Aromatherapy Uses - Skin and Hair Care

by John Spencer Ellis

More and more of today's skin and hair care products are made using essential oils and the people using these types of products are benefiting in several ways. Not only are they giving themselves top-notch skin and hair care, they're also reaping the benefits of aromatherapy.

When it comes to using the essential oils that are such a big part of aromatherapy, it's important to understand a bit about your skin and hair type. Each plant's essential oils provide a number of different therapeutic benefits so knowing about your skin and hair will help you match up your needs with the appropriate ingredients.

Moisturizing your skin is as easy as adding suitable carrier oil into an essential oil that's appropriate for your skin type and then massaging the combined treatment into your skin.

Aromatherapy skin and hair care products can cause problems for people who have sensitive skin or allergies. If you have a bad reaction to a product, whether it's store-bought or homemade, discontinue use. If you're unsure how you will react to an essential oil, test it on a small area first for a few days and see what happens.

If the problem you're trying to alleviate isn't going away, the products may not be working. If necessary, consult with a specialist for advice on how to proceed.

Which aromatherapy ingredients to use for skin/hair care and how?

For normal skin, try using rose, lavender or chamomile essential oils. Chamomile also works well on dry or sensitive skin and skin that is prone to acne or eczema. To use any of these oils, add several drops into your favorite fragrance-free face mask and use as directed. Or add right into your bath water.

Tee tree and cajeput oils also can help with acne. A good carrier oil to mix with these essential oils is grapeseed. You can also mix several drops with rose water to create a toner.

Sandalwood oil is effective at reducing some visible signs of aging such as wrinkles and dry skin. Rose oils, frankincense, neroli and geranium oils are also effective in treating mature skin.

Palmarosa oils are commonly used in both skin and hair care products. These oils have moisturizing and hydrating qualities and they stimulate cell regeneration.

Used neat or combined with carrier oil, the essential oils mentioned above can be massaged into skin or added to bath water. Besides mixing essential oils into carrier oils, you can also mix them into creams and lotions containing lanolin as long as these products don't contain a fragrance. Then just gently massage into skin.

When excess exposure to the sun is a problem, massage affected areas with lavender or chamomile oils blended with carrier oil.

A good final rinse for hair is a mixture of apple cider vinegar, lemon essential oil and water. In a container, mix 4 teaspoons water, 2 teaspoons vinegar and 3 drops lemon oil. Massage into hair and rinse well.

One-half cup dry rosemary leaves mixed with 1/2 cup olive oil makes a good hot oil treatment for hair. Mix ingredients in a pan and heat. Strain. Coat hair with mixture then wrap in plastic for 20 minutes. Wash thoroughly.