It's a given fact that essential oils have many uses apart from just providing aroma. Just to name a few uses, essential oils are medicines for alleviating sickness, aphrodisiacs to boost libido and drive, and repellents to keep pesky insects away.
With so many purposes just for a single product, it is no surprise that you see essential oils on the ingredient list of your daily skincare and body products. Common essential oils that these products usually contain are Tea Tree, Lavender, Peppermint and Rose.
Of course with HYSSES, we pride ourselves in using essential oils as one of the core ingredients in our body, face and hair products.
While some may be skeptical about the effectiveness of essential oils and would prefer man-made, lab-cultured ingredients, there are also some who swear by them. At the end of the day, essential oils will always remain true to its nature of being 100% natural.
How can essential oils benefit my skin?
Searching the above question online will only result with keywords like antibacterial, antiseptic, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant pop up everywhere on every page you see, but what exactly do these words mean and how to they correlate to my skin's health?
Let us simplify it for you -
Antibacterial
Tea Tree, Grapefruit, Eucalyptus
Antibacterial essential oils are powerful oils that fight off infections and kill harmful bacteria on the skin, making then a great natural remedy for keeping yourself and your home healthy. Unlike essential oils, frequent usage of antibiotics can make certain bacterial strains antibiotic resistant. At the same time, many antibiotics are either not effective at killing bacteria or they contain more than necessary ingredients in a single product. A clear example is the overuse of hand sanitisers when regular soap and water has been proved just as effective in killing bacteria.
Antiseptic
When we say a certain essential oil is antiseptic, it means that this essential oil has the ability to slow down the growth of disease-causing microorganisms. If you have a fall and accidentally scraped your knee, the open wound may get infected if it is not treated properly. Essential oils that contain antiseptic properties can help greatly in preventing any infection from forming at the site of the injury. That being said, you still should not apply essential oils directly onto the wound, but you can dilute it and apply on small cuts and scrapes.
Anti-inflammatory
Frankincense, Geranium, Eucalyptus
Similar to antiseptic, anti-inflammatory oils are what inhibits the production of inflammatory proteins. This is targeted more for the internal tissues of the body, and the muscles. A good anti-inflammatory essential oil helps to provide relief to muscle spasms, headaches and skin irritation. Anti-inflammatory oils are great add-ins to massage oils, compresses and topical creams because they work the best when applied onto the skin.
Antioxidant
Essential oils with antioxidant benefits can repair skin damage caused by free radicals. Where do these free radicals come from? There are some sources where free radicals occur naturally in the body due to smoking, sun exposure, lack of sleep, and poor diet. Antioxidant essential oils also work effectively as anti-ageing products, especially in lightening skin pigmentation and brightening dull skin.