By combining essential oils and base oils you can create any number of therapeutic products for yourself, your family and your friends. The possibilities are literally endless. For the creative people amongst us the lure of making something unique is powerful. This can be as simple as adding one essential oil to one carrier oil to make a brilliant moisturiser with none of the added nasties that can often cause problems in commercial products. Here are a few ways to get started, including some simple recipes for you to try out.
Essential Oils Essential oils are highly concentrated plant extracts that each have different and overlapping properties. Some essential oils have contra indications or precautions that should be followed but so long as you follow the instructions on the bottle you will find that they are invaluable to your daily life. By combining different essential oils in a ‘blend’, you can create endless fragrances that can have both physiological and/or psychological effect. Except for in a few cases, they should not be used neat. Essential oils should be diluted, usually into base oils which are also known as carrier oils.
Base Oils Base oils used to be just that - base oils - used mostly as a base for the more active essential oils and as a basic moisturiser. Now there are myriad base oils available to us and we are far more knowledgeable about what they are capable of. Base oils come in many different weights - some are thick and viscous, some are light and some are medium weight. Some are more easily absorbed by the skin than others. They can be antioxidant, antiviral, help to smooth fine lines or even help to regulate oil secretion.