The Pet Report

Aromatherapy 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 oil is probably the most familiar, though its really still pretty exotic: Rosehip seed oil. Rosehips are actually the fruit of the rose flower, which makes it an interesting component in beauty care — in that rose essential oil is though to be one of the most therapeutic skin care essential oils. The most common rosehip seed oil is pressed from the seeds of these fruits from rose plants growing in the mountains of Chile. Now under commercial cultivation, these roses originally grew wild in the region.

In the medical aromatherapy literature, you’ll see rosehip seed oil as a primary ingredient in formulas to reduce scar appearance and to enhance wound healing. The same features of supporting cellular regeneration of the dermis make it an excellent oil for anti-aging skin care as well. There is a significant body of published research indicating regular application of rosehip seed oil can reduce scar appearance, and reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. It can be used to help with acne scars as well, the only caveat being than one needs to not be prone to breakouts any longer when using the oil. It is commonly used at about 1/5th of the total base oil formula.

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.

Tamanu is one of the few “fixed” oils discussed by Dr. Kurt Schnaubelt in Advanced Aromatherapy. He indicates it strikes a balance between a carrier oil and an essential oil, possibly due to its profound therapeutic action. The oil is thought to help nearly every conceivable skin care condition. From daily moisturizing, to preventing damage after sun exposure, to stimulating cellular turnover (and hence helping both wrinkles and scars), to helping the skin fight off fungal infections. The oil IS unique in appearance and smell, so you may want to blend it with other oils — though it can be used at 100% if so desired.

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.

The oil is rich in essential fats, plus the antioxidant vitamin E and a variety of other antioxidant polyphenols. Argan oil is reputed to have anti-aging properties, and be an excellent lightweight moisturizer. A director of research at Avada skin care suggested “the antioxidants and fatty acids work synergistically to stop inflammation”, and important point, as inflammation is a root cause of skin aging. Argan is a very user friendly oil, in that it has little aroma of its own, making its use as 100% of your base formula more of a possibility.

If you’re really wanting to go all out in creating a formula, these oils can all be combined together for your base mixture. Use equal parts of each — and consider blending with a fourth oil such as coconut, evening primrose oil apricot kernel (as you’ll commonly find each of these oils recommended at twenty percent of the base oil recipe). Once you’ve got your base mixed, choose three essential oils to suit your skin’s needs, and add 7 drops of each per ounce of carrier oil blend. You’ll have a truly superior skin care preparation, perfectly tailored to your skin’s needs.

The author is a natural health professional utilizing pure essential oils and therapeutic blends.

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