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Tamanu Oil: Everything You Could Want In A Skin Care Oil

July 16th, 2011

You may have not heard of it yet, but there’s a carrier oil that’s been used for ages that’s about to make big waves. It has yet to make the headlines, or have models advertising it, so you might want to get yourself some while it’s still relatively inexpensive. Pressed from the nuts of trees growing on islands in the middle of the ocean, the oil is called Tamanu (it goes by many other names actually, but this is the most popular in the States. Indigenous island cultures have used the oil for healing every conceivable skin condition for a very long time.

It really seems to be the perfect carrier oil for creating blends to prevent and treat aging skin. It can be used after surgery to speed healing and prevent scarring, and should work just as well for stretch marks – just about any kind of skin healing you can think of will be benefited by this oil.

In the Journal of Cosmetic Sciences, the oil was called a “panacea” for its pronounced, significant speeding of healing of skin wounds. Application of the oil demonstrated an observable increase in the rate of healing of breaks in the skin. Speeding of skin cell generation has been the foundation of anti-aging, anti-wrinkle creams like Retin-A. The rate of skin cell production slows as we age, and Retin-A (which has the drawback of being quite irritating and making your skin more unacceptable to burning from UV rays) simply speeds up the rate of skin cell production, and reduces wrinkle appearance.

In another study seeking a chemical to prevent UV radiation damage to the eye, researchers found that Tamanu significantly blocked the absorption of UV light rays. So like Retin-A, it speeds skin cell production, and unlike it, it actually protects the skin from sun exposure (now we’re not sure how much relative to sunscreen, but they did say “Tamanu oil, even at low concentration, exhibited significant UV absorption properties”.

On top of all that, it’s been discovered that the oil also inhibits the growth of skin cancer tumors. Plus it has a host of other properties that make it useful for healing of all sorts of skin conditions: it is also antimicrobial (a good base oil for acne formulas) and antiviral as well (supporting the healing of herpes outbreaks.

The oil is very unique in color, texture and scent relative to other carrier oils. Some folks don’t care for the aroma, but it’s really not that strong – particularly if you blend it with other base oils and/or add essential oils. It’s a deep greenish-brown color, and the unfiltered product will be somewhat “grainy” – yet these are just different components of the oil which “freeze” like coconut oil, but will smooth out right away when applied to the skin (or added to a blend).

You can certainly use the oil by itself, and many people do. It blends nicely with other carrier oils as well, and for a great array of essential fatty acids, you could mix it with virgin coconut, argan oil, rosehip seed oil and borage seed oil.

For example, a base could be make of one-third each tamanu, coconut, and rosehip seed oils. To this, any number of anti-aging essential oils can be included. Next time you’re creating your own skin care beauty recipe, seriously consider adding Tamanu – you can see that it really may do all that you’d ever wanted in a skin care formula.

There’s so much more to learn. Expand your knowledge about many single note medicinal aromatics like amyris essential oil and basil essential oil at Ananda Aromatherapy.

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Practical Aromatherapy: Men’s Anti-Aging Skin Care Formulations

October 1st, 2010

Most of the time you’ll find essential oil blends for skin care formulated for women. They’ll have fairly floral scents, and maybe ingredients specifically included to manage estrogen. Well, here’s a look at formulating for men; blends with deeper, mild aromas and therapeutic actions geared toward helping men keep their skin healthy and youthful.

Formulating blends for younger looking skin requires selecting oils which offer these therapeutic properties: regenerative, anti-inflammatory, and anti-oxidative. Essential oils are really exceptional skin-care ingredients, as they offer these important anti-aging actions (several having been backed by scientific research), and are well-tolerated and easily absorbed. The essential oils are mixed into carrier oils — which are “oils” in the more classic sense. Yet even these are selected for their specific anti-aging therapeutic effects.

