Part 1 ~ Carrier Oils & Essential Oils

The lipid oils, also called fatty oils are those we often use in the kitchen, on our bodies, and at the spa. They are fatty, fixed and oily, and the common term carrier oil, describes their relationship to the essential oils.

Essential oils are aromatic chemical compounds that are volatile and diffusive, able to evaporate into the air and offer their aromas to our senses. They have therapeutic properties but are also used as aromas elements for cosmetics.

These two oil types, fixed seed oils and aromatic essential oils are different in structure, chemistry, use, and functions.

The carrier oils

The term carrier oils doesn’t describe the range of applications these oils possess. These oils of substance come from the seeds of plants, the reproductive, regenerative seeds that produce the next generation to propagate the species. 

The word seed, can also include bean, or legume, kernel, nut, grain, and even fruiting body, all share a common goal, the reproductive process of the plant.

These fatty oils produced by the seed are energy derived from sunlight that can nourish the future tree, bush, or flower in its infancy as a seedling.

In the process of germination, this sun energy is used up by the growing seedling in a transformative journey as the seedling makes its way from the earliest sprout to maturity able to produce its own nourishment through photosynthesis.

Essential, also volatile oils

Essential oils are not located in a single plant part, as fatty oils are, but are produced in specialized glands from all parts of the plant. This includes flowers, leaves, roots, rhizomes, needles, and some aromatic-laden seeds. 

These oils are volatile aromatic compounds that evaporate, which is how we enjoy their aromas.

Essential oils are highly concentrated, with their small molecule size allowing them to penetrate the skin. This potency necessitates their dilution into a carrier oil before use.

Distillation to concentration 

The need to dilute the essential oils in the fixed seed oils is due to the high concentration of volatile compounds that make up the aromatic essential oils. 

When used alone on the skin, they can cause sensitization, burns, irritations, and problems in and on the body. 

Diluting them in the carrier fixed oils and you create safe effective combinations for use on the body.

What is essential?

If you work with either type of oil, essential or lipid carrier oil, you will come across the word essential which can describe multiple conditions or states.

The aromatic oils are called essential oils - a bit of a misnomer as they are more accurately volatile aromatic plant compounds, but essential is how they are named now. They are the aromatic essence of the plant part the aroma was extracted from.

The other essential associated with the carrier oils are the essential fatty acids, these are part of the collection of essential nutrients, about fifty, that include two fatty acids, the essential fatty acids, EFA.

You can see that the word essential has two distinct meanings as they pertain to the plant oils both aromatic and fatty.

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