Peony Essential Oil???

It’s no secret how much in love I am with peony flowers.  And every spring I look forward to the blossoming of the enchanting pink peonies that bloom in my garden.  Recently I walked by the L’Occitane store and saw beautiful renditions of peonies painted all over their packaging.  So though I was pressed for time, I had to go in and quickly check it out.  The sales lady asked if she could help me.  I told her I was interested in knowing how they scented their peony products.  She informed me that the scent was natural from peony essential oil.  Now I don’t claim to know everything, but if there was a peony essential oil, I think I would have heard about that. She then went on to explain that L‘Occitane has their own distillery and how thy make their own essential oils and proceeded to tell me how essential oils are produced.  I didn’t have time for the whole spiel, but I heard enough to know this lady really believes that peony essential oil exists.I later went to the L’Occitane's website and found that what they say they are using is an extract from the peony flowers.  While some may think it’s a matter of semantics, but there is distinct difference between essential oils and extracts.Obtaining the essential oils from plant materials is a more complex procedure that has a more powerful presence and impact on the user of the essential oil.   True essential oils can be used for medicinal purposes and for the effect that they have on the body, mind and spirit as well as used for their natural fragrance and for perfumery.An extract on the other hand is a less extensive process of obtaining a fragrance.  It does not require distillation the way essential oils do.  It takes a much larger volume of raw materials to obtain a small amount of essential oils, than is required to obtain the extract; making essential oil all the more expensive and potent than extracts.That said, L’Occitane is offering up an limited edition 'naturally' scented peony products named Pivoine Delicate (Delicate Pivot) just in time for spring and for Mother’s Day.  The scent is a bit too sweet and cloying for my taste, but I am sure that many will find it a welcome change from the ubiquitous synthetic rose and other flower fragrance scented products that are typically the norm.