Certain aromatic ingredients have a very long “track record” of anti-aging use; specifically the resins of frankincense and myrrh are highly regarded for this purpose. In aromatherapy, these are available both as “essential oils” and as “CO2 extracts”; for skin care, the latter is best, as it they are most similar to the actual medicinal resin. These oils have a range of properties, including all three that most interest us. They’re also perfect from a “men’s fragrance” standpoint, with their earthy scents.

Next up are the oils that are known specifically for their regenerative and cell-stimulating effects. Helichrysum italicum and rosemary verbenone are found in nearly every “scar reduction” recipe; the features which make them so useful in these blends make them great anti-aging essential oils as well. Helichrysum is anti-inflammatory and high in regenerative “di-ketones” (the only oil in common use to have these specific molecular components). Rosemary of the “verbenone” chemotype is considered a “specialty skin care oil”, as it too has unique regenerative ketones. It is also thought to enhance skin cell metabolism, increasing the nutrients-in and waste-out processes.

We’ll also select one or more oils with high levels of anti-oxidant and rejuvenative nutrients. These oils have a deep reddish-orange color, indicating the presence of these vitamin-like compounds: carrot root, whole rosehip and whole sea buckthorn. While these can be found as “carrier oils”, it is the “CO2 extracts” of these plant parts that are best for our men’s anti-aging formulation. They’re a very concentrated extract, providing an incredible concentration of carotenoids and polyphenols.

And no “men’s” skin care formula would be complete without sandalwood essential oil. In addition to being a soft, relaxing aroma, it’s very balancing and protective at the same time. Sandalwood balances skin oils (helps both “too oily” and “too dry” become “normal”), and has even been shown to protect against skin cancers.

All these essential oils and extracts are measured into the base of your formula, the “carrier oils”. The base of these anti-aging recipes is 1/3rd each rosehip seed, tamanu and argan. Even without the essential oils, using these three oils together would be truly exceptional skin care. Each of these has been evaluated for youth-enhancing skin care effects; we blend them together because they each have unique properties which synergize when combined.

On to the mixing! This is really, really easy. And you can make several ounces at once, enough to last a couple of months (store everything over one ounce in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use them). These essential oil quantities are given for each ounce, so increase according to your final volume. For normal-to-dry skin: eight drops frankincense OR myrrh “CO2″, six drops rosemary verbenone OR helichrsyum, six drops sandalwood and sixteen drops rosehip “CO2″. Yes, it sounds so simple, but this, in the three base oils, is a downright excellent formula for anti-aging skin care.

For men with skin prone to acne breakouts, remove all rosehip from your formulas; it can exacerbate over-oily acne conditions. You may consider adding a little spike lavender to your recipe if you feel a little extra antiseptic support could be useful. For those with sensitive skin a few drops of lavender is an excellent choice.

Feel free to modify further! The only caution to heed is that it’s easy to use too much essential oils in your formula. Only four or eight drops seems like so little, yet if you use too much, you’ll find you can make your eyes water with the intensity. Imagine essential oils acting almost like signaling agents — just a little bit of them tells your skin cells what to do, and in this case, it’s to give you a healthy, smooth, youthful glow (yes, men can glow too)!

Visit the website for more on essential oil research, Lavender essential oil and more.

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Choosing And Using Essential Oils To Treat Acne

September 7th, 2010

Acne breakouts, both “teenage” and adult, is due to a combination of factors including the proliferation of bacteria, inflammation, and hormonal imbalance. Teenage acne also involves a temporary overproduction of skin oils, as well as a thickening of the skin — factors which lead to further inflammation and conditions for bacterial growth. Using essential oils for treating both teenage and adult acne is a smart choice, as you can create a blend of oils which address every aspect of the condition. Here we’ll look at creating a blend that does just this, by selecting from groups of oils with the desired effects (be aware that several oils will have multiple properties) and basing them in therapeutic carrier oils (which actually have been successful at treating acne themselves).

