Vital Force Naturals

Why don’t we use essential oils neat on the skin?

Most essential oils need to be diluted and there’s a whole range of products that can act as suitable ‘carriers’ – mediums to ‘carry’ the essential oil through the skin and into the blood stream. Now anything can be a carrier – butter, water, lotion, cream, gel, milk etc but best known and perhaps used by therapists is vegetable oil.

Known as a base or carrier oil, they have therapeutic properties all of their own. They are extracted from seeds or nuts by either cold pressing or hot extraction and are fixed, which means they leave an oily mark on surfaces and don’t evaporate in air. Aromatherapists will generally use cold pressed base oils, as they contain nutrients that are therapeutic to the skin and are broken down and lost when exposed to high temperatures. Vegetable oils you find in the supermarket have been so heavily processed and standardised they contain little or no nutritional content (in fact they are actually detrimental to health, but that’s a different story!) The cold pressed carriers that an aromatherapist uses contain varying amounts of vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids which are beneficial to the skin but this makes them susceptible to oxidation. So all carrier oils are sold in dark bottles (usually amber) and stored somewhere cold and dark. Some oils, such as sweet almond, avocado and wheatgerm are very rich in vitamin E which is a natural preservative and have a slightly longer shelf life. You can tell when an oil has ‘gone off’ as it has a rancid smell.

The skin is a semi permeable membrane which allows some substances in and out. When in the bath for instance essential oils don’t disperse in water, they mostly sit on the top. As you lay there you will absorb a small amount of water through the skin (which is why you often need a wee when you get out!) and some essential oil will be absorbed with it, but most will be evaporated in the air which you then inhale (another form of carrier!) But why do we need to dilute them anyway?

Well, a couple of oils you don’t necessarily need to dilute, namely lavender and tea tree, but essential oils are extremely strong potent substances made up of tiny molecules that are absorbed into the skin very quickly. This can result in a burning sensation and irritation (even with lavender and tea tree so always use with respect) In a massage treatment only a few drops are used in the carrier oil which allows us to spread the essential oil fairly evenly over the skin. This gives us a nice medium to work with and to prolong the absorption rate. Base oils have bigger molecules than essential oils which is why they take longer to be absorbed. This also means the body is not overwhelmed with essential oil. They are, after all, natural chemicals that are alien to the body, and once they have been absorbed into the blood stream and cells they will be transported to the liver for excretion (having done their fantastic job first!)

The skins cell membranes are made of fats and oils (as are most cells in the body) which is why fatty substances are more readily absorbed. Of course this could be in the form of a ready made body butter or lotion for every day use, but always make sure the carrier is a natural base with nothing already added or the essential oils may react with what ever it already contains. (My products are all made to order with only natural ingredients (more about that later!))

Macerated oils are carriers that have additional properties because of the way they are produced. Certain parts of a plant are chopped up and added to a vegetable oil, usually sunflower or olive, and the mix is agitated for some time before being placed in strong sunlight for several days. The essential oil contained in the plant material dissolves in the vegetable oil and the mixture is then filtered several times to remove all the plant material. This is done when the essential oil of a plant is too expensive, or simply cannot be extracted by the usual methods. These oils include calendula, hypericum, carrot and melissa. These oils tend to be thicker and expensive so are rarely used on their own.

Some of my favourite oils to use in my products are jojoba, apricot, hazelnut, calendula, carrot, sunflower and coconut, although I mix and match with many more! In my body butter I use mango and Shea butters, and in my next blog i’ll explain the therapeutic qualities of these and a few more.

Want to learn more about essential oils, carriers and how to use them effectively? Watch this space for details of Aromatherapy workshops coming very soon! 🙂