The Best Carrier Oils for any Essential Oil
If you wish to use any essential oil, you must first dilute it with a carrier oil. Carrier oil is oil that is extracted from the seeds, kernels, or nuts of plants. Essential oils can have many benefits for the skin, hair and overall health but are not safe to be used on their own. This is because essential oils are highly volatile. That is, they tend to evaporate rather quickly, leaving behind the concentrated and potent plant aroma. This makes them far too strong to be used directly. As a result, you need to mix the essential oil that you are using with carrier oil before it can be used on your body. Carrier oils tend to be neutral. As a result, they are ideal for complimenting and diluting any essential oil. In fact, you can mix the essential oil that you wish to use with a carrier oil to make massage balms, lotions, hair masks etc that you can then apply on your skin or hair. Because carrier oils do not evaporate and also do not give off too strong an aroma, they are the ideal companion for any essential oil. They tend to retain and also carry with them all of the healing and medicinal properties that are characteristic of essential oils. The best thing is that the concentration levels are entirely up to you. You alone can decide the ratio of each essential oil to carrier oil. This isn’t all there is to carrier oils. In fact, different carrier oils have their own therapeutic properties. These are based on the unique natural nutrients and the fatty acids that each carrier oil contains.It is in fact these unique characteristics of each carrier oil that influences their specific application style and even their shelf-life. If you want to use a particular essential oil, you must first do some research and select the ‘right’ carrier oil to go with it. In fact, sometimes choosing the correct carrier oil can significantly impact just how successful your essential oil will be. This being said, do keep in mind that just any carrier oil from your kitchen might not do the right job. Some people think that even ‘baby oil’ or mineral oil can do a decent job. This isn’t true, however. In fact, most petroleum-based oils don’t do much to enhance the natural properties of the essential oil you opt for. Here is a comprehensive list of some of the best carrier oils for essential oils.
Olive Oil
Olive oil is comes from the fruit found on the olive tree. This oil has a number of amazing health benefits. You can use it for a lot more than just cooking food. Olive oil consists of 75% oleic acid. This makes it ideal to be used for cooking because its many properties make it great for the heart and your overall cardiovascular system. Olive oil can lower levels of ‘bad’ cholesterol and raise levels of ‘good’ cholesterol. Furthermore, olive oil also has anti-inflammatory properties that can help reduce your resistance to insulin. There are many reasons for why olive oil is perfect carrier oil. For starters, it has a light texture and a fruity fragrance that isn’t too overwhelming. For this reason, it works well when blended with any type of essential oil. Because olive oil is not too greasy, it can easily be used on your skin or hair, without clogging the pores of your skin or making your hair too oily. Olive oil is ideal for reducing dandruff, frizz from the hair, and even treating extra dry skin. When purchasing olive oil, make sure to opt for the unrefined variety. Unrefined olive oil is the best because it is free from all sorts of heat-related and chemical processes. Unrefined or virgin olive oil also comprises of the highest concentration of oleic acid, relative to other oils.
Coconut Oil
Coconut oil is perhaps the most popular carrier oil used to dilute essential oils, and there are many reasons for this. Coconut oil comes from the coconut tree. It is overflowing in natural antioxidants and also has incredible anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and anti-fungal properties. Typically, coconut oil is incredible for nourishing and softening the hair, skin, and nails. For this reason, it is also great for treating dry skin conditions. Furthermore, coconut oil has comprises of 50% lauric acid. This implies that coconut oil can retain a pretty long shelf life and can even increase levels of good cholesterol or HDL. Each time you purchase a bottle of coconut oil, you need to make sure that you end up buying unrefined coconut oil. Unrefined coconut oil is desirable because it does not go through the process of chemical extraction. You can even buy coconut oil that remains solid at room temperature. This sort of coconut oil is better for making home-made balms, lotions and creams because of its texture and because it smells great. Alternatively you can even purchase liquid coconut oil that has no fragrance whatsoever.
Jojoba Oil
Jojoba oil comprises of more than 75% eicosenoic acid. This is a long omega-9 fatty acid that cannot typically be digested by humans. Jojoba oil is popular for being the carrier oil that is nearest to resembling the natural oils that are secreted from the human body. For this reason, jojoba oil is an ideal moisturizer to use on areas such as your face and neck that that may look too oily if you used other carrier oils. Because jojoba oil is extracted from jojoba tree seeds, it generally has a lighter, slightly nutty aroma. Jojoba oil also has anti- fungal properties. As a result, it works pretty well when combined with an essential oil. Additionally, jojoba oil comprises of the longest chain of essential fatty acids, as compared to any other carrier oil. It also has an incredible ability to resist oxidation, owing to which it has a long shelf life. Additionally, because of its high rate of absorption, it is one of the number one carrier oils to use with an essential oil.
