Essential oils are becoming more and more likeable in the beauty & personal care industry. At Family Self Care, we love this, but we find that this fad is not always a happy one. Many users get dozens of vials without having the time or the knowledge to use essential oils safely. We want to offer you a different approach to these natural products: reasonable and ecological.
Essential Oils for Everything, Everywhere
The use of essential oils is more and more common. We have all heard of these extracts with their many virtues at least once before. Indeed, the diversity of aromatic plants in the world and the variety of their uses make them essential.
In natural cosmetic products, essential oils are used as ingredients due to how they benefit the skin and hair. You may also find them in diffusing mixtures called “Clean Air” or “Fresh Interior” in your home decor store since they can improve air quality. They are even found on our plates: the natural aromas of lemon or orange are often found in essential oils since they are extracted from these plants.
Of course, they can also be used for health. Upon entering a pharmacy, you will see many essential oil products on the shelves. Pastilles, capsules, balms, creams, nasal spray… The list goes on.
Natural Overconsumption
Aromatherapy products sold in pharmacies are intended for single use. You can buy a gel for sore muscles or a roll-on for a headache. Each of these products contain dozens of essential oils for this specific use.
The number has even become a selling point. At a time when young cosmetic brands pride themselves on having the shortest ingredient lists on the market, the world of aromatherapy is positioning itself differently. It seems that a cream “with 25 essential oils” sells better than its equivalent containing only 10…
Professionals who manufacture beauty & personal care products aren’t the only ones who give into this excessive enthusiasm for the latest natural products. Consumers, too, can give in to this trend. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a shortage of ravintsara essential oil. Ravintsara is an effective antiviral, of course, but the reasonable approach would have been to use it in small amounts on a regular and preventative basis.
The realm of Do-It-Yourself is no exception. Blogs offer homemade cosmetic recipes with ingredient lists that are as long as the arm, especially when it comes to essential oils. For household use, we sometimes read articles that recommend emptying an entire bottle of essential oil into a perfume bottle of DIY laundry detergent. Used to synthetic fragrances, the reader may not understand that the smell does not stick onto his or her laundry and will be tempted to add more.
Essential Oils: Less but Better
For a more eco-friendly approach, Family Self Care invites you to change the paradigm: use better and less essential oils. And to be precise, less means only 8.
Each essential oil contains multiple active ingredients and benefits from a large number of properties. The essential oil of petit grain bitter orange is, for example, analgesic, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, soothing, healing, and spasmolytic. It can be used in many different situations.
We have deduced that a small number of well-chosen essential oils cover a wide variety of needs. Therefore, we have selected 8 oils according to their properties. We designed this selection to meet your needs on several themes, ranging from respiratory comfort to hair care.
The SelfCare1® application can generate hundreds of different mixtures with just 8 oils. It selects the exact number of oils needed to help your request: no more, no less. Thus, it can offer you the essential oil of petit grain bigarade to soothe the stomach and tone the skin.
Safer Consumption with SelfCare1®
The overconsumption of essential oils has multiple health issues. To avoid the risk of allergies or overdose, it is important to adhere to certain dilution rates. Since the safe use of natural extracts is at the heart of our promise, we have developed innovative technology so that your SelfCare1® device doses oils very precisely.
We also make sure that the mixture is adapted to your profile or the profile of your relatives and friends. When designing the mixture, the application takes into account your contraindications and the oils you choose to exclude. In addition, when selecting the 8 oils, we wanted to make sure that everyone, including children, can use them. We still have alternatives if you don’t want or can’t use a particular oil for any reason.
The overconsumption of natural extracts also has an impact on the environment. An ecological use of essential oils should mean that they’re used without excess. SelfCare1® guides you towards ecological use since our programs are meant to avoid wasting any oil. You can even track your consumption directly from the app.
Remember, this article, like wellness, is worth sharing with your friends & loved ones.
References
Publication:
- Aromathérapie, Dominique Baudoux, Dunod, 2017
- Le grand guide des huiles essentielles, Fabienne Millet, Marabout, 2015
