Make Your Own Natural Eye Care Products
With an initial investment in essential oils and
vegetable oils you can make a pretty good eye care product instead of purchasing expensive products. A
good quality essential oil cost more than the inferior products, but you
will see fine results in a healthier way. The
same goes for vegetable oils; never purchase cheap unrefined massage
oils in a clear bottle since they need to be stored dark like the
essential oils.
I was looking at some eye creams online and since I make my own skin care products I had no idea that they were so expensive.
I decided to take a closer look at this Caudalie Eye Cream for 95 dollars to see what I would get for my money:
- They don't use parabens, triclosan, phtalates, or petrochemicals so that's pretty impressive.
- The product focus on revitalize and renew skin on the delicate eye area for transformational results is amazing according to the claims.
- It contains viniferine, which according to the product information, reduces dark spots.
- Grape seed polyphenols have been added to protect the skin and delivers antioxidant properties.
- It contains tetrapeptides which fights puffiness, dark circles, and wrinkles.
I
don't even know if this product lives up to its claims, but according
to testimonies it does. The ingredient list is long, but is it necessary
to put all those extra ingredients on the skin? I don't think so!
Let's see what we can use for our eye product:
- Carrot seed oil is considered one of the strongest revitalizing essential oils for the skin, frankincense, sandalwood, patchouli, and neroli are also recommend.
- Geranium, helichrysum, and spikenard have historically been used to regenerate the skin.
- Ylang Ylang blended with lavender, or rosewood blended with lavender have historically been used to restore skin elasticity.
- Lavender, spikenard, and myrrh have historically been used to retard wrinkles.
- Frankincense is the most commonly used essential oil for age spots on the skin. Geranium mixed with patchouli have historically been used to reduce the appearance of dark spots. Virgin coconut oil is said to reduce them as well.
- Essential oils have a superior ORAC value to most foods. For example, according to the Essential Oils Integrative Medical Guide, German chamomile's ORAC, antioxidant capacity, is 218,600 while blueberries' ORAC value is 2,400. You can also make your own antioxidant serum with essential oils, green tea, and aloe vera.
I do not design a special eye cream often, but I use ingredients in my facial products that are supporting my aging skin. Frankincense, myrrh, and Sandalwood are my favorite oils for skin rejuvenation. Learn more about what oils to use for aging and maturing skin. The facial oil I made the other day was also designed to care for my aging skin.
If you want to target the eye area specifically:
Make your own oil blend specifically for the eyes. According to Valeri Worwood, the basic blending guideline would be something like this:
- Use 2 teaspoons of a suitable base oil such as hazelnut, avocado, rose hip, or wheat germ.
- In addition to your base oil, add a few drops of evening primrose, borage seed, or jojoba oil.
- Add 2-4 drops of suitable essential oils. Valeri Ann Worwood suggests lemon and lavender for ages between 25-40, and lavender and palmarosa for ages 40-45. For the mature age group she suggests to use lavender and lemon as well.
- In addition to the regular essential oils, include a couple of drops of carrot seed oil.
- Add vitamin E capsules. One capsule if you are under 45 years of age, and two capsules if you are older.
Blend
the base oils, add the vitamin E capsule, and add the essential oils
last. Make sure you mix well and apply very gently around the eyes.
Leave if for a while, and if needed gently wipe off any excess.
What about puffiness?
Valeri Worwood suggests in her book, The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy, that you mix hazelnut oil with witch hazel, fennel and German Chamomile essential oils for puffiness and dark shadows.
- Mix the 2 drops each of the essential oils with one tablespoon of witch hazel, cover and put in the fridge to cool.
- Wrap an ice cube in a cotton wool ball, dip it in the essential oil and witch hazel mix, and apply over a closed eye and the puffy area.
- Remove the ice cube after a few seconds and apply a small amount of the hazelnut to the moist skin.
Worwood also recommends to dab cold green tea or rose hip tea to the area. Keep the tea in the fridge to keep it cool.
As
you can see, it's not really necessary to purchase your own eye cream.
Of course, there's the convenience of buying something pre-made, and essential oils may seem expensive. True, essential oils can be expensive for a small bottle, but it lasts a long time.
You can't use the eye cream to make perfume, facial toners, acne products, anti-stress relief, lotions, soaps, or cold and flu remedies like you can with one or two bottles of essential oils.
You are not exposed to the unnecessary ingredients added to a store bought product either. So, you can't lose making your own fancy skin care products. Remember, you don't have to do it exactly like it is described here; modify and use the things your budget allows.
You can't use the eye cream to make perfume, facial toners, acne products, anti-stress relief, lotions, soaps, or cold and flu remedies like you can with one or two bottles of essential oils.
