Essential oils & carrier oil

[WiccanWitch]

Carrier oil I'm guessing is a base oil. I see that coconut and almond are popular as far as when I was searching for carrier oil the majority were these.

Is there anything in particular to take into consideration when choosing a carrier oil?

My first thought was coconut oil sounds nice.

[Myrth]

The choice of carrier oil will depend on your ultimate use of the product you are making, your budget, and your personal preferences. This link gives a reasonable overview: http://www.herbology.com.au/the-good-oil/

[Becks]

That's a really nice link Myrth.

[blue_moon]

To apply on skin coconut almond and jojoba are nice. Jojoba .mixed oils can be kept for the longest time without going rancid.

Castor oil is the worst choice! Can't be used in droppers made the mistake.

But you can also use sunflower or olive oil.

[WiccanWitch]

Didn't know they could go rancid. I think I bought coconut

[Katrinkah]

I usually use coconut. And I didn't think they did either? Are you using therapeutic-grade?

[Katrinkah]

I know people who have had oils for 7 years and they are still good. But I think it depends on how you store them as well. I love love love essential oils! I use them for everything. Pretty much replacing my medicine cabinet.

[AthenaLaReina]

Agreed. It depends on what you're trying to do. I worked for an organic soap company and learned a lot about it.

For instance, if you're trying to make a facial cream or something smaller, you could use carrot oil or jojoba oil, something a little more expensive with higher benefits. The creams made usually don't require that you us a great deal for benefits.

If you want to make something with a greater quantity, like soap or lotion or body butter, Shea butter, cocoa butter, palm oil, sunflower seed oil and coconut oil are great. Others include grape seed oil etc.

[AthenaLaReina]

You can also use rosemary leaf extract (NOT ROSEMARY ESSENTIAL OIL. THE EXTRACT) to keep items like this from going bad. It acts as a natural preservative,