7 Things Most People Don't Know About Frankincense Resin Oil
Valerie Burke
Most people searching for frankincense oil have only ever encountered frankincense essential oil — the small, concentrated bottle sold at health food stores and wellness shops everywhere. But there's an older, richer tradition behind frankincense that most modern shoppers have never heard of: frankincense resin-infused oil.
If you've been using frankincense essential oil and wondering why the results feel underwhelming, this article may change everything you thought you knew.
1. It Starts With the Actual Resin — Not a Distillation Process 🍃
Frankincense essential oil is made through steam distillation — a process that uses heat and pressure to extract volatile aromatic compounds from the resin. Frankincense resin-infused oil is made with a completely different process: whole frankincense resin is steeped directly in a carrier oil, allowing its full spectrum of compounds - including those beneficial boswellic acids - to transfer naturally into the oil over time.
Think of it like the difference between instant coffee and brewed. One preserves the whole plant; the other isolates select compounds. Not an exact comparison, but you get the idea.
2. Almost Every Product Labeled "Frankincense Oil" Is Actually Essential Oil 🍃
Walk into any health food store or search online for "frankincense oil" and nearly every product you'll find — when you read the fine print — is frankincense essential oil. The label rarely makes this distinction clear, and most shoppers never think to check.
This is the source of monumental confusion in the marketplace. Consumers assume "frankincense oil" means oil infused with frankincense. In reality, it almost always means a steam-distilled volatile extract — a fundamentally different product with a different compound profile, different application rules, and a different therapeutic potential.
Frankincense resin-infused oil is rarely produced commercially and almost never at scale. When you find a maker who produces it, you're buying something genuinely handcrafted — not a factory product.
3. The Most Studied Compounds Don't Survive Distillation — And Are Often Thrown Away 🍃
Boswellic acids, the compounds in frankincense most studied for their anti-inflammatory and skin-supportive properties, are too large and heavy to survive the steam distillation process. They stay locked in the resin — which many essential oil producers simply discard after extraction.
That means frankincense essential oil contains virtually no boswellic acids —therefore the most therapeutically valuable part of the plant ends up in the trash. Frankincense resin-infused oil preserves the whole resin — boswellic acids and all — because the resin is the active ingredient.
Learn more about the healing benefits of frankincense →
4. It Has a Much Longer History of Traditional Use 🍃
Steam distillation is a relatively modern technique. For thousands of years — across ancient Egypt, Ayurvedic practice, and traditional Middle Eastern medicine — frankincense resin was used as-is, or infused into oils and salves for topical application.
Frankincense resin-infused oil is closer to how this plant has been used for millennia. The essential oil, by contrast, is a product of modern extraction technology for use in the aromatherapy industry.
5. It's the More Eco-Friendly Choice 🍃
Producing frankincense essential oil requires an enormous quantity of resin to yield a small amount of oil. There are not many precious frankincense trees to begin with. They only grow in a very narrow region of the world, each requiring many years of maturation before producing resin. When producers discard spent resin — along with all its boswellic acids — it's not just therapeutically wasteful, it's environmentally wasteful too.
Frankincense resin-infused oil uses the resin whole, extracting its full value without waste. For buyers who care about sustainability and conscious sourcing, this matters.
6. It's Gentler and More Skin-Ready 🍃
Essential oils are highly concentrated and must always be diluted before applying to skin — undiluted use can cause irritation or sensitization. Frankincense resin-infused oil is already suspended in a carrier oil, making it inherently skin-friendly and ready to use without additional dilution.
For daily facial use, body application, or anyone with sensitive skin, resin-infused oil is the more practical, therapeutic, and forgiving choice.
7. It Smells Different — and That's a Good Thing 🍃
If you've ever found frankincense essential oil to smell sharp, medicinal, or one-dimensional, that's because distillation captures only the volatile aromatic compounds — a narrow slice of the resin's full chemical profile.
Frankincense resin-infused oil carries a richer, warmer, more complex aroma — closer to the scent of the raw resin itself. For those who love the deep, sacred quality of frankincense, the resin oil is a softer, more rounded olfactory experience.
Ready to experience the difference? Shop Frankincense Resin-Infused Oil →