Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Scar, bruise, undereye circles, and wrinkle help: Rosehip oil and Helichrysum essential oil (Aromatherapy/skin care)

My favorite natural remedy for scars is rosehip seed oil (aka Rosa Mosquita or Rosa Mosqueta oil; latin name: Rosa rubiginosa) mixed with Helichrysum essential oil (also called Italian Everlasting, Everlast, and Immortelle; latin name: Helichrysum italicum). It has been seen in several studies that Rosehip Seed Oil can greatly reduce the appearence of scars (Hampton, 1990*). Helichrysum is used to treat acne, bruises, and scars.
Per 1 oz of rosehip seed oil (that is 2 tablespoons), add 12 drops (no more) of Helichrysum essential oil (this makes about a 2% concentration). Mix gently.

Rosehip and Helichrysum are also great for bruises and undereye circles (helps get rid of them fast!) and wrinkles (helps diminish fine lines)!

For scars and wrinkles, you could use the rosehip seed oil alone, if you like, or add carrot seed (latin: Daucus carota), lavender (latin: Lavendula angustifolia aka L. officianalis aka L. vera), or neroli (orange flower oil; latin name: Citrus aurantium) essential oils instead of the Helichrysum (use only a total of 12 drops of essential oil, if you decide to use a combination of several oils). For bruises and undereye circles stick with the original formula.

Use daily a couple times a day for several months. You should see some improvement within 3-6 months (and a lot of improvement within a year). For bruises, you should notice great improvement within a couple of days.

Though you could find the lavender essential oil in a health food store, the other essential oils and rosehip seed oil are a little harder to find in a retail store. I recommend buying them online at either Mountain Rose Herbs, Nature's Gift , or check out the other sites I've plugged (see below).

*Hampton, A. 1990. Natural Organic Hair and Skin Care. Organica Press, Fl.

10 comments:

Unknown said...

Hey Soloarkat - will you tell us how to make the body scrubs your sister mentioned in her blog? I make candles a lot of people for the holidays. Soaps would be a fun change!

Solarkat said...

Hi Joey,
Sure I'll post the recipes for sugar and salt scrubs. Check this space for them within the next couple of days!

Cheers, Solarkat

Unknown said...

yay! PS. I really like your sister's blog which is how I came upon yours. Welcome to the blogosphere! =)

Solarkat said...

Thanks for the warm welcome Joey!

~Solarkat

Anonymous said...

Hello, I am interested in your recipe for the Rose hip seed oil in Helichrysum. Is there any reason why you came up with the -no more than 12 drops- formula for the Heli? I ask because Nature's Gift sells a formula which is 10% Helichrysum (much more than your 12 drops), which they say is good for scars. In your opinion is there any risks or side-effects to using a 10% solution? Thank you. -j

Solarkat said...

Hi,

Essential oils should be used at a 1 to 2% concentration (6 to 12 drops of essential oils per ounce of carrier oil). The exceptions are when the users are children, pregnant women, and the eldery, in that case, they should be used at a 1/2 to 1% concentration. Another exception is perfumes, which is used at anywhere from a 1% to a 30% concentration (depending on whether you are making a colonge or perfume). Although some aromatherapists recommend up to a 5% concentration for medicinal purposes, for general/most purposes between a 1 to 2% concentration is recommended by all aromatherapists, especially for skin use. The reasoning is because they are highly concentrated substances, and too high of a concentration can irritate the skin, and in some cases (depending on the essential oil) can be toxic. (Helichrysum is non-toxic). Essential oils are not just skin care substances, but also can be used for medicinal purposes, and can also affect the emotional state. It is ALWAYS better to use less than more.

Many essential oil retailers sell a 10% concentration, which should be further diluted in the carrier oil of your choice for skin care, or can be used undiluted as a perfume. Basically essential oil retailers dilute essential oils in a carrier oil because some essential oils like helichrysum, jasmine, and rose are very expensive, and they offer a 10% concentration as a more economical choice.

Cheers,
Solarkat

grnbeanicecrm said...

Hi Solarkat,

I really want to try this rosehip and helichrysum combination. its just that helichrysum is so expensive. I also found the 10% helichrysum diluted in rosehip oil at the nature's gift website. I'm planning on buying the 5ml size. So, if i wanted to make a 2% dilution how much more rosehip oil would i have to add. thank you in advanced.

Solarkat said...

Hi Sally

Thanks for posting :)

Sometimes it is tricky figuring out concentration by the drop (since so many factors influence concentration from dropper size to viscosity of the essential oil or essential oil/carrier oil blend to who's doing the measuring; and I am sure like most companies Nature's Gift doesn't use drops but use a scale to measure their oils) so I think the easiest way to think about this is that 10 drops of the
heli/rosehip blend is equal to 1 drop of essential oil. (If you didn't want to dilute all 5 ml at one time)

Or you could think of it the other way, if you wanted to dilute all 5 ml at one time, then you'd need to add about 3 to 5 ounces of rosehip oil to get roughly a 2% concentration.

Hope that made sense

Cheers,
Li

Unknown said...

I would love to try this but the Helichrysum essential oil smells so bad. It takes only one drop and then I can not use the product.
Is that oil suppose to smell that bad. The carrot EO smells awful to.

Lynette

Solarkat said...

lynette baker

Sorry for the late reply! I answered your question in a blog post which is listed here:

http://solarkateco.blogspot.com/2014/02/helichrysum-and-carrot-seed-essential.html

HTH!

Cheers,
Li