Exotic Carrier Oils For Anti-Aging, Healing, And All-Around Natural Beauty

August 29, 2010 Beatrice Johnson essential oils, How To Use Essential Oils

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 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.

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.

Tamanu nut oil, also called Foraha, and even sometimes Callophylum inophyllum, is pressed from the nut of trees growing in tropical regions around the Pacific (specifically the islands of Vanuatu). The oil is unique in its consistency and color: the unfiltered oil is exceptionally thick and grainy, and can be solid at room temperature. The filtered oil is often still quite thick and grainy, with a dark green / brown color and somewhat pungent aroma. The grains are simply natural variations in makeup of the fatty acids within the oil, and will disappear when the oil is blended or applied to the skin.

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.

Relatively new on the market, and making a very big splash is Argan nut oil. From Morocco, production of the oil is being made in partnership with local communities. This newly tapped resource is actually helping preserve the environment, in that land has been set aside specifically for the protection of the trees. 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.

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.

Find more on the diverse therapeutic uses and applications of essential oils at anandaapothecary.com, one of the web’s finest sources for learning about aromatherapy.