Aromatherapy, essential oils, and skin care products

Aromatherapy is the art and science of essential oils. Essential oils are volatile, gaseous substances extracted from plants and flowers. It is an ancient science dating back to before Cleopatra’s time. Although it has had a resurgence in popularity since the latter part of the twentieth century, aromatherapy has always been a part of our lives.

There are several characteristics to essential oils that make them perfect ingredients in skin care products. Since they are naturally acidic (on the pH scale), the use of products containing essential oils will automatically set up an acidic balance on the surface of your skin, rendering your skin less vulnerable to bacterial invaders. Essential oils are lipid (oil) soluble and therefore easily absorbed by the skin.

Essential oils are great for problem skin. Used “pure” (undiluted) as a spot treatment, they have similar actions to what benzoyl peroxide (BP) is said to do. Essential oils have antibacterial and antimicrobial properties helping to render the infected blemish unable to grow. However, essential oils have no side effects like drying or irritating the skin like some people experience with BP. Anything can be irritating if you are sensitive to it, but I have yet to encounter anyone who couldn’t put dots of essential oils on their spots or who had an adverse reaction using oils this way. Essential oils are used to restore balance back to the skin; most over-the-counter spot treatments do just the opposite.

Essential oils stimulate circulation, so using products containing essential oils helps with cellular respiration as well as detoxification. The skin “breathes” through the oxygen in the blood, and toxins are released from cells into the bloodstream. Essential oils help with these processes and any type of skin can benefit from this. 

Whether you are using skin care products that contain essential oils (like Yonka-Paris) or have used pure essential oils on blemishes or other skin problems, you have no doubt discovered the lasting effects from these wonderful, ancient liquid remedies taken from organic matter: plants and flowers. If you haven’t yet tried essential oils, I highly recommend that you do!

For more information, see:

• Essential Oils: a primer
• My review of Paula Begoun’s review of Yonka-Paris skin care products
• Geranium (or lavender) essential oil—spot remover for breakouts: How to use it and how NOT to use it