Carrier Oils

What Are Carrier Oils?

Prior to using essential oils in aromatherapy they must be diluted in a carrier, since they are too strong to use alone. Even though there are other carriers just like base creams and base lotions that can be employed to dilute essential oils in aromatherapy, carrier oils are the most frequently used choice due to their variety.

Carrier oils offer the essential lubrication to enable the hands to move easily over the skin and not drag while massaging, while at the same time holding the essential oils into the body. They need to be light and non-sticky for this transmission to occur effectively, and ideally have very minor odor.

Carrier oils - Important role to play

Carrier oils play a far more important role in aromatherapy than many individuals know, and in comparison to the essential oils some individuals feel they are of little benefits. To imagine this would be a mistake however, because they provide a wealth of health-giving advantages of their own.

They have vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids, and many of them soften and enhance the condition of the skin. Some of them are also extremely effective in treating agitated, delicate conditions such as eczema and skin psoriasis as well as assisting to minimize wrinkles and scar tissue. And in the event you hadn't already done the math; carrier oils make up 98 percent of a regular aromatherapy treatment.

From a technical perspective considered as fixed oils due to the fact they do not evaporate, carrier oils are also recognized as base oils and vegetable oils. They are mostly produced from nuts and seeds, despite the fact that there are a few exclusions to this generalization. For instance, coconut oil is produced by a special process from the white flesh, and jojoba oil is taken out from a leathery-leaved plant and is basically a liquid wax as opposed to an oil.

Extraction techniques

The oil obtained from nuts and seeds is generally taken out by one of two unique methods. The first process is recognized as cold pressing and is limited to comparatively small range production these days due to the increased cost. The nuts or seeds are put in a horizontal press with a spinning screw known as an expeller and the oil is practically squeezed out.  Regardless of the processing name, a specific amount of heat is generated during the process because of friction, but this hardly ever surpasses 70° or 80° C and leads to little damage to the oil.  The oil is then strained and sold as a complete product.

Large level industrial production uses a technique known as hot extraction and uses an identical process, but enormous heat is used throughout the process to improve the produce of oil, and temperatures used can reach up to 200° C which damages the essential vitamins and fatty acids. The waste product from both techniques of extraction, identified as cake is often re-processed using solvents to draw out even more oil. This oil is re-heated once again, polished, deodorized and the color is bleached out. Lastly, unnatural color, additives and vitamins are added back.

These highly polished, solvent produced oils usually end up on store shelves for use in cooking and are therefore completely inappropriate to use in aromatherapy. All the natural vitamins, nutrients and fatty acids have been ruined while in the extraction process and they are a dead solution. You should often buy cold pressed oils for aromatherapy and your skin will be certain to feel the benefits. Unfortunately, grape seed oil can not be manufactured by cold pressing since a genuine yield of oil can not be produced without having applying heat.

Refined or unrefined carrier oils?

Some oils such as Avocado, Coconut and Wheatgerm are offered in both a refined and unrefined type, and where you have the option you should always select the unrefined oil. Unrefined Coconut oil is difficult to use considering that it sets like butter, and is for that reason made available in the type of a fractionated oil and is very beneficial in aromatherapy.

Unrefined Avocado oil is a dark green color and has a very robust scent which is not to everybody's preference, but however is loaded with lecithin and vitamins A and D. Furthermore unrefined Wheatgerm oil is a dark orange color with a strong scent typical of the cereal, and has high levels of necessary fatty acids and some vitamin E.

The cosmetics market enjoys refined oils considering that the darker colors and heavy scents can have a negative effect on the final merchandise. For this reason, unrefined oils are usually only manufactured in much smaller amounts and can be a little more challenging to find - particularly if you only purchase from health outlets. Thankfully, most reliable aromatherapy retailers will usually offer a choice of unrefined, cold pressed organic oils.

How to select a carrier oil

There is a wide variety of carrier oils to select from, plus some other infused or macerated oils for example Calendula and St Johns Wort. The selection of vegetable oils offered to a starter can seem a little confusing in the beginning, since there is very little published on this significant subject in many guides. But selecting which one is for you is not actually complex at all.

Picking out a carrier oil is precisely the same as choosing an essential oil,  you decide on one with the qualities that you need for your specific needs. You just require to know some basic information about the qualities, steps and viscosity of vegetable oils, and then deciding upon becomes simpler.

All of these vegetable oils are the very best that you can use for intense facial therapies and body massage, and they can be mixed to suit your specific needs. Try things out with your oils until you obtain what works best for you , that's one of the important factors to good results with aromatherapy.

Sweet Almond, Peach and Apricot oils are extremely functional and can be used for both body massage and facial therapies since they are light and quickly absorbed. If you are worried about the chance of nut-allergy side effects then Sunflower is a fantastic body oil since it is produced from seeds, and the same is applicable to Grape seed.

Black Seed, Bo-rage, Evening Primrose, Jojoba and Rose hip oils all provide excellent results in facial treatments, but may require diluting with another lighter oil if you need to use them in body massage. None of these oils are produced from nuts either.

Unrefined Avocado and Wheatgerm are ideal for nourishing the skin in an over night procedure, but are a little too serious to use in body massage. They have a strong scent that some individuals do not like, but please don't let that deter you! They are outstanding, deep nourishing oils that will offer essential fatty acids and nutrients to make softer your skin.

If you want to use these more potent oils in body massage or facial treatments just add them to a lighter oil just like Almond, Apricot or Peach oil at around 15-20 percent, - then you can appreciate all their healing benefits without the smell. Of course you can do the same with any of the different deep-nourishing oils - and it allows to keep the cost per therapy down too.

So go and enjoy your aromatherapy using the best carrier oils that suits your needs.