Getting To Know Your Oils: Carrier, Essential & Fragrance

You probably have heard the word "oil" used in relation to skin care sometime recently. You may have heard your co-worker talk about her use of essential oils in aroma therapy or wonder why some people use coconut oil for EVERYTHING. What's the deal with all of the oils?

Pre-fixes such as carrier, essential, or fragrance are added to the word oil to describe the category of oil. For our purposes at Irie Body® we use carrier, essential, and fragrance oils to describe the type of oils we use in our products. Upon taking a closer look at the list of ingredients for many of our products you will even see a combination of carrier oils and essential oils or carrier oils and fragrance oils. 

Carrier Oils 

You probably use a type of carrier oil in some way more often than you think. And that's a good thing! This type of oil is "derived from the seeds, kernels, or nuts of a plant "(medicalnewstoday.com). The process of extracting the oils from the plants includes "crushing the plants" (medicalnewstoday.com). Common type of oils that you may have heard of are coconut, sunflower, grapeseed and sweet almond. These carrier oils and the many others can be used on the skin for massage, creams, and other lubricating needs.  One of the most popular uses for carrier oils is to combine the carrier oil with what is known as an essential oil. Let's visit the topic of essential oils.

Essential Oils 

Essential Oils are very popular right now for their amazing smells and plant-based properties. You have most likely heard of essential oils in relation to aromatherapy or skin care. Merrian-Webster defines essential oil as "any of a class of volatile oils that give plants their characteristic odors and are used especially in perfumes and flavorings, and for aromatherapy" (merrian-webster.com). The oils in plants are extracted via distillation (steam, steam & water), espression (also known as cold pressing), and maceration (warm water used to release enzymes). Popular essential oils are lavender, lemon, peppermint, and chamomile. Essential oils are best used when combined with a carrier oil in order to dilute the essential oil and make the concentration of essential oil safe for use on the skin. So what is a fragrance oil then?

Fragrance Oils 

Fragrance oils sometimes get a bad wrap for not being completely natural. Not all fragrance oils are used the same and are not harmful at all when used properly. This category of oils can be a combination of different ingredients including "aroma chemicals, essential oils and essential oil components" (soapqueen.com). The ingredents in fragrance oils are designed in a lab, yet are all approved to be used in the fragrance oil itself. You may also notice the use of the word "fragrance" on the ingredient list of some skin care products and cosmetics. Fragrance oils "fall under 'Trade Secret' status with the FDA (soapqueen.com). That way companies are able to put a more simple label of fragrance. 

What we use at Irie Body®  

Every Irie Body® product is based largely on a carrier oil. Carrier oils such as coconut and grapeseed are combined in special ways to create effective skin care products that deliver skin smoothing and soothing effects. The carrer oils are either further combined with our own combination of essential oils or a fragrance oil from a trusted source. The way in which we choose which oils to use come with experience and knowledge about combining certain properties together. 

Now you will be able to better determine how oils are used in your every day life! 

-Sharice with Irie Body® 

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