Using Frankincense and other CO2's for Skin Care
I've started putting a little Frankincense CO2 essential oil in my skin care blends after seeing the following science report (pasted at the bottom...it discusses boswellic acids from the resin, which are in fact present in the CO2 Frankincense oils. I only use a little, as with most essential oils, to avoid irritation (like I can use A LOT of Sea Buckthorn, Carrot Root or Rosehip CO2's).A blend I've been working with lately, which my skin really likes, is as follows:- A 2 ounce base of 1/3rd each Tamanu, Rosehip Seed and Argan. Sometimes I'll use 1/4th each of these plus virgin coconut.
- 16 drops Frankincense essential oil (the CO2 blend of both species Ananda carries (which I'm guessing mimics the amount of boswellic acid content of the report added below)
- 1ml (33 drops) each of
Carrot Root and
Sea Buckthorn (for a night time formula, I'll add
Rosehip CO2, but it leaves the skin pretty pink for a while as all its antioxidants absorb -- it's REALLY good if you've been in the Sun though -- the richer the color of the oil, the higher the content of very effective antioxidants).
- And finally 16 drops each of
German Chamomile CO2 and EITHER Helichrysum or Rosemary Verbenone.
The Chamomile is very anti-inflammatory, mentioned as an important factor in skin aging, and the Helichrysum and Rosemary Verbenone both contain ketones which supposedly stimulate skin regeneration.
In the book, "Making Aromatherapy Creams and Lotions" the author mentions a "CO2 Crew", where she includes German Chamomile, Rosehip and Sea Buckthorn CO2 essential oils in virtually everything, because of their great effects for skin health and beauty.
ENJOY! I hope this helps inspire someone to try making their own formulas. It's fun, and they're really very nice -- like "high end" skin care products.OH YEAH -- the Frankincense...this is copied from PubMed, a report showing noticeable improvement in skin texture from using Frankincense extract.
Dermatolic Therapeutics 2010 Jan-Feb;23 Suppl 1:S28-32.
Topical Boswellic acids for treatment of photoaged skin.Dermatology Department, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy.
Boswellic acids (BAs) are pentacyclic triterpenes extracted from the gum resins of the tropical tree Boswellia serrata. They are orally administered in traditional Indian medicine for the treatment of several inflammatory disease and cancer because of their anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory activities as well as stimulatory effects on fibroblasts. The present authors have investigated efficacy, tolerability, and safety of a base cream containing 0.5% BAs in the treatment of clinical manifestations of photoaging of facial skin with a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, split-face study. Fifteen female volunteers applied the creams with or without BAs on the half sides of the face once daily for 30 days. Significant improvements of the Dover's global score for photoaging, tactile roughness, and fine lines, as well as, with noninvasive diagnostic techniques, an increase of elasticity, a decrease of sebum excretion, and a change of echographic parameters were observed with topical BAs in comparison with placebo. The treatment was always well tolerated without adverse effects. The present findings seem to indicate that topical application of BAs may represent a suitable treatment option for selected features of skin photoaging.
