AROMATHERAPY AND ESSENTIAL OILS (CARRIER OIL)

Thank you for reading this article. This article is a first for this page, subsequent articles will provide information on various carriers oils.

WHAT ARE CARRIER OILS?

Carrier oils are oils used to dilute volatile essential oil, making them more useful.

The term carrier oil is only used in aromatherapy to describe oils that are considered base oil or dilution oils. In contrast, to other essential oils that could fatally harm or irritate if used without dilution, carrier oils are harmless and are used to dilute volatile essential oil, carrying this essential oils safely through the skin.

SHORT HISTORY OF CARRIER OILS

 In the 19^th century specifically in 1958 an Australian biochemist Marguerite Maury was the first to dilute essential oils with carrier oils to massage the skin.

EXTRACTION OF CARRIER OILS

Many essential oils are extracted from the fatty portions of seeds, nuts and kernels of plants and trees. Carrier oils usually have sweet aroma and they do not evaporate easily, as other essential oils.

The Major disadvantage of carrier oil oils is there short shelf life span. This disadvantage is probably because of the method of extraction. The methods of extraction are cold pressing and maceration (maceration a process used to produce wine).

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