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Essential Oils
Essential Oils
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Essential oil have enjoyed a significant role in skin and hair care for centuries. Due to their successful results essential oils have become a fundamental part of numerous skin and hair care products.
An essential oil is a concentrated, hydrophobic liquid containing volatile aroma compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile or ethereal oils, or simply as the "oil of" the plant from which they were extracted, such as oil of clove. An oil is "essential" in the sense that it carries a distinctive scent, or essence, of the plant. They may be found in any part of the plant like flower, stem, leaves, bark, berries and roots.
Essential oils are gaining popularity for their role in skin and hair care and have become an important ingredient of numerous commercial products.
Essential oils are usaully stored in colored bottles.
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Although it is not necessary to use them for your regular hair care regimen, however they are found to be very effective in promoting healthy hair and retaining their natural color for long. These oils are great for nourishing, cleansing, and strengthening hair follicles and shaft. Many of them have a very beneficial effect on hair growth. Beside this essential oils can be a great way to treat minor hair and scalp problems.
Essential oils are extremely volatile, but not at all greasy. They are usually supplied in dark glass bottles and should be stored in the bottles, at a cool place and out of direct sunlight.
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Using Essential Oils for Hair Care
Essential oils are very potent so they should never be used undiluted. For massage, they must be blended with a carrier oil; any vegetable oil can be used for this purpose. Luxurious carrier oils are;
- Peanut oil
- Apricot oil
- Avocado oil
- Coconut oil
- Sweet almond oil
- Jojoba oil
- Grape seed oil
It is advisable to avoid those with a strong smell themselves like olive oil or corn oil.
For diluting essential oils it is a rule to add a drop of it into four table spoons of carrier oil. You may add two or more oils at the same time to make your hair treatment more effective. You may also squeeze a wheat germ capsule into the mixture for additional vitamin E. It improves the shelf life of essential oils as well as helps in healing.
Make your preperation in a dark colored bottle and shake well before use. Warm the oil before using either by immersing bottle in warm water or by taking small amount on your palm and rubbing both hands. Apply this to dry or towel dry hair. You can even apply essential oils to the hair in the warm weather.
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The most common essential oils are as follows;
- Lavender oil
- Rosemary oil
- Ylang ylang oil
- Tea tree oil
- Chamomile oil
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