Have you always wanted to try the world's finest skin care product, but found the prices somewhat outrageous? Ever considered making your own? It's so easy to do, and you can create a formula precisely to match your skin type, with remarkable effective natural and pure botanicals (plant-based ingredients). Making these yourself will give you a skin care product that matches or exceeds the effectiveness of anything you can buy over the counter at a truly affordable price. Try one of these recipes and you may never go back to fancy labels, boxes and prices ever again!
Essential Oils: The Best Skin Care Botanicals
You'll find essential oils in every "high end" mature skin beauty product, though sometimes you'll see them discretely labeled as "plant extracts" or similar terms. The thing is that many folks still don't realize that essential oils truly are medicine, not just fine smelling precious liquid in tiny bottles. When you understand that essential oils are simply the concentrated "volatile" (easily evaporated liquid) constituents naturally present in ALL plants, you'll see that they're nothing less than any other herbal concentrate. And essential oils are so very compatible with our skin -- they are very easily absorbed -- that they can actually work better than other types of botanical skin care ingredients. Making a custom recipe for yourself is as simple as matching the therapeutic properties of the essential oils to your skin's needs -- then mixing them together with one or more "fixed" oils, and voila! You've got the perfect daily skin care creation.
Woman's Oil of Beauty: Rose Essential Oil
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.
Calendula: Nature's Healing Magic
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
One or more of these three oils are excellent companion oils to the Rose and Calendula. Rosemary "Verbenone" is a skin-care specialty oil, distilled from a particular variety of Rosemary herb. Long used in all sorts of body care preparations, Rosemary is thought to work by stimulating cellular metabolism (increasing the amount of nutrients getting into our skin cells), speeding the creation of new cells, and enhancing our skin's vitality. Helichrysum is even more potently regenerative -- often used in wound healing, Helichrysum will also increase new skin cell production, while drawing waste products from skin tissues. And lets not forget Lavender, the Grand-Daddy of skin-care medicine. Lavender is regenerative, antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, and aids skin conditions where stress may be an underlying factor.
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.
Holding It All Together: Your Formula's Base
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.
Get Yourself Started With These Ingredients and Instructions
Gather your ingredients: 1 glass bottle 30 or 60ml (1 or 2 ounces), preferably colored glass (helps protect the oils) with an eyedropper (makes it easy to dispense your formula later). ALL recipes are for EACH FLUID OUNCE, so you'll want to know the size of our bottle to make measuring easier. A funnel might make things easier as well. And of course your selected base oils and essential oils (note for purchasing oils -- the recipe calls for drops, and essential oils are sold in milliliters -- there are 25 drops per milliliter).
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:
Brilliant Beauty Recipes for All Skin Types:
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.
Mature skin with scars or color variations and smile lines: Rose Otto 6 drops, Lavender 8 drops, Helichrysum 6 drops, Rosemary V. 6 drops, Equal parts Coconut, Kukui, and Rosehipseed oils.
Irritated or sensitive skin, perhaps with broken capillaries: Rosemary 8 drops, Lavender 6 drops, Calendula CO2 6 drops, Sandalwood 6 drops, in three parts Coconut and one part each Kukui and Rosehip seed oils.
For oily, acne-prone or combination skin: Myrtle 10 drops, Lavender 8, drops, Rosemary V., 6 drops, in equal parts of Kukui and Coconut oils.
Four easy recipes to get you started -- and there's so many essential oils to choose from, with a range of therapeutic properties. These blends described here can be VERY effective, and by making them yourself this first time, you'll open up whole new doors to formulating your personal, customized, high-end skin care at a fraction of the cost of the Big Names in the business. May you have beautiful, healthy skin where every you go!
The author is a degreed naturopath and herbologist, and owner of Ananda Aromatherapy and Synergy Essential Oils of Boulder, Colorado. Her passion is getting the word out on the amazing healing effects of essential oils in particular, and natural medicine in general. More on aroma-therapeutics is available at The Ananda Apothecary at anandaapothecary.com anandaapothecary.com and Synergy Essentials at synergyessentialoils.com synergyessentialoils.com.
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