5 Essential oils that are great for your skin

Essential Oils can really benefit the appearance and overall health of our skin. 

Our skin is our largest and most sophisticated organ.  So we want to be extra mindful about how we take care of it, and what we put on it.

Focusing on plant-based ingredients is definitely a good start.  Most of us already know that to ensure a healthy lifestyle, it’s important to eat a diet with lots of vegetables and whole grains.  Well, the same holds true for what kinds of products we apply and rub on our skin!  And the focus of skincare ingredients should also be on plants.

Essential oils are actually plant-based ingredients!  They are steam distilled and cold expressed from genuine and authentic plant parts that can offer a wide range of beneficial experiences to improve the appearance and overall feeling of our skin - as long as we use them in small quantities.

Here are 5 essential oils that are great for your skin:

Lavender: 

Steam distilled from the flowering tops, Lavender Essential Oil offers the experience of calm to our skin.  It feels soothing, and helps even out bumps and itchy patches. It’s also considered one of the safest oils for our skin, and can be used when your skin is feeling particularly sensitive or delicate.

Geranium: 

Steam distilled from the fragrant leaves of the Geranium plant, this essential oil is all about balance. It can also even out and balance blotchiness and discoloration while simultaneously leaving a calming sense of clean. A lovely oil to use to help calm and repair emotional-type breakouts.

Frankincense: 

Steam distilled from the hardened crystallized resin collected from the Frankincense tree.  The tree actually makes the resin to help it recover from injury, like a lightning strike that gashes the trunk, or a strong wind that tears off a branch.  That same action of restoring can also be thought of when we use Frankincense essential oil in our skincare. Frankincense is also calming and offers an experience of rejuvenation and restoration.  It’s also considered one of the safest oils for our skin, and can be used when your skin is feeling particularly sensitive or delicate.

Tea Tree: 

Steam distilled from the leaves of the Tea Trea, this essential oil has a long rich history of use by the native people of Australia.  One of the ways these ancient communities used Tea Tree oil was to offer the experience of purification and cleanliness. Today we can use Tea Tree oil in many of the same ways, to help cleanse and support the health of our skin by protecting and fortifying it against dirt and grime. It’s often indicated for acne prone skin and promotes a clear healthy glow.

Palmarosa: 

Steam distilled from the long leaves of a grassy bush, Palmarosa essential oil shares many of the same benefits as Geranium and Tea Tree.  It is calming and soothing, and offers a feeling of freshness, balance and rejuvenation. It’s great to add to cleansers and face oils, and is very gentle for skin that feels sensitive.

All these essential oils may be added to unscented skin care products, or simple vegetable based oils, or carriers. But the key is using them correctly.  That means using them in small amounts and never applying them directly to the skin without first blending them into something like a carrier oil or unscented lotion, cream or cleanser.