ESSENTIAL OILS 101

WHAT ARE ESSENTIAL OILS (EO)?

An essential oil is a liquid from the leaves, stems, flowers, bark, roots, or other elements of a plant. Most essential oils are clear, but some oils are amber or yellow in color. Essential oils are highly concentrated and a little goes a long way. Always dilute your essential oils are often used with a carrier oil.

BENEFITS OF ESSENTIAL OILS

There are many natural oils with a variety of benefits and nutrients that can be used for black hair care. The beneficial properties can:

- Add shine to hair
- Supply the scalp with nourishing nutrients
- Promote hair growth
- Prevent hair loss
- Control dandruff

Natural hair oils for black hair care can best be used for:

- Sealing in moisture
- Scalp massages
- Protecting the ends of hair
- Hot Oil Treatments
- Hair Growth

HOW TO DILUTE ESSENTIAL OILS

Using a 2% essential oil dilution is considered a safe guideline for topical application of essential oils on adults. To easily approximate a 2% dilution, add 12 drops of your chosen essential oil to 1 fl. oz (30ml) of carrier oil.

HOW TO STORE ESSENTIAL OILS

Although essential oils do not become rancid, they can oxidize, deteriorate and lose their beneficial therapeutic properties over time. Not all essential oils diminish in quality as time passes. However, all essential oils will benefit from proper storage and handling. To avoid deterioration and protect the properties of your essential oils, store them in amber or cobalt blue bottles. Dark glass such as amber or cobalt helps to keep out deteriorating sunlight. Be leery of purchasing any oils sold in clear glass bottles. Clear glass bottles are not harmful to essential oils, but clear glass does not protect the oils from damaging sunlight. Also, avoid purchasing pure essential oils sold in plastic bottles because the essential oil will eat at the plastic, and the essential oil will become ruined over a short period of time. Essential oils should also be stored in a cool, dark place. Additionally, avoid purchasing essential oils that are stored in bottles that have a rubber dropper in its screw-top cap. Droppers with rubber bulbs should not be kept with the essential oil bottle because the oil can turn the rubber bulb into gum and ruin the essential oil. Most essential oils are sold in bottles that contain an "orifice reducer." An orifice reducer is a small, usually clear insert inside the bottle opening that acts as a dropper. Orifice reducers will not harm essential oils. You simply tip the bottle to dispense the oil drop by drop.

SHOPPING FOR ESSENTIAL OILS

Watch out for words such as “fragrance oil,” “nature identical oil,” or “perfume oil.” These words indicate that what you see is not a pure, single essential oil. Be precautious of suppliers that promote their essential oils as being "therapeutic grade" or "aromatherapy grade." There is no governmental regulating body that grades or certifies essential oils as "therapeutic grade" or "aromatherapy grade." Most vendors selling quality oils, at sizes of 4 oz. or smaller, sell their oils in dark colored glass. Be leery of vendors that sell oils at these sizes in plastic or clear glass containers. When buying essential oils locally, watch for oils that have dust on the top of the bottles or boxes. This is an indication that the oils have been sitting around. As time passes, many oils lose their therapeutic properties, and their aroma diminishes. Remember that organic oils are typically superior to non-organic oils. Also, be cautious about purchasing oils from vendors at street fairs, craft shows, festivals or other limited-time events. Many of these vendors are selling products as a hobby, and unfortunately some vendors at these events may know their customers have no recourse against them after the event is over. This is not to say that there are not highly reputable sellers at such events, but this is a caution for beginners who are not able to reliably judge quality at first.

SHELF LIFE OF ESSENTIAL OILS

Apart from a few exceptions, all steam distilled essential oils have a shelf life of at least 2 years, and even more when stored properly. Tea Tree, Pine and Fir oils are the above exceptions, and typically have a shelf life of around 12 to 18 months due to certain components in their natural chemical composition.

Cold pressed citrus oils have the shortest shelf life of all essential oils. Therefore extra care should be taken to store them safely away from sources of heat. If they were fresh when you purchased them from your supplier, you can expect citrus oils to remain in good condition for 9 to 12 months and even longer when cared for properly.

Due to their chemical makeup, essential oils do not turn rancid like vegetable oils they simply degrade gradually into a state where the therapeutic properties become diminished. Your nose will tell you that something is seriously wrong long before the point when the oils become unsuitable to be added to carriers for use.

LIST OF COMMONLY USED ESSENTIAL OILS (This is not a complete list of all EOs)

·         Lavender - is the first which springs into mind when talking about essential oils for hair growth. It calms the hair and soothes the scalp, so if you have a scalp problem this is the perfect oil to go for.

·         Chamomile - is regarded as the most soothing oil of them all. It contains vitamins and minerals which are essential for a healthy hair, thus managing to treat white flakes, dandruff or scalp cells which have been inflamed.

·         Lemon - is another good treatment for inflamed scalp and dandruff. A treatment with lemon oil will help with under working sebaceous glands which help keep the hair from drying out. But be careful not to over use with this, because too much can also damage the hair.

·         Sage – a strong sage infusion will darken your hair and help reduce hair loss. Use it twice every week for best results which will be seen in a matter of weeks.

·         Bay – will help your hair grow. If you think that your hair is a little dull and would benefit from some extra volume, you can use bay as it is one of the best essential oils for hair loss. Acting as a tonic when added to your shampoo, it will make your hair feel fresh after every wash.

·         Rosemary - helps in stimulating the hair bulbs, which enables the growth of new strains. People who are experiencing premature baldness should start using rosemary in their shampoo or applied to the scalp 30 minutes before washing the hair.

·         Arnica - is used as a rinse to treat early and more developed stages of alopecia, in other words baldness.

·         Basil - is an oil you will want to keep into sight if your hair has started to lose volume. It manages to give back life to hair from the roots up. Massaging basil oil into the scalp is a good practice and should be done every night before sleep or 1 hour before washing your hair.

·         Peppermint - manages to stimulate the blood flow in the scalp. By increasing the amount of blood which circulates under the skin your hair will regenerate faster and regain the energy it lacks in no time.

·         Myrrh - is a good treatment for people with very greasy hair. If used in small quantities it will control the amount of sebum which is produced by the glands in the scalp, thus giving you a cleaner hair for a longer period of time.

·         Tea Tree and Ylang Ylang - is very good against dandruff. Combining the two will allow you to also purify your scalp at the same time

There are many other essential oils that are great for our hair. BUT PLEASE do your research or consult your physician before trying new products. Be sure to read my other post on Carrier Oils.