How to Use Essential Oils for Your Skin

Essential oils have been around for thousands of years and are derived from plants. The oils are extracted from the seeds, roots, leaves, and even from the skins of the plants. In fact, these oils give plants and flowers their fragrances.

What are found inside these essential oils? Hormones, vitamins, and other natural elements are found in these essential oils. The oils vary in concentration when they are in their natural form. Synthetic oils, by contrast, are man-made but have a more consistent composition. The experts say that synthetic and natural essential oils work equally well.

Nobody knows exactly how essential oils work, but we do know that they are absorbed through the skin and into the bloodstream. The best access on the skin to administer essential oils is the eyelids, inside the wrist, and behind the ears. These areas on the skin are thin, which allows for easy absorption.

The best essential oils for your skin are:

• If you have hormonally or stress reactive skin then lavender, geranium, ylang-ylang, and jasmine are the best options.
• If you are interested in using environmentally sensitive oils then chamomile, rose are the correct ones.
• For Overexposed or Hearty use geranium, neroli, frankincense serves the best purpose.

Joni Loughran, in “Aromatherapy for Skin and Hair Care,” recommends the following simple strategies for essential skin care:

• Drop eight to ten drops of essential oil for your skin profile in the bath. Use warm water to relax or cool water to revitalize or calm inflammation.
• Massage your body with essential oil. Add twenty to twenty-five drops of essential oil to two ounces of canola or other vegetable. If your skin tends to break, rinse with a mild soap-and-water shower after the massage.
• Make a facial compress: Add two to five drops of essential oil to a basin filled with water, stir, and then immerse a clean washcloth. Squeeze out excess water and apply the cloth to your face.
• Add ten to twenty drops of essential oil to simple moisturizing products, for every two ounces.