My Guide To Using Essential Oils : The lazy version

I'm Dianne and I discovered the power of essential oils on skin while I was pregnant. Like a lot of mums, I was applying Rosehip furiously on my tummy (and other enlarged body parts) to prevent stretch marks. It worked! Then I thought, what else can essential oils do for my skin. I researched more and discovered that with the right know-how you really didn't need to use any big-brand name skin care to achieve excellent skin. Honestly, its not hard. True, there are many many many essential oils. But you don't need to know about them all. Just a handful is really all you'll need to tackle the more common skin care challenges. I've chosen ROSEHIP, TEA TREE, EUCALYPTUS and ARGAN. These 4 are really the basics in skin care in my opinion. 

You can visit my website at www.thelittleessentials.com if you want to discover more about the science on why these oils work and how you can use them.

But in the meantime, I wanted to share with you how I personally use essential oils in my day. Hopefully it will give you some ideas on how to use it in yours.

Diffuser

In my car : I reuse Glade car fresheners (the kind that comes in a bottle and clips onto your air-con vent. I wash out the wick and bottle and add lemongrass. Its a fresh and uplifting scent. 0.5 pumps of lemongrass into a diffuser. It makes my bathroom smell like a spa.

Skin 

Day : Eucalyptus spray under my arms. It kills odour causing bacteria which deodorants do not do. However, I use an antiperspirant after it dries to reduce sweat as essential oils do not help with this.

Night : Replace moisturiser with Rosehip or Argan

Day: Use a lemongrass spray on my legs. I'm prone to insect bites. Eucalyptus works too but doesn't smell as great.

Hair 

Agan on my tips to prevents fly-away hairs and repair split ends.

I use a tea tree hair spray to give my hair a nice scent. 

In the Pool : I rub Rosehip onto my hair to seal the shaft. It prevents chlorine from entering into it and drying it out. Rosehip is a dry oil so it won't dissipate into the pool

Face 

Day - Tea tree spray as a face toner. I suffer from acne and tea tree is toxic to bacteria found in acne. 

Night - I use 1 pump of Argan under my eyes, my face and neck. I do not own night cream. Although I'm prone to acne. Argan oil has actually reduced my acne.   

Wrinkles and Dry Skin : How Argan Oil Can Help

DRY SKIN AGES FASTER THAN WELL MOISTURISED SKIN. 

ARGAN OIL NOT ONLY KEEPS THE DERMIS WELL HYDRATED BUT PENETRATES THE SKIN, LIKE A SERUM AND INFUSES THE SKIN WITH VIT E, VIT C AND OTHER FATTY ACIDS WHICH KEEP SKIN YOUTHFUL. 

ARGAN IS GREAT FOR CROWS FEET, RABBITS FEET AND UNDER EYE CIRCLES. 

Find Out More About How Wrinkles Are Formed Here

Secret Tip #3 : Keeping Your Hair Hydrated After A Swim

Hair often gets dry and frizzy after going into the pool. Hair not only absorbs the chemicals in the pool but it's odour as well. To prevent this, thinly comb through rosehip

oil into your hair. It seals the hair shafts. And because rosehip is a dry oil, it won't dissipate into the water.

Secret Tip #2 : Treating acne and acne scars simultaneously

If you are trying to treat both acne and acne scars simultaneously use 1/4 pump of tea tree and 1/4 pump of eucalyptus to your face cream. Although rosehip is very effective in treating scars and stretch marks, it aggravates acne.

Buy Premium Rosehip Oil Here

Secret Tip 1 : Acne & Dandruff

Did you know that most people who suffer from acne also suffer from dandruff? Good news! All you need is our certified organic tea tree oil. It treats both. Add 1 pump to your conditioner and 1/2 pump to your face cream. 

Buy premium tea tree oil here

Don't Underestimate The Power of Eucalyptus Oil

www.thelittleessentials.com

What Exactly Makes Essential Oils Effective? : The lay-man's version

MANY BIG-BRAND NAME SKINCARE PRODUCTS USE SYNTHETIC VERSIONS OF ACTIVE INGREDIENTS FOUND IN ESSENTIAL OILS.

CUT OUT THE MIDDLE-MAN. GO STRAIGHT TO THE SOURCE. GO NATURAL. BE AUTHENTIC. USE ESSENTIALS OILS FOR SKINCARE.

Just be cautious choosing essential oils which are not organic. They may have been sprayed with chemical pesticides which will then end up being in the oils.

The whole principle behind the efficacy of essential oils on skin is the fact that essential unsaturated fatty acids (EUFA) a.k.a Vitamin F, are important to the human body. They are vital for repairing cell membranes. However, they cannot be synthesised by the body. They need to be ingested or topically applied. Essential oils are teeming with these unsaturated fatty acids. What makes different essential oils relevant for different skin ailments is their concentration of which fatty acids they have.

For example, the primary components of ylang-ylang oil, linalool and Germacrene D, are toxic to Propionibacterium bacteria. This bacteria is found in acne. So, applying ylang ylang to your skin is an excellent anti-acne medication. Geranium oil on the other hand is teeming with geraniol. Geranoil assists in building collagen fibres (the protein that is the main building block of bone, cartilage, tendon, and other connective tissues) in the skin. This means that it creates a regenerative action in these parts of the body, especially the skin, making it excellent for cellulite reduction and saggy skin.

To understand this more, view the University of Minnesota’s website at : (http://takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/explore-healing-practices/aromatherapy/how-do-essential-oils-work)

Ylang ylang flowers

What Makes Essential Oils Perfect for Skincare?

Essential oils have extremely small molecules. There are approximately 40 million trillion molecules in one drop of essential oil. that's about 40,000 molecules for each cell in the average human body.

They are so small, that they are able to penetrate the epidermis and into the dermal layers of the skin. For this reason, they behave more like a serum than a cream. They not only trap moisture on the outer  layers of the skin but because they able to successfully penetrate into the dermal layers, they are able to improve the the deeper layers of your skin for long lasting effects.

Most skin care on
 the market use
synthetic versions of
the active ingredients
naturally occurring
 in essentials oils.

Furthermore, the chemical structure of plant sterols and human sterols is strikingly similar. Sterols are primary component of the outermost layer of human skin and functions like an optimal barrier.

Therefore sterols present in essential oils work in great harmony with human skin. They perform a multitude of functions like keeping structural integrity of cell membrane, reducing inflammation, improving skin metabolism process and moisture retention. 

Buy premium essential oils for skin here