Monday, January 29, 2018

AMAZING EFFECT OF ESSENTIAL OILS IN BEAUTY PRODUCTS

While doing research on Essential Oils (EOs), we came across a good piece by Tenneke Barresi that explains the process of production of EOs.

In Hertbally Radiant products, especially those produced to bring under control skin disorders like acne, blemishes, dark lines and for preventing premature aging signs, a combination of EOs are used to give the basic organic ingredients the ability to penetrate the pores of the skin as rich nutrients.

The EOs are concentrated, aromatic volatile compounds that can sometimes seem magical. The term “essential oil” is actually short for quintessential oil from the Aristotelian idea that matter is composed of four elements, namely, fire, air, earth, and water. The fifth element, or quintessence, was then considered to be spirit or life force. Before we understood the science of extraction, it was believed that by extracting essential oils you were capturing the spirit or life force of the plant.

Distillation: Because water and oil, including essential oil, don’t mix, the essential oil can be found floating on the surface of the water. It is then easily siphoned off. Some essential oils are heavier than water and are found below the water instead of floating on top, such as with clove essential oil. The remaining water is what is commonly called a hydrosol or distillate. The most common types of distillation include:
  • Steam Distillation: By far the most common method of extraction. During this process, steam is introduced into the still at a high pressure and high temperature.
  • Water Distillation: In this method, the plant material is in direct contact with the water. Most commonly used for extraction of flower petals like Rose and Orange Blossom as steam causes this delicate plant material to clump together making it difficult for the steam to force its way through.
  • Water & Steam Distillation: This starts the same as water distillation, except the plant material is placed on a grid above the water and steam is introduced from outside the main still compartment.
  • Fractional Distillation:  A fairly new method of extracting different constituents from the plant by halting the distillation process at precise pointsm, its separate constituents are collected and combined with other constituents from other plant materials also using fractional distillation. The result is complex scent profiles that often don’t resemble the original plant materials at all.
Cold Press: Cold Press or Expeller Press is a purely mechanical process for removing essential oils. It’s generally limited to citrus such as orange, grapefruit, lime, and lemon as the essential oils are contained in the peel of the fruit. 
  1. Simply soak the rind of your citrus in warm water until warm and soft.
  2. Remove from water and place on cutting board or in a large mixing bowl with a nice flat bottom.
  3. Take a sponge or clean cloth and press down on the outside of the rind allowing the sponge/cloth to soak up all of the liquid.
  4. Squeeze your sponge into a clean bowl and wait for the water and oils to separate. siphon off the oil and voila! You have a citrus essential oil – home made! This is not a very sanitary method and if you siphon any water into your oil you could potentially be growing bacteria and mold so I would suggest you use your oil immediately, or add it to a skin or hair care recipe with proper preservation.
CO2 Hypercritical Extraction :CO2 extraction is pretty exciting from a science perspective. CO2 under pressure turns into a liquid with is then used as a solvent to extract the essential oils. The best part, the CO2 is completely inert and will not leave a residue. Often CO2 extracts retain more of the plant’s original properties which are often not present compared to other extraction methods.

The EOs market in US has grown by nearly 200% since 2012, and the present size of $ 1.6 billion market is likely to go up as 57% of the 13-34 age group have begun to follow the trend toward natural health care, of which well-being and wellness are essential components. This segment of consumers is reporting that they feel more stressed out, and need to clear their minds.  Most of the EOs have calming effect. 

The benefits from EOs can be optimized with the advice of experts. Just going by DIY formulae that are being put out on the internet might not be the ideal way.  There are no standards regulating the quality and purity of the EOs, and there are frequent reports of adulteration, or impurity of EOs especially from the online vendors. The consumers also need to learn which are Essential Oils and which are courier oils.

Herbally Radiant has been using only the USDA certified natural ingredients and fine blends of Essential Oils. Most of these formulations are mood balancing, and accelerate epidermal regeneration to create more evenly toned skin. 

The anti-aging formulations launched by Herbally Radiant (RADIANT and REJUVENATING) eight years ago enjoy the trust of its customers as these prevent visible signs of aging by improving skin hydration and elasticity, reducing the appearance of over-pigmentation and skin inflammation. 


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