Practical Aromatherapy: Three Exotic Carrier Oils For Optimal Skin Care
Sunday, August 29th, 2010Aromatherapy offers simple yet highly effective means of making your own skin care blends. Essential oils are found in many, if not most, of the world’s high end face-care formulas. The reason being is the diversity and potency of their therapeutic effects. When creating a skin care blend, it’s crucial to also consider the base or “carrier” oils into which the essential oils are mixed. There is a wide variety of carrier oils available as well, and several exotic ones with tremendous value in skin care. Here’s a look at a few of the more exotic, and highly therapeutic carrier oils available for your homemade creations.
Our first exotic oil is pressed from the seeds of rosehips, grown in the mountains of South America. While this may be the most common of our “exotic” carrier oils, many people are still a little vague on its origins. Rosehips are actually the fruit of the rose flower, and in this case the fruit of roses that, until recently, grew wild in a tough, mountainous environment. These small, red, round fruits are are full of antioxidants (there is a pure rosehip oil available as a CO2 extract, also excellent for skin care), and the seeds have an exceptionally fatty acid profile.
The action of rosehip seed oil is regenerative to the skin. It has been the subject of much research, showing the oil alone can lessen the appearance of wrinkles, sun damage and scars, as well as improve the skin’s texture overall. You’ll find it in nearly every recipe for “mature skin” at approximately 20% of the total base mixture. It can be used at 100% if you like. It should not be used in formulas for acne, as its regenerative action can promote breakouts. You’ll also find a CO2 extraction of the whole rosehips, deep red in color, if you which to use a more concentrated form.
Next up is an oil that goes by several names: Callophylum, Tamanu or Foraha. The oil is pressed from the nut of a tree found on islands in the South Pacific. It is most curious in appearance in aroma, seeming like a greenish sludge — but don’t let this fool you, Tamanu is a remarkable healer. It likely has the most complex chemical makeup of any of the carriers here, and perhaps the greatest diversity of healing effects as well.
Investigating the applications of Tamanu oil, one finds that its called for for virtually every known skin care condition. For anti-aging, the oil can speed the generation of a new layer of skin from an average of 21 days down to as few as 7 — this is important for wound healing and scar reduction as well. The oil can prevent premature aging due to sun overexposure, and use in an after-sun formula may be very therapeutic. Its anti-inflammatory properties may make it helpful for may varieties of dermatitis, rashes and the like, and it appears to combat many skin infections as well (athlete’s foot, for example). As you can see, a truly well-rounded, therapeutic oil. While it can be used at 100% strength, you’ll likely want to blend it to a more common 20% due to its potent characteristics.
A new oil sweeping the high end skin care markets is Argan, also called Moroccan Oil — taking its name from the origin of the nut. The oil has been used for ages in the region for both cooking and cosmetics. It’s acceptance by users of natural beauty products have been a boon to the local economy, and resulted in positive steps to preserve this wonderful natural resource.
Argan nut oil is known for its relatively high amount of natural vitamin E, along with other polyphenol antioxidants. Polyphenols are highly effective antioxidants which generally have other important health effects as well. Consider that it’s the polyphenol “resveratrol” in red wine that has been found to extend the lifespan of many animals. Along with these micro-nutrients, argan is full of essential fatty acids — and the combination of these nutrients work together to create an oil with excellent anti-aging therapeutics.
As you can see, these exotic carrier oils are all highly regarded for skin care, with significant potential to keep your skin looking smooth and healthy. For a truly therapeutic aromatherapy base formula, you can use all three together in equal parts. A fourth profoundly effective oil that’s no longer so exotic is coconut. While solid at room temperature, when blended with these other oils, it will remain liquid. Coconut, also being one of those skin care oils with a plethora of therapeutic activity, will blend exceptionally well with these three. To this formula, simply add 4 to 11 drops of one or more essential oils per ounce of carrier mixture. The essential oils can be selected precisely for your skin’s needs, creating perhaps the finest skin care preparation available to you.
The author is the owner of Ananda Aromatherapy, a source for world-class Geranium and other essential oils, therapeutic essential oil blends and aromatherapy supplies.