January 1, 2010!
Happy New Year! Let's hope this year is full of bliss and my new years resolution of past bra strap length hair by this time next year! Hoping!
In my last post I talked about the essential oil Lavender and the carrier oil Grape Seed. 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.
Peppermint Oil
- Cross between Watermint and Spearmint
- a high Menthol content (Side Note: Menthol is used mostly for it's cooling effect.)
- contains menthone and menthyl esters, particularly menthyl acetate
- produce a cooling sensation on the skin
- helps remove dandruff and lice
- Regulates and normalizes oily hair
- mix 2 drops of oil with 4 oz of water (This seems to be the common solution for use of Peppermint oil and it is highly recommend that you do not apply this oil directly to the hair)
- stimulates the hair follicle which helps in hair growth
- binds the hair roots and increases blood circulation which is good for preventing hair loss
- can be mixed with jojoba oil and glycerin or mixing peppermint oil, Castor oil, tea tree oil, coconut oil and vitamin E oil. This mixture is known to promote hair growth (I don't know how true this is)
- does not leave the scalp oily
- balances the pH, it can be used for the treatment of dry scalp
- can add shine and gloss to the hair
- contains minerals such as manganese, iron, magnesium, calcium, folate, potassium, and copper. It also contains omega-3 fatty acids, Vitamin A and Vitamin C.
- relatively shelf-stable when compared with other vegetable oils, it is more shelf-stable than oils of safflower oil, canola oil, almond oil but less than Castor oil and coconut oil
- replacement for whale oil and its derivatives, such as Cetyl Alcohol (Side note: Hey! Doesn't this look like a familiar term? Something we find in out normal hair care products..Lets investigate a little. See below for more info about Cetyl Alcohol and maybe a blog entry later :)
- Fungicide and used to control mildew.
- resemblance to 'sebum' or oil produced by the sebaceous glands, present in our scalp and skin (The oil our scalp naturally produces)
- oil can regulate the level of sebum production. Excess production of sebum can clog the hair follicles and impede hair growth (So if you feel you have an oily scalp this might help regulate that little problem)
- effective scalp cleanser
- improve blood circulation
- hair conditioner, which can be used to get rid of dry and frizzy hair. It can seal in the moisture in the hair shaft
So Peppermint oil and Jojoba oil! I think Peppermint and Eucalyptus are about the same but I will try both of them in my shampoo to see how I like it. I have used Jojoba before and I have personally noted how light the oil is. I do like it and when I make my mix (Post on that way later!) I will definitely be including it.
Cetyl and other Alcohol's
Now...I bet you thought I forgot! Cetyl Alcohol. Now when I first started this hair journey I read that alcohol was bad and so I looked for products without alcohol and then I stopped myself and asked "Why is alcohol bad?" Well, alcohol is bad because it can draw out moisture from the hair and scalp. "But there are a few different alcohols listed on various products I use and it seems almost impossible to get any without alcohol! What is a girl on a journey to do? Keep researching is what!
So not all alcohols are created equally and therefore may not be so bad, which is like most things.
Some bad alcohols are ethanol, SD alcohol, SD alcohol 40, Alcohol denat, Propanol, Propyl alcohol and Isopropyl alcohol. They can be used to evenly distribute product through the hair to remove oil and/or residue from the hair. As we all know the act of dirt or oil residue on the hair can be a very rough act for hair which can weaken and remove the elements we work so hard in imparting to our hair. This alcohols can leave the cuticles lifted and rough. So we will call this drying alcohols.
Fatty alchols are Lauryl Alcohol, Cetyl Alcohol, Myristyl Alcohol, Stearyl Alcohol, Cetearyl Alcohol and Behenyl alcohol. Fatty is also 'oily'. These alcohol's usually act as an emollient and will help smooth the hair cuticle. Like all things they should be used in moderation as it can react with the sebum you naturally create and cause oily hair. So fatty alcohols not so bad!
Please stay tuned for my next blog and the last of this series : Let's talk Oils! Part 4: Random Essential and Carrier Oils that need mention
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