Essential Oils Best for Sensitive Skin

For those with sensitive skin, choosing skin care products can be difficult because it so easy for the skin to have a reaction when triggered by the slightest allergen. Sometimes, even natural products like essential oils can cause breakouts, inflammation, rashes or some other skin irritation. Some of these oils that can cause bad reaction on sensitive skin include Cassia, Citronella, Lemon, Orange, Peppermint, Pine and Wintergreen, among others.

But there are certain essential oils that are safe to use on sensitive skin. It’s just a matter of knowing which ones to use and always applying extra caution. Some of the recommended essential oils for sensitive skin are lavender, chamomile, geranium, rose (but not for very sensitive skin), mandarin and frankincense. These oils can be used in different skin care products from cleansers to scrubs and moisturisers.

Try mixing a few drops of any of the recommended oils above with a fragrance-free and lanolin-free skin product like a hand cream or body lotion. To use these essential oils for your bath, add 5 drops of your chosen oil to your bath water and soak for 10 to 15 minutes. It is advisable for those with sensitive skin to use essential oils in low dilutions added to the carrier oil.

The carrier oil is the base oil that is used in the dilution of essential oils. There are certain carrier oils that may not be suitable for sensitive skin so, again, take care in choosing the right product. The following oils are known to be safe for sensitive skin:  evening primrose oil, jojoba and sweet almond. Oil infused with calendula can also be used.

A suggested blend for sensitive skin is 4 to 5 drops of essential oil per 20 millilitres of carrier oil. For example, you can mix 3 drops of rosemary and a drop each of juniper and lavender and dilute them in 20 millilitres of sunflower oil. If you have extremely sensitive skin or for babies’ skin, use no more than 2 drops of essential oil per 20 millilitres of carrier oil. Alternatively, pure sweet almond oil can be used instead of an oil blend.

Because essential oils are potent substances, using them on sensitive skin should be done with utmost care. As with any other skin care product, it is strongly recommended to try an essential oil first on a small area of the skin before normal use. If you’re not sure about a particular essential oil, take the time to find out about it first rather than take a chance.

When caring for sensitive black skin, we’re already having to be cautious because we have the distinct pleasure of being a very melanated people and the very fact that we have melanin is what makes our skin the most sensitive of all the populations on the planet.  Ohhhhh, but what beauty we possess with our beautiful black sensitive skin!!

To Your Beauty,

Juliette Samuel,

Esthetician/Publisher

NYRAJU Skin Care

http://www.nyrajuskincare.com