Essential Oils in Natural and Organic Skin Care Products

Many natural and organic skincare products use essential oils as an ingredients, whilst other products are based on combinations of essential oils as their primary, or indeed only, ingredients.

Knowing that a natural or organic skincare product uses a certain essential oil is all well and good, but how can you be certain as to what properties that oil is giving the product in question? Is the fact that a cream contains bergamot oil good if you?re suffering from a touch of stress, or will it simply serve to make you smell a little bit like a cup of Earl Grey tea?

Well, in fact, bergamot oil might do both. Its familiar smell helps to relax and ease tension, but the oil is actually extracted from the rind of the bergamot orange, which is what Earl Grey is flavoured with. Another oil that helps to lift the emotions is Geranium, which is sometimes used in natural and organic skincare products as a substitute for the more costly ingredient rose. As well as being useful in relaxing us when we are stressed out, Geranium essential oil is a brilliant cosmetic product; it is an excellent antiseptic that is extremely good for skin inflammations such as eczema and acne. It also helps with oil and sebum regulation, so if you?re stressed about any of these conditions Geranium Essential Oil?s duel properties might just work some wonders.

Lavender Essential Oil is a familiar scent that is often found in those microwavable relaxation bags and other such products. Just because it is familiar does not mean that it should be disregarded as a useful ingredient in natural and organic skincare products. As a matter of fact, Lavender Oil is one of the strongest natural antiseptics that has long since been used on burns and wounds. It is also anti-bacterial and effectively regulates sebum production.

Whilst Lavender Essential Oil is a familiar scent in perfumes and organic cosmetics products, one oil that is not is Neroli Essential Oil. Neroili has a very distinctive, citrus smell and, because it is expensive, is not found in many everyday products (in fact, finding its presence on an ingredients list is one way of knowing if a product can justify its high price tag, or better yet, whether it is a bargain). The oil is extracted from the flowers of the bitter orange tree and is excellent for mature skin due its regenerating properties. It is also extremely adept at treating stretch marks and helping to soothe skin inflammations.

Rosemary Essential Oil is often found in shampoos that help to maintain thin hair and help to prevent hair loss. Like Lavender oil, it is a scent that most of us are familiar with, but which has some perhaps unknown benefits when used in natural and organic skincare products. It is antiseptic and astringent, and therefore excellent in skincare products designed for helping to treat acne and eczema. When inhaled, the oil by itself helps to lift the mood, so all round its not a bad thing to have in a product.

Matt Gammie is a writer for Scin Boutique