Why Use Carrier Oil?  What You Should Know Before Using Essential Oils On Your Skin

Why Use Carrier Oil? What You Should Know Before Using Essential Oils On Your Skin

What is a carrier oil? If you are familiar with essential oils, you are aware of how energizing, calming, and therapeutic they can be for your physical and mental health. Carrier oils have been utilized in massages, baths, cosmetics, and medicine since the days of ancient Greece and Rome. Carrier oils are often utilized in aromatherapy blends and skincare and hair care products for natural hair. What else do we know about carrier oil, though? Aromatherapy, a supplementary therapy that uses essential oils to promote both physical and emotional well-being, relies heavily on carrier oils. Essential oils that are concentrated can be used topically without causing any negative side effects thanks to carrier oils.

Carrier oils are essentially vegetable oils that are expeller-pressed or cold-pressed from nuts and seeds, or in certain cases— like with olive oil and coconut oil— from the entire fruit. The extraction are "strong in vital fatty acids, trace vitamins, and other skin-healing components and contain the fatty, or oil, components from the plants." The majority of carrier oils have a light aroma that is sweet and nutty, however others are odorless. They don't evaporate as essential oils do. 

"A carrier oil can be utilized to physically separate the essential oil from the skin cells, reducing the likelihood of an unfavorable reaction." —Dr. Nava Greenfield, a dermatologist

How to choose right carrier oil

It's crucial to pick the best carrier oil for your requirements when looking for one to use with your essential oils.

So what qualities should you consider while selecting a top carrier oil? Think on your skin type first. Choose a mild oil like jojoba or grape seed oil if you have oily skin. Try an oil like sweet almond or avocado if you have dry skin. Additionally, if you have sensitive skin, go for an unscented carrier oil like sunflower seed oil or olive oil. Since ancient times, people have used coconut oil as a moisturizer. According to some sources, the oil possesses antibacterial qualities. The major fatty acid in coconut oil, lauric acid, is responsible for a considerable portion of this.

How to use

It's critical to keep in mind that essential oils and carrier oils combine to offer therapeutic and healing effects when utilizing them together. The essential oil is helped to become less powerful and hence safer to use by carrier oils, which assist to dilute it. Additionally, they aid in skin defense and improve essential oil absorption. They also include plenty of fatty acids, antioxidants, and vitamins.

There are several dilution techniques you may use to combine your essential oil blends with carrier oils, depending on how sensitive or dry your skin is.

Since your face is more delicate than your body, a 1% dilution is suggested for it. If you have a tendency for sensitive skin, start with a lower Proportion dilution.

Since the skin on your body is less delicate than the skin on your face and can handle a larger concentration, you can dilute the product up to 5% for usage on the rest of your body.

You should always start with a smaller % dilution of essential oils in your carrier oil, regardless of your skin type, to make sure that your skin can withstand it without getting red or inflamed.

Before using the combination on a wider area of skin, test it on a tiny patch first. If you have any negative reactions, call your doctor right once. If you keep these straightforward suggestions in mind, diluting essential oils with a carrier oil is a quick and easy approach to get their advantages without risk. Making your own organic, at-home beauty products can be started by combining carrier oils and essential oils.

Excellent if your skin accepted the carrier oil and your patch test went positive! For moist skin and calming aromatherapy, you are prepared to begin blending your carrier and essential oils.

Types of carrier oils

  • Coconut oil
  • Sweet almond oil
  • Rosehip oil
  • Olive oil
  • Jojoba oil
  • Castor oil
  • Black seed oil
  • Grapeseed oil

One of the most crucial components of aromatherapy is carrier oils. To optimize the benefits of your essential oils, carrier oils can help keep them on your skin. They prolong the life of essential oils by diluting them. They also possess therapeutic qualities of their own that are advantageous to your health. To increase the shelf life of your carrier oils, make sure to keep them at room temperature in a cool, dark location.

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