Carrier OIls: To dilute or not dilute? That is the question.... Many oils can be applied neat - i.e. directly to the skin. But there are many reasons to always dilute your oils! 1) Evaporation - EOs evaporate - when you apply them directly to the skin it is estimated that you can lose up to 50% or more of the oil to evaporation before it has a chance to absorb into your skin. A carrier oil like Fractionated Coconut Oil (FCO) helps hold the EO to your skin and enhance absorption. And it prevents evaporation. 2) Skin Sensitivity - carrier oils help spread the absorption of the oil over a bigger area so it is not so intense on a small localized area. You are less likely to have a negative reaction using a carrier oil. 3) Long term sensitization - using the same oils directly on the skin repeatedly over time can lead to sensitization - this means you have basically overloaded your system and your body becomes sensitive to a compound in the oil. It will strongly reject that compound/oil - it is possible to become sensitized to all EOs through excessive use. Using a carrier oil will minimize the likelihood this will happen. 4) Effectiveness - at a training recently I listened to Dr. Hill (doTERRAs chief medical advisor) talk about ongoing research into the effectiveness of oils with relation to quantity. What they are finding is that the effectiveness increases with quantity to a certain point but then that relationship tails off. In fact, at some point (it is likely different for different oils) the more oil used, the less effective it becomes. In simple terms - more is not better when it comes to oils. Research also shows that the oils are just as effective diluted as they are neat - so dont worry they will still work even when diluted! Dilution is an easy way to conserve your oils, protect the health of your skin, and enhance the effectiveness of the oils! Here is a link to doTERRAs blog post on FCO and why they chose it as their featured carrier oil: doterrablog/spotlight-the-many-uses-of-fractionated-coconut-oil/
Posted on: Sat, 19 Jul 2014 04:00:35 +0000
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