First examining the antiseptics, the choice for many people is tea tree essential oil. It has been the gold standard of topical antiseptic essential oils. It is readily available, inexpensive, and actually “proven” effective. A recent study was produced comparing the efficacy of tea tree to oxybenzone, the most popular over-the-counter active ingredient for acne treatment. A 5% tea tree formulation was found to be as effective as a 5% benzoylperozxide preparation, without side effects (benzoylperoxide can cause drying and peeling). Tea tree can be used at much higher concentrations if desired, as it will not produce the peeling and drying action of oxybenzone. Some people find they can use it “neat” (undiluted) without side effects, though it’s crucial you test a very small amount to see if this is both safe AND effective for you personally. Other popular antiseptic essential oils in acne blends include geranium and palmarosa — you can combine one or more of these in your formula, which may result in greater therapeutic activity.

Then there’s the important balancing of sebum secretion. Green myrtle essential oil is actually both balancing and a potent antibacterial. Like tea tree, it has been suggested as a treatment all by itself, and may work better for may individuals. If you’re seeking a single oil for direct application, consider experimenting with myrtle and tea tree — finding the one that works best for you. Myrtle will work synergistically with tea tree in an overall acne treatment blend.

Somewhat less potent of an antibacterial, but perhaps a more important oil for sebum balance and overall skin health is rosewood. You’ll find rosewood included in a great many skin care formulas, and is an especially good choice for adult acne care. If you choose rosewood for your blend, look for one from a sustainable source, or from a location other than Brazil, such that it’s not from wild-grown trees in the Amazon rainforest.

To summarize a few other highly-regarded oils for acne-care blends: Lavender essential oil may be the most commonly used essential oil in all of skin and hair care. It is thought to synergize — or tie together — all other oils in a formula. It is known for its anti-inflammatory and wound healing actions. Spike lavender, sort of a cross between sage and lavender, is a more potent antiseptic, if you feel you need something stronger in that respect. Myrrh has been used for skin care for thousands of years, with an excellent combination of antiseptic and healing actions. Sandalwood, too, is a soothing, protective, and balancing oil to include in adult-care formulas where the skin may be dry.

You may find other sources discussing the use of citrus oils, particularly lemon and bergamot. While these oils can be highly effective, their topical use on the face doesn’t make sense due to their photo-toxicity. Once applied, they will make that area of the skin hyper-sensitive to sunlight for the next day or two. As there are so many other excellent choices, use of citrus oils for acne care should be avoided altogether.

As mentioned, essential oils can be dabbed (not rubbed!) directly on pimples. However, for treating any area — and limiting future outbreaks in that area — you’ll want to create a blend of oils in a carrier. While there are many choices, the best are oils that have their own therapeutic activity. The two most well-known are coconut and tamanu nut oils; both are naturally antiseptic, and have been used by some individuals to successfully treat acne alone. Equal parts of these oils will create a simple, effective base to which you’ll add your essential oils.

Creating you blend is a simple process: chose up to 4 essential oils and measure them into an empty bottle. Create a blend with a total of around 5% essential oil concentration: 1 milliliter, or 20 drops, of essential oil in each ounce is a 3% concentration — 7 drops of essential oil in each ounce is 1%. This means you can use around 35 drops total (from a standard glass eyedropper) of essential oils in each ounce of base. You may want to measure the number of drops per ml using a measuring pipette.

On to the recipes! These are the number of drops of essential oil in one ounce of carrier. To make two ounces, simply double the number of drops. So for your base, mix equal parts of virgin coconut, tamanu and grapeseed oils (or just tamanu and coconut, if you don’t mind the thickness). For teenage acne, use 14 drops each tea tree, spike lavender and myrtle. For adult acne with oily skin, use 9 drops each myrtle, tea tree, rosewood and lavender. For adult acne with dry to normal skin, use 7 drops each tea tree, spike lavender, rosewood, myrrh and sandalwood. Please feel free to adjust these recipes, depending on your intuition and the oils you have on hand. Using 3 or more of any of these essential oils together in the carrier oils mentioned should produce effective results for nearly any acne condition.

For more on the therapeutic value of essential oils, and the many ways to employ these oils such as in aromatherapy and essentia oil diffusers, visit The Ananda Apothecary online.

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