You are not exposed to the unnecessary ingredients added to a store bought product either. So, you can't lose making your own fancy skin care products. Remember, you don't have to do it exactly like it is described here; modify and use the things your budget allows.
Before you leave:
I recommend that you always perform a skin patch test when you try a new oil.
Check out my safety page to make sure you are aware of any contrindications before you use essential oils. Some oils are not suitable when suffering from certain conditions. Also, Read this Before You Start Using Essential oils. Some oils should not be applied prior to sun exposure so make sure you check this list before spending time in the sun.
Not sure how to apply the oils? Visit these pages to learn how to apply the oils:
- Topical Application
- Inhaling Essential Oils
- Are You Diffusing the Oils Correctly?
- How to Dilute Essential Oils
- Vita Flex Technique
If you're new to essential oils you might want to check out my Getting Started Guide.
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Essential Oils for Skin Care - Aging and Mature Skin
A mature skin is usually very dry. It is developing wrinkles and lines, and is lacking oils and moisture. Vegetable oils, essential oils, flowers, and herbs nourish, soften, tone, firm, moisturize and protect the skin. Essential oils reach the tiny blood vessels of the skin and can feed new emerging cells by working on the deepest level.
Smoking, alcohol, and too much sun rob the skin and the body of oxygen and cause premature aging. Other factors such as a nutrient deficient diet, fluctuations in weight and various environmental insults also take their toll on the skin even if the changes are not immediate.
Wrinkles are skin folding in on itself. The collagen has become hard, and its ability to hold moisture is reduced.
Since the skin cells are renewed every 28 days I suggest to stick with a new skin regimen for a while in order to be able to see the changes. Regular facial massage will enhance the effects of the oils.
Essential oils mixed with nutrient rich plant and seed oils work great to nourish and moisturize the skin to counteract wrinkles and aging skin.
As mentioned, a mature skin is less oily and the essential oils of jasmine, neroli, geranium, and rose added to a massage oil may aid in restoring the balance. Massage oils suitable for mature skin are jojoba, evening primrose, wheatgerm, avocado, carrot infused oil, and rosehip. Borage and vitamin E oil can be added to enhance their effectiveness.
Other oils to consider are hazelnut, kikui nut, macademia nut and St.John's Wort. Don't get stuck on that you have to use these oils, I just made a oxygenating facial gel with coconut oil and it works wonderfully for my skin. It may also help prevent wrinkles.
Facial mists or flower water are very beneficial for aging skin. You can use them during the day to add moisture to the skin, or you can spray on the face right before applying the essential oil blend like I do. So, it works like a moisturizer and a facial toner at the same time. It will make it easier to apply the massage oil blend when the skin is moisturized by the toner first. Facial toner recipe
I have mentioned the cytophylactic properties of essential oils several times before, and they are especially beneficial in skin care for aging and mature skin. Cytophylactic means that the oils stimulate the generation of new cells, which will aid in preserving the health of the skin. These oils are also used for treatments of burns. Frankincense, lavender, helichrysum, rosewood, sandalwood, patchouli and myrrh all have cytophylactic properties. Find out more detailed information in my post myrrh, frankincense and sandalwood- Top three Oils for skin rejuvenation
Facial compresses, facial steaming, firming and nourishing masks are beneficial as well. Making your own antioxidant facial serum is also beneficial. You can use the essential oils of your choice.
Use gentle, rejuvenating, and healing herbs for facial steaming. Add a handful of fresh herbs or a couple of table spoons of dried herbs to a pot and simmer for about three minutes. Suitable to use are comfrey leaf or root, rose petals, lavender, marshmallow root since they have regenerative properties. Orange blossom flowers, licorice root and chamomile can also be used.
Natural yogurt 1 teaspoon
Honey 2 teaspoons
Vitamin E capsule
Oat flour 1 teaspoon ( or finely ground oatmeal)
Essential oils 5 drops (geranium 2, frankincense 2, and myrrh 1 drop)
Combine yogurt and honey. Squeeze vitamin E capsule content into the mixture, and mix well. Add oat flour and blend well. You may have to adjust the flour, add essential oils when it looks like right consistency. Apply with fingertips. Relax 15 - 20 minutes before removing with warm water.
What we eat affect our skin also. Focus on a diet of fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains, make sure you add enough fibers for proper elimination, and support the liver. Drink plenty of purified water. Make sure you get plenty of exercise.
Some essential oils to look for in an anti-aging skin care programs are: carrot seed, helicrhrysum, jasmine, lavender, frankincense, rose, neroli, sandalwood, myrrh, patchouli, geranium, rose.
Essential oils have amazing properties and they fit right into an anti-aging program. Research has been done about the Powerful Anti-Aging Properties of Essential Oils.
