Carrier Oils

I wanted to share with you some carrier oils that I like use when applying or mixing essential oils. First before I do let's understand what a carrier oil is and it's role with essential oils.

What is a carrier oil?

A carrier oil is vegetable or plant based oil used to dilute essential oils and carry the essential oil onto the skin. Carrier oils don't contain concentrated aroma.

The most common carrier oil used to dilute essential oils is fractionated coconut oil. Fractionated? What does that mean? It just means that the fatty portion of the oil has been removed so that it remains in a liquid state. Unfractioned coconut oil will solidify and has a creamy texture and still has it fatty properties.

How do to use carrier oil?

When using an essential oil it is always best to dilute with a carrier oil. There are some essential oils that you can apply "neat" to the skin; however, a carrier oil helps to spread the essential oil over a larger section of your skin.

To dilute use the following as a rule of thumb:
1% dilution: approx. 6 drops of essential oil per ounce of carrier oil
2% dilution: approx. 12 drops essential oil per ounce of carrier oil
3% dilution: approx. 18 drops essential oil per ounce of carrier oil

When I need to use just 1-2 drops of essential oil, I like to use about 1 Tbsp of carrier oil.

Carrier oils available

There's a large selection of carrier oils to choose from and depending on what you will be using the essential oil for.

As I stated above fractionated coconut oil (FCO) is the most common used, as well as regular coconut oil.

Other carrier oils are olive oil, grapeseed, avocado, jojoba, and almond. There are many other but these are just a few.

I like to use coconut and jojoba the most.

Jojoba is mainly used with beauty remedies. I like to use it with essential oils that are good for hair repair. It mixes well and leaves great results.

Try them out and see which one you like.