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Sunday, December 26, 2010

Let's talk Oils! Part 2: Essential Oil: Lavender and Carrier Oil: Grape seed

December 26, 2010

Hello, Hello, Hello!

In my last post I talked about the essential oil Eucalyptus and the carrier oil Avocado. If your thinking that the intro to this blog looks similar don't think your crazy because it is! I basically copied the intro from that post to this post to go over the basics of what an essential and carrier oil are so please feel free to skip to the good parts!

Doing some research and I wanted to buy some essential oils (An essential oil is a liquid that is generally distilled from leaves, stems, flowers, bark, roots, or other elements of a plant. Essential oils don't really have oily feeling. Essential oils are highly concentrated and a little goes ways)

I found an an essential oil set on Amazon for $19.95 and it includes: Eucalyptus, Lavender, Lemongrass, Peppermint, Sweet Orange & Tea Tree. Which I think is perfect because I am a still learning and going through my T&E(Trial and Error) stage.

So from what I gather you want to add an essential oil with a carrier oil to your hair care products to boost the effect of the product. Like I have said no product is a miracle product, they just help you on your way and these added oils should help. So this is part one of, well I don't know how many parts there are quite a few essential oils and not nearly as many carrier oils, so I will try to stick with the most popular or well known ones but I may add more essential oils as they interest me.

Lavender Oil
  • has recently been implicated in gynecomastia, the abnormal development of breasts in young boys, However, that gynecomastia actually was caused by the essential oils in the products used by the three boys are currently being disputed by the Natural Artisan Perfumers Guild and Cropwatch on the claimed basis of insufficient evidence (Side note: This was a study of 3 boys...3, most studies contain a large variety of people. The reason for this is so that you can have a control group and a test group. Most studies are double blind so that the results won't be skewed in either direction. I would not consider this a study but rather a case where 3 boys had the same symptoms and were treated successfully by the removal of any products that contain Lavender or Tea Tree Oil. That does not necessarily mean that these products caused there situation and no follow up results were taken from the boys. All had either used lavender-scented soap and skin lotions, or shampoos or styling products that contained tea tree oil and lavender oil as ingredients)
  • effective in treating the problem of hair loss
  • treats a variety of hair problems including alopecia
  • enhances blood circulation, hence a scalp massage will definitely help improve hair growth
  • Can reduce itchy scalp and dandruff

Grape Seed Oil
  • grape seed oil leaves a glossy film over the skin
  •  It contains more linoleic acid than many other carrier oils (Side Note: deficiency in linoleic acid can result in symptoms such as hair fall and dry hair. Can help support cell health) 
  • contains small amounts of Vitamin E but not as much as Safflower Oil, Cottonseed Oil or rice bran oil
  • can help add shine and moisture to your hair
  • has a light non greasy texture
  • absorbed by hair quickly
  • When grape seed oil is used as a carrier oil by diluting it with other essential oils it moisturizes and nourishes the hair making it soft and manageable
  • heating grape seed oil and applying it to the scalp and hair ends greatly helps to make hair shiny, reducing brittleness
  •  smooths the hair cuticles, sealing in the moisture and making each hair strand strong
So can I say OMG! Grape seed oil sounds fantastic. From what I gather it is the only carrier oil that someone hasn't said is bad in some way. I knew I wanted to try it because I Megz (From youtube) uses it. It's a light oil that seems perfect for sealing your hair and to extend an essential oil. As for Lavender oil, I don't really think it's for me. It has some nice benefits but they are pretty much the same as some other ingredients. From what I can tell the best benefit is increased blood flow which is also caused by Eucalyptus oil.

Stay turned for the next part. Let's talk Oils! Part 3: Essential Oil: Peppermint and Carrier Oil: Jojoba

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