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Beautiful Oils For Beautiful Skin: Making Your Own Formulas At Home
Concentrated Beauty Medicine: The Essential Oils Essential oils seem to have a bad rap -- either their some New Age hokey medicine, or something your friend in an MLM is constantly getting you to sign up for to buy. The truth is that essential oils are a particularly concentrated form of natural botanical extract. The science shows these oils to be remarkable healers, with all sorts of actions directly related to healing and maintaining healthy skin. Even more importantly for skin care, they're readily absorbed into skin cells, offering all their therapeutic properties directly to the dermis. To make a skin care recipe, one simply need choose the essential oils with the desired therapeutic actions, and mix them with "base" oils. And don't be afraid of the word "oils" -- as the base oils have incredible therapeutic effects as well, and are readily absorbed, pleasant feeling, and downright healthy for the skin too! The Heart of Beauty Care: Rose Otto Again and again, in every natural skin care recipe book, one finds one oil more highly regarded than any other -- Rose Otto, the steam distilled variety of Rose (it is also found as an Absolute, which is more appropriate for natural perfumes). Rose Otto has a host of therapeutic skin care properties: it hydrates without being greasy, it's gently antiseptic, soothing to damaged skin, can heal broken capillaries, and supports the skin's natural metabolism. It is also the most important oil for women for its heart opening, anti-depressant action -- considered the "oil of the highest vibration" used in aroma-therapeutics. While a bit pricey, it's very potent; only a few drops are needed in any recipe. History's Favorite Skin Soother: Calendula Oil Calendula oil has been used for hundreds of years for all sorts of skin care uses. Its exceptionally soothing, with the traditional use being for infant's skin care. The flowers have been hard to work with however, limiting the uses of this magnificent medicinal plant. A new extraction technique now offers us a Calendula oil concentrate, often labeled Calendula CO2. This new extract is highly antioxidant, powerfully wound-healing, and one of the most effective soothers of irritated or damaged skin available on Earth. Companion Oils for Balance and Vitality We'll also add something truly regenerative -- one or more essential oils that really helps the skin look and feel ALIVE. Three excellent choices are Rosemary Verbenone, Helichrysum italicum, and French Lavender. Rosemary has also been used in skin care for hundreds (maybe even thousands) of years. Cleansing and invigorating, Rosemary increasing the metabolism of skin cells (more nutrients in and more waste out). The Verbenone type contains a natural constituent considered by therapists to speed tissue regeneration, making healthier skin faster! Helichrysum is more potent than Rosemary as an anti-inflammatory, and regenerative, but not quite as stimulating to cell metabolism or as strong an anti-septic. Lavender is likely the most common of the regenerative skin care essential oils; its very gentle, soothing, balancing, and cleansing -- its also quite floral, so if you like earthier aromas, choose Rosemary or Helichrysum, if you enjoy flower-scents, go for the Lavender. For specific skin care needs, we'll also include Sandalwood and Myrtle essential oils in certain blends (you'll see which oils go with which skin type in the recipes below). Both these oils are considered excellent for acne-prone skin. Myrtle is potently antiseptic, regenerative, and commonly found in acne and oily-skin formulas. Sandalwood is hydrating AND an excellent treatment for acne. Myrtle offers a great herbaceous "high note" to your blend, while Sandalwood gives a lovely earthy tone. The Base of Every Formula: Therapeutic Carrier Oils While the essential oils are often considered the "active ingredients", its important to consider the "carrier oils" are exceptionally therapeutic as well. For these recipes, we highly recommend the use of two very well-regarded tropical nut oils: Coconut and Kukui. Coconut has a very long history (thousands of years, actually) in skin care, mentioned often in Ayurvedic medicine. It is antimicrobial and hydrating (spanning the needs from the acne prone to the chronically dry). Kukui has similar properties, and remains liquid at room temperature -- allowing easy mixing and application of your custom recipe. These two oils have been used by peoples of tropical climes to care for the skin of the young and old, successfully, for so long -- and now you too can reap their benefits. Rosehip Seed: A Woman's Beauty Gift from the Mountains of Chile For everyone EXCEPT those prone to acne, Rosehip Seed oil is the third important base oil. Rosehip seed naturally balances the incredible tropical nut oils, coming from the high mountain arid regions of South America. Rosehip seed may be the most thoroughly studied carrier oil for skin care use -- and with excellent results. Rosehip has been shown to significantly reduce the appearance of wrinkles, fine lines and scars, while smoothing overall skin texture and color. Imagine what its going to do with all these other top-notch therapeutic ingredients...let's get on to mixing them. Putting It All Together Ingredients: 1 dark glass bottle 30 or 60ml (1 or 2 ounces). Blue cobalt is beautiful. Brown is also appropriate. You'll want to use a dark colored glass to protect the essential oils. Also: 1 funnel, essential oils and carrier oils of choice. Mixing instructions: Add the required number of drops of each essential oil to your empty bottle. If making 2 ounces, double the amounts, 4 ounces, 4 times, etc. With a funnel, add approximate amounts of your carrier oil -- if using all three carrier oils, for example, just fill the bottle about a third of the way with each oil. Don't overfill, as you won't be able to get the eyedropper in (if using one) without spilling! Gently invert the bottle several times and let set for a bit. The aroma will not really be brilliant until the following day, but you can use the mixture right away. The formulas are designed for using one to 3 times per day. On to the recipes: Healing Beauty Formulas For Every Skin Type: Moderate to sever dry skin with smile lines: Rose Otto 8 drops, Lavender 12 drops, Calendula CO2 6 drops, three parts Coconut and one part each Kukui and Rosehip seed oils. For mature skin with scars and smile lines: Rose Otto 6 drops, Lavender 8 drops, Helichrysum 6 drops, Rosemary V. 6 drops, based in equal parts Coconut, Kukui oil and Rosehip seed oils. For irritated or sensitive skin: Rosemary Verbenone 8 drops, Lavender 6 drops, Calendula 6 drops, Sandalwood 6 drops, in equal parts of all three base oils. For skin that is oily or combination: Green Myrtle 10 drops, Lavender 8, drops, Rosemary V. 6 drops, in equal parts of Kukui and Coconut oils only, no Rosehip Seed. And there you have it: incredibly effective "mature skin" care blends for every woman. Once you make one of these yourself, and realize you may have just made yourself the best skin care formula EVER, you can experiment a little with one or more of the hundreds of essential oils available. Each has unique therapeutic properties that are highly compatible to our skin. Here's to your happy, healthy glow! Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com The author is an aromatherapy advocate, believing that pure and natural essential oils have many important therapeutic actions. For more, visit www.anandaapothecary.com |
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