Castor Oil
Castor oil comes from the castor bean plant seeds. For centuries now, castor oil has been in use to treat various sorts of skin ailments and conditions. Constipation is one of them. Castor oil is also significant towards improving hair health. Recent research has even discovered that in addition to these, castor oil is also great for increasing the white blood cells in the body. White blood cells are crucial for killing viruses, bacteria, fungus and even cancer cells in the body! The reason castor oil is preferable as a carrier oil, compared to other similar oils is that it is made up off ricinoleic acid. This is a type of unsaturated fatty acid that is typically found in cold-pressed castor oil of a high quality. This fatty acid provides a range of health benefits such as increasing healing time, enhancing your immunity to diseases by improving your lymphatic system. This can, in turn, help your body to detoxify, improve circulation within the body, and also help with digestion. Research has in fact even found that castor oil packs that are used on the abdomen are great for detoxifying the liver, helping solve problems with the uterus and the ovaries, improve circulation, and reduce overall inflammation. Castor oil also has natural anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties. For these reasons, castor oil is ideal for healing and even curing skin infections and treating fungal infections and even for preventing sunburns. The ricinoleic acid present in castor oil is great for fighting acne, because it kills the bacteria that clog pores. It also moisturizes the skin at the same time.Omega-6 fatty acids that constitute castor oil can make your hair shiny, can improve circulation in your scalp and can even make your hair grow super fast.
Argan Oil
Argan oil is oil that is best known for its anti-aging properties. It is also commonly known to promote hair growth and for repaired damaged hair and getting rid of split ends. This oil acts as incredible carrier oil because it is full of rich and moisturizing properties. In fact, this is the reason the cosmetics industry resorts to using argon oil so often in their formulations. Argan oil is extracted from the fruit of the Moroccan argan tree or Argania spinosa. This oil is full of antioxidants, Vitamins E and A, and even oleic and linoleum fatty acids. Because of these properties, argan oil is useful for helping protect your skin from harmful UV radiation. It is also useful for protecting the skin from inflammation. Furthermore, argan oil can reduce the appearance of scars and stretch marks and is even good for healthy nails and cuticles. If you are looking for carrier oil that is great for regenerating skin cells and preventing early signs of aging, this oil may be the one for you. Argan oil is also great if you want to fight off acne. Commercial acne-reducing products can dry out the skin and are therefore undesirable. Argan oil offers a natural solution to a problem people everywhere suffer from. All you have to do is combine a few drops of argan oil with a single drop of tea tree essential oil. Then, take a cotton swab and dab on to the problematic areas. If you do this for a few days straight, you should notice a marked improvement.
Avocado Oil
Avocado oil comes from the fruit of the avocado tree. The avocado tree is almost in fact one-third oil. It is one of the thickest in texture and also one of the most luxurious on this list. Avocado oil is a great oil to use as carrier oil. It has anti-aging properties and contains palmitoleic acid. This is a type of fatty acid that is found organically in human fatty tissues just underneath the skin. Because avocado oil resembles this fat, your skin will absorb it easily. For this reason, avocado oil acts as an incredible natural moisturizer. As you grow older, your skin tends to thin out and needs increasing nourishment and avocado oil can help because of its moisturizing properties. Avocado oil has a lot of concentrations of linoleic and oleic fatty acids. As a result, this oil has great anti-inflammatory properties. Avocado oil is also full of vitamins A, D, and E and antioxidants. Avocado oil is the perfect carrier oil for you if you have irritable skin conditions such as eczema or psoriasis. Avocado oil has high viscosity. It tends to dry slowly which makes it the perfect carrier oil for massage balms and lotions. You can even mix avocado oil with some other carrier oil such as carrier oil such as olive oil for more interesting results.
Grapeseed Oil
As suggested by its name, grapeseed oil comes from grape seeds and is extracted from them. Grape seeds tend to be full of antioxidants and a whole bunch of other nutrients. As a result, grapeseed oil is also loaded with minerals, proteins, vitamin E and even linoleum acid, which is naturally anti-inflammatory. Grapeseed oil serves a range of different purposes. It can be used for cooking and can also be used in cosmetics. There are many reasons why grapeseed oil is good carrier oil. For starters, it isn’t too greasy and doesn’t make your skin too oily. In fact, store-bought cosmetics, including sunscreens, lotions, etc, are generally far greasier than grapeseed oil could ever be. Additionally, grapeseed oil has antiseptic properties and even functions as a mild astringent. As a result, grapeseed oil is ideal for use if your skin is oily or if you have acne-prone skin. Grapeseed oil is typically lighter than coconut oil. It can moisturize and nourish your hair without making it too oily and can even help get rid of dandruff. This was our list of some of the best carrier oils for essential oils. So stop waiting and grab your bottles of carrier and essential oils today!