Carrier Oils - So Much more than just a vegetable oil!
Aromatherapy is one of the fastest growing industries and with growth comes great responsibility!
If you’re new to essential oils, you’ve probably heard people say you need to dilute them and many of the big businesses in the essential oil business suggest coconut oil. But is that enough? What if you react to coconut oil? Why coconut oil? What kind? So many questions!
The truth is, aromatherapy is a therapeutic practise that involves understanding the benefits of an entire blend, including the carrier oil you opt to dilute with, and interestingly you might find in the aromatherapy industry that coconut oil is not as popular as it is in the consumer world.
What is a Carrier Oil
So what exactly is a carrier oil then and why should you own more than just coconut oil?
Carrier oil is a term used in aromatherapy meant to imply the action of a vegetable or diluting oil, carrying the essential oil or absolute to its intended destination. Essentially if you want to absorb essential oils in the skin and waste less on the evaporation rate, you will use a carrier oil.
Most carrier oils are vegetable based oils. Some carrier oils are created from seeds, nuts and fruit as well.
What to look for in a Carrier Oil
Carrier oils should be cold pressed and organic.
Some believe that an informed consumer should look for a cosmetic grade carrier oil, some believe any cold-pressed organic oil will work. When we look at Fractionated Coconut oil, the cosmetic grade usually lacks any scent, which may be more preferable from the MCT or cooking oil because they will smell like coconuts.
But in general, cosmetic grade is preferable for products. Cold pressed organic bought from a grocery store is acceptable as well however, it just might smell stronger.
Carrier oils will prevent essential oils from evaporating and more essential oils will penetrate the skin
Why Use Carrier Oils
Some aromatherapy experts suggest that essential oils can evaporate as much as 95% without a carrier from a neat application (undiluted). However by using a carrier oil you change the absorption rate from an estimated 5% to 90% or more by stopping the evaporation rate of the essential oil. Sounds like a smart reason to not only save money on oils but increase their benefits and effectiveness by wasting less on the volatility.
Aromatherapists often observe the fatty content of the carrier and how the client would benefit best from a blend as a whole, including the carrier oils, essential oils and hydrolats.
An Introduction To Carrier Oils
Coconut Oil (Cocos nucifera)
We will start with the most commonly known and used one - coconut oil.
Coconut oil is a great option, but the essential oil user needs to understand that there are two types of coconut oil, the solid oil and the liquid. In grocery stores the liquid coconut oil is often called MCT (medium chain triglyceride) and sometimes still has a slight coconut scent to it. The solid coconut oil needs to be spooned out. Both these oils may have the ability to stain, although MCT oil is likely not to.
In aromatherapy, we call the liquid coconut oil, fractionated coconut oil. This oil is ideal because it doesn’t stain and doesn’t have the coconut odour or it's not as pungent.
Fractionated Coconut oil has a long shelf life, about 2 years, is ideal for preventing stretch marks and is found to be ideal for massage oils.
The solid coconut oil would be ideal for salves and butters.
Jojoba Oil (Simmondsia chinensis)
Jojoba is a favourite for aromatherapy because it is also non-staining and has a long shelf life of approximately two years. It’s actually a wax and not an oil at all, but it's liquid like an oil.
Jojoba doesn’t have any noticeable scent and is ideal for aging skin, dry skin, acne prone skin, skin injuries and hair care.
Sweet Almond Oil (Amygdalus communis)
Almond carrier oil is very common, but not for anyone with a tree nut allergy, especially an almond allergy.
It’s a very lubricating oil, it can be found still helping the skin several days later. Almond is ideal for inflammation as it offers soothing and skin nourishing benefits.
Apricot Kernel Oil (Prunus armeniaca)
Apricot is created from the kernels, or seeds of the apricot. It offers similar benefits to almond, so if a tree nut allergy is present, this may be a great substitute.
It is a lighter oil and is ideal in skin salves. Some authors have hypothesized it could be helpful for cancer patients, but it is not yet scientifically proven as far as we know.
Avocado Oil (Persia gratissima)
Avocado oil comes from the flesh of the fruit. Cooking oils are almost always from the flesh. The cosmetic grade carrier oil can be pressed from the large seed pit however.
Avocado oil is ideal for aging skin, sensitive skin and damaged skin.
Grape-seed Oil (Vitis vinifera)
Grape-seed oil is a cold-pressed oil created from the grape seeds.
It can help with skin collagen and is a light oil with great skin penetrating features, as well as tightening the skin.
Olive Oil (Olea eurpoaea)
Olive oil can be found in just about every kitchen, it's cold-pressed from the olive pits.
The cosmetic grade oil is sometimes considerably more expensive, it's a higher grade of oil compared to the cooking oil.
It contains a compound already present in our skin naturally. It’s an ideal oil for its protective properties and its lubricating benefits. Dry and aging skin would benefit greatly from olive oil.
Sunflower Oil (Helianthus angus)
The oil is pressed from the flowers.
It contains nutrients that protect the skin and the oil from oxidizing earlier than some carrier oils.
Overall this is just a small sampling of carrier oils!
There are also butters, waxes, macerated and infused oils.
Follow us on social media to learn more about the various carrier oils, other aromatherapy tools and so much more!
References:
Parker, Susan M. Power of the Seed Your Guide to Oils for Health & Beauty. Process, 2015.
LEARN MORE WITH ESSENTRIA
Want to learn more about how to use essential oils in your home? Check out our free no strings attached online course here.
Plus consider joining us in our Facebook group Love Essential Oils with Essentria where we post tips and tricks on how to use aromatherapy safely in your daily life.
Want to learn more about how to become an aromatherapist, check out our certification courses and bundles offered online here.
