In this study, emulsions of three different natural oils were prepared using spontaneous emulsification technique. The effect of three emulsifiers, AOT, lecithin and cholesterol on emulsion properties was studied. Their influence on interfacial tension at oil/water interface was evaluated by the pendant drop shape analysis method. Then, the mean droplet size, zeta potential and stability of emulsions were investigated in relation with the type of oil, surfactant, oil-to-ethanol ratio and surfactant concentration. We found that in the case of linseed oil, fine emulsion droplets are formed without any surfactant due to its low oil/water interfacial tension. A hydrophobic dye (Coumarin 6) was encapsulated within oil cores and its presence was confirmed by fluorescence spectroscopy and microscopy. The obtained emulsions can be used alone or as the cores for layer-by-layer encapsulation, which was demonstrated by enclosing droplets within first layer of synthetic polycation poly(allyamine hydrochloride) (PAH).