Have you seen the prices for the high-end skin care lines these days? With promises of wrinkle reduction, youthful skin and the like? The thing is, most of these products contain important, therapeutic plant extracts that are readily available to you. And those ones with unpronounceable names? Because they can’t patent plant extracts, they have to make ingredients with unpronounceable names — but choose the right plant extract, the one(s) that’s right for your skin, and you’ll get amazing results. (My partner keeps telling me I look healthier, but the only thing I’ve been doing differently is using a personal formula with many of the extracts in this article!) Here’s how to make your own, easily, quickly, and at a far more reasonable price than the latest from those laboratories in France…

Volatile Therapeutic Plant Concentrates: Essential Oils

You’ll find essential oils in every “high end” mature skin beauty product, though sometimes you’ll see them discretely labeled as “plant extracts” or similar terms. The thing is that many folks still don’t realize that essential oils truly are medicine, not just fine smelling precious liquid in tiny bottles. When you understand that essential oils are simply the concentrated “volatile” (easily evaporated liquid) constituents naturally present in ALL plants, you’ll see that they’re nothing less than any other herbal concentrate. And essential oils are so very compatible with our skin — they are very easily absorbed — that they can actually work better than other types of botanical skin care ingredients. Making a custom recipe for yourself is as simple as matching the therapeutic properties of the essential oils to your skin’s needs — then mixing them together with one or more “fixed” oils, and voila! You’ve got the perfect daily skin care creation.

Rose is the Oil of Beauty

Again and again, in every natural skin care recipe book, one finds one oil more highly regarded than any other — Rose Otto, the steam distilled variety of Rose (it is also found as an Absolute, which is more appropriate for natural perfumes). Rose Otto has a host of therapeutic skin care properties: it hydrates without being greasy, it’s gently antiseptic, soothing to damaged skin, can heal broken capillaries, and supports the skin’s natural metabolism. It is also the most important oil for women for its heart opening, anti-depressant action — considered the “oil of the highest vibration” used in aroma-therapeutics. While a bit pricey, it’s very potent; only a few drops are needed in any recipe.

Calendula: Nature’s Healing Magic

Calendula oil has been used for hundreds of years for all sorts of skin care uses. Its exceptionally soothing, with the traditional use being for infant’s skin care. The flowers have been hard to work with however, limiting the uses of this magnificent medicinal plant. A new extraction technique now offers us a Calendula oil concentrate, often labeled Calendula CO2. This new extract is highly antioxidant, powerfully wound-healing, and one of the most effective soothers of irritated or damaged skin available on Earth.

Companion Oils for Balance and Vitality

One or more of these three oils are excellent companion oils to the Rose and Calendula. Rosemary “Verbenone” is a skin-care specialty oil, distilled from a particular variety of Rosemary herb. Long used in all sorts of body care preparations, Rosemary is thought to work by stimulating cellular metabolism (increasing the amount of nutrients getting into our skin cells), speeding the creation of new cells, and enhancing our skin’s vitality. Helichrysum is even more potently regenerative — often used in wound healing, Helichrysum will also increase new skin cell production, while drawing waste products from skin tissues. And lets not forget Lavender, the Grand-Daddy of skin-care medicine. Lavender is regenerative, antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, and aids skin conditions where stress may be an underlying factor.

For specific skin care needs, we’ll also include Sandalwood and Myrtle essential oils in certain blends (you’ll see which oils go with which skin type in the recipes below). Both these oils are considered excellent for acne-prone skin. Myrtle is potently antiseptic, regenerative, and commonly found in acne and oily-skin formulas. Sandalwood is hydrating AND an excellent treatment for acne. Myrtle offers a great herbaceous “high note” to your blend, while Sandalwood gives a lovely earthy tone.

Holding It All Together: Your Formula’s Base

On to the base of the formula, the “carrier oils”. These are oils cold pressed from nuts, seeds and fruit. Olive oil is an example, but we’ll use ones more therapeutic for woman’s beauty care. Virgin Coconut oil is the foundation of every recipe. It has a host of therapeutic properties itself: it is antibacterial, antioxidant, antiviral (just in case!). Coconut oil is also VERY hydrating and is known to balance hormones in the skin on a cellular level (which can clear up a number of skin “conditions” — acne being one of them, dry irritated skin being another). Kukui nut oil, also from the tropics, is another amazing, healing base oil with numerous skin care benefits similar to Coconut. Kukui oil is beneficial for all skin types bringing a gentle softness and silkiness to the skin. Both of these oils blended in equal amounts make a wonderful base into which to add the essential oils — OR you may use one or the other, in combination with this next amazing oil…

Rosehip Seed: A Woman’s Beauty Gift from the Mountains of Chile

For everyone EXCEPT those prone to acne, Rosehip Seed oil is the third important base oil. Rosehip seed naturally balances the incredible tropical nut oils, coming from the high mountain arid regions of South America. Rosehip seed may be the most thoroughly studied carrier oil for skin care use — and with excellent results. Rosehip has been shown to significantly reduce the appearance of wrinkles, fine lines and scars, while smoothing overall skin texture and color. Imagine what its going to do with all these other top-notch therapeutic ingredients…let’s get on to mixing them.

Get Yourself Started With These Ingredients and Instructions

Gather your ingredients: 1 glass bottle 30 or 60ml (1 or 2 ounces), preferably colored glass (helps protect the oils) with an eyedropper (makes it easy to dispense your formula later). ALL recipes are for EACH FLUID OUNCE, so you’ll want to know the size of our bottle to make measuring easier. A funnel might make things easier as well. And of course your selected base oils and essential oils (note for purchasing oils — the recipe calls for drops, and essential oils are sold in milliliters — there are 25 drops per milliliter).

To Mix: Measure into the bottle your essential oils of choice. Fill the rest of the bottle with the approximate amounts of the indicated carrier oils — they need not be as exact as the essential oils. Spiral the bottle and allow to blend for 2 hours or longer. The scent will become more and more delicious over time. Use 2 x day on clean skin. Each recipe is for one fluid ounce of blend; you can make more by multiplying the amounts however many times you’d like.

Healing Beauty Formulas For Every Skin Type:

For dry skin with smile lines: Rose Otto 8 drops, Lavender 12 drops, Calendula CO2 6 drops, based in equal parts Coconut, Kukui oil and Rosehip seed oils.

For mature skin with scars and smile lines: Rose Otto 6 drops, Lavender 8 drops, Helichrysum 6 drops, Rosemary V. 6 drops, based in equal parts Coconut, Kukui oil and Rosehip seed oils.

For irritated or sensitive skin: Rosemary Verbenone 8 drops, Lavender 6 drops, Calendula 6 drops, Sandalwood 6 drops, in equal parts of all three base oils.

For skin that is oily or combination: Green Myrtle 10 drops, Lavender 8, drops, Rosemary V. 6 drops, in equal parts of Kukui and Coconut oils only, no Rosehip Seed.

Four easy recipes to get you started — and there’s so many essential oils to choose from, with a range of therapeutic properties. These blends described here can be VERY effective, and by making them yourself this first time, you’ll open up whole new doors to formulating your personal, customized, high-end skin care at a fraction of the cost of the Big Names in the business. May you have beautiful, healthy skin where every you go!

These are only a few suggestions of aromas you may enjoy in your home. See the wonderful selection of aromatherapy products at The Ananda Apothecary for more.

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