Essential Oils - Help or Hype?

What's In Your Natural Body Products

Essential Oils in Bath and Body

In this 3rd in our 4 part series on ingredients in your soap, I’d like to talk about essential oils and their benefits in soap.  Aromatherapy is an alternative medicine that uses aromatic plant compounds to effect health and well-being. Scientific evidence and opinion goes both ways on the effectiveness of aromatherapy’s ability to heal, however  studies have shown that many essential oils and other herbal compounds are effective antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal, and a slew more anti-benefits.  The idea behind aromatherapy is that either through inhalation or topical application – pure essential oil is absorbed into the body to provide therapeutic benefits. 

As I mentioned in part 2 of this series "Is the Fragrance in Your Bath Products Killing Your Natural Products?" essential oils are very volatile and should be used with extreme care.  To learn more about how essential oils are produced, this article is a good start.  Long before there was a pharmacy, there was herbal medicine where healers used botanical ingredients to heal man’s and beast’s ailments.  Today, we have come to a place where holistic health includes western, eastern and herbal medicine to heal and keep our families healthy.

Of the many thousands of essential oils, many are used for their therapeutic benefits.  These uses may include topical applications, ingestion or aromatherapy.  When essential oils are inhaled, it is believed that the smell receptors in the brain trigger a bodily reaction to specific scents.  This reaction may improve mood (i.e. uplift spirits, reduce stress).  Most essential oils are applied to the skin using carrier oil (i.e. almond oil) to provide therapeutic treatments.  Clinical trials have even been done on the benefits of aromatherapy on cancer patients (National Center for Biotechnology Information - Aromatherapy and Essential Oils). 

In natural soap making, essential oils are used to scent soap and sometimes for their aromatherapy benefits. However, claims that a soap is “intended to treat or prevent disease, or to affect the structure or function of the body, it’s a drug” falling into the FDA drug category requiring FDA approval and extensive testing and studies and regulation FDA - Essential Oils.  The manufacture and the practice of aromatherapy are currently unregulated, but the industry complies with current safety standards and practices which can found at the National Association of Holistic Aromatherapy.  We use essential oils to fragrance our products and use special blends to aid in ensuring that skin types or conditions are not adversely impacted but soothed by our formulas.  In some cases, individuals with allergies or special conditions should be careful when using products containing certain essential oils as they like other additives can aggravate certain conditions. Essential Oils are very sensitive to heat, light and air and some believe that they may lose some of their effectiveness in the soap making process, either through the initial chemical reaction phase or the curing phase.  We like to think that as long as the scent remains the benefits remain and the ingredients that the oils DON’T have in them are just as beneficial as what remains in your beauty products.  This is not an issue with leave on products like butters, lotions and massage oils.

 Many essential oils should be avoided during pregnancy and citrus oils may cause photosensitivity.  Essential oils are beneficial in many ways in body products:

·        Soften Skin

·        Moisturize Dry Skin

·        Free of Artificial Chemicals – so less damaging to the skin

·        Toning

·        Soothing Itchy Skin

·        Deep Cleansing

·        May Cause Less Skin Reactions to Sensitive Skin

·        May Improve Mood

·        Some Essential Oils May be Absorbed Into the Skin and May Impart Topical Application Benefits of the Oils

·        Anti-bacterial, Anti-fungal and Antibacterial

·        And They Smell WONDERFUL!

 A little research always goes a long way in determining the products that are best for you and your family.

---