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The Powerful Anti- Aging Effects of Essential Oils
Research has been done to investigate the potential of essential oils like thyme (Thymus vulgaris) to slow or reverse the aging process by acting as antioxidants to protect organs and tissues from oxidative stress. Oils such as lemon (Citrus limon) and clove (Syzygium aromaticum) have shown to act as powerful antioxidants as well as to protect cellular DNA from damage. They also have powerful antiseptic properties.
The oxidative stress/free radical theory seems to be the most substantiated and persuasive as the cause of aging. What it means is that aging is caused by cumulative oxidative stress to the DNA, receptors and cell walls. Electrons that are created by normal immune and metabolic functions attack proteins and disrupt DNA. Eventually this will be too much for the body to repair, and it will lead to disease and death.
Most research have focused on the damage to the DNA. However, the free radical damage can especially be devastating to the unstable polyunsaurated fatty acids. They form the phospholipid membranes of almost all the cells in the body. Hormone receptors and ion transports are disrupted when they fatty membranes are attacked by free radicals. This can speed up the organ and tissue damage in the body.
Antioxidant protection decline as we age. Gluthatione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase decline along with the other antioxidants.
DHA and other long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) are unstable and vulnerable to oxidation and chemical damage. The body's own antioxidant system has to work harder to protect them in order to keep the health. Unfortunately the liver starts producing less PUFA as we age, and it means it is less able to replace the supply of PUFA needed for the tissues, the brain and other organs. Being able to prevent the degradation of the polyunsaturated fats from free radical damage can slow down the signs of aging.
Fortunately research has been done to see if essential oils are able to slow the rancidity of fatty oils. Dr. Faraq at the University of Cairo found that the when treating cottonseed oil samples with thyme and clove oils they provided significant protection compared to the non-treated samples. Thyme generated a 20% reduction in rancidity and clove generated a 30% drop in rancidity. A second study was done that showed that essential oils such thyme, clove, rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) and sage (Salvia officinalis) stopped the oxidation of the polyunsaturated omega -6 fatty acid linoleic acid.
Other clinical trials have been performed at the Scottish Agricultural College and the Semmelweis University of Medicine in Hungary.
Researchers found in their clinical trials that daily lifelong feeding of thyme and clove oils to laboratory animals preserved key antioxidant levels in the kidneys, liver, brain and heart. Essential oils stopped the oxidation and destruction of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids.
Other studies showed that the oils, thyme, clove, nutmeg and pepper restored DHA in the eyes to a much younger level.
DHA is also essential for brain function. Studies showed that feeding 100 animal subjects a daily dose of thyme essential oil for 28 months dramatically slowed the age-related DHA and PUFA degradation in the brain. Thyme oil was able to partially prevent brain aging through protection of the essential fatty acids. The analysis of the data showed that the 28 months old animals' brains was almost the same as that of a 7 month old. Translated into human terms it means that an 80 year old having a brain chemistry of a 20 year old!
Thyme supplements also slowed the reduction of the total amount of antioxidants in the brain. Thyme essential oil also preserved the levels of PUFA in the animals' kidneys, hearts, and livers, while it at the same time raised the antioxidant level. It even raised the levels of the key antioxidant gluthatione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase.
Clove has potent antioxidant boosting properties. Studies on animals show that five compounds of clove significantly increase levels of gluthatione S-transferase. GST is one of the most important detoxifying enzymes in our body that is crucial in neutralizing potential cancer-causing chemicals. The compounds tested were b-caryophyllene, b-caryophyllene oxide, a-humulene, a-humulene epoxide 1 and eugenol. Other studies have also shown that clove essential oil exhibits pronounced antitumoral and DNA-protectant effects.
Essential oils have anti-fungal, anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties that have the ability to inhibit growth of fungi, bacteria and viruses. This is also an important way that essential oils aid in the anti-aging process. Some bacteria such as Chlamydia pneumoniae have been implicated as one of the causes in heart disease. Fungi like Candida Albicans secrete toxins called mycotoxins, and have been implicated in cancer as well.
Weber State University tested the killing power of 67 different essential oils against a variety of molds, yeast, gram positive bacteria and gram negative bacteria. Clove, thyme, peppermint, cinnamon, oregano and mountain savory possessed the strongest antimicrobial actions.
As you can see essential oils can be a great addition to an anti-aging program. Not only do the raise the antioxidant levels and block damage to PUFA. They may also protect cellular DNA from damage that may lead to mutations and tumor growth. A 1986 study found that feeding a diet including 5% eugenol, the main constituent in clove oil, protected the animals against cancer causing effects of the chemical benzopyrene.
Thanks for visiting!
Johanna is an aromatherapist and she is passionate about educating people about health, essential oils, real food, natural remedies, and nutrition so they make healthier choices in their lives. She also runs Naturally Sports & Wellness together with her husband. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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