sure what is going on. Here is a situation where you want to be on sight and just see for yourself, but that isn't possible at the moment. This is what I understand. Ylang ylang is distilled for 24 hours. The first hour is called extra and part of the oil is fractionated and then is called superior. This oil can be sold separately as extra or superior and neither is a whole oil. The extra and the superior are combined which is probably the closest we will get to whole and it is called ylang ylang complete. The distillation process continues for 24 hours and there are more (possibly as many as 10) fractionations and now the fun begins. Ylang ylang can be a mixture of any of the above making grades 1, 2, and 3. Hopefully the first is the first fractions and second is the middle fractions, and the third is the last fractions. Even the extra can be mixed with the last fractionation taken and still be called extra. Now what do you have? I don't know. Vanillin, a synthetic, is also often added to make things even more complicated. Remember that most distillers are not interested in therapy grade oils, but in perfume oils and all this is quite OK in perfumery. In fact, the lower or last fractionations can be preferred because of the way they behave with